IQ Shock Mini-S always showing door open

I ordered two IQ Shock Mini-S sensors. I’m able to get a tamper signal and auto-learn the sensors with the panel, but I can’t get anything other than a “door open” signal from either of them. No matter how I position the magnet, the panel will not indicate that the door is closed. I’m also never able to report a shock signal to the panel.

I tried sensor type Door/Window, Door/Window-M, and Shock Sensor-IQ and none of them can report anything other than the door being open. Both of the sensors behave the same way, so I’m guessing it’s not a defective sensor. Any help is appreciated, thanks.

Also, I have DIP 1 (Test Mode) OFF, and DIP 2 (Reed) ON.

I don’t think the IQ Shock Mini-S can work independently as both an open/close sensor and shock sensor like the PowerG one can.

You enroll it as a shock sensor and it sends an alarm signal whether it detects shock or the reed switch opens.

Hmm ok, assuming that is the case - I still can’t get it to send a shock trip notification to the panel. I tried fresh batteries. I set the Reed setting to off. I tried both “Shock - IQ Shock” and “Shock - Other Shock” and nothing.

Even when the system is armed?

It doesn’t seem typical that I would need to arm the system to receive a signal. My other shock sensors and glass break all report to the panel even though the panel does not activate the alarm.

Also, when I put the sensors in test mode, the LED only seems to activate the first time I tap it, even though the directions describe tapping it repeatedly to find the optimal trigger point. Very confused.

I don’t have one myself but I was thinking maybe it behaves differently than a normal shock sensor because it has a reed switch. You wouldn’t want the alarm sounding every time you open the door when the system is disarmed.

Are those sensors programmed into the panel still? Can you confirm the names of the sensors as they appear in Alarm.com so that we can check the programming?

Can you provide a photo of their sensor label?

I’m not aware of specific issues but it is always good to update firmware to rule it out. It looks like you are on 4.3.0. You would need to update twice to get to the latest. 4.4.2 first, then on to 4.5.1.

Thanks. I have upgraded the panel to 4.5.1 and no improvement. I have re-programmed the sensors and will send you a DM with pictures of the sensor labels.

For the shock sensor calibration and to be able to test the shock portion, the sensor needs to be mounted generally. Testing on a surface other than the intended mounting location won’t yield the same results.

You could try to verify it is working in general first, but just to clarify, you referenced the following in a prior post:

the LED only seems to activate the first time I tap it, even though the directions describe tapping it repeatedly to find the optimal trigger point.

Are you referring to tapping the sensor? You would need to tap the surface it is attached to.

Here is the manual describing how to test and calibrate:

Just resting the sensors on a table and tapping the cover will generally not do the trick to test. You might be able to temporarily mount them to the intended surface with some masking tape, etc. It doesn’t have to hold long, just firmly enough to test.

Ok thanks, but shouldn’t I expect the door to not report that it is open continuously when the two marks on the sensor and magnet are aligned and directly next to each other?

Can you verify the correct sensor type and group that I should be using?

The dip switch determines whether or not the reed switch is active, but both the reed switch and shock sensor portion operate on one zone. It does not use Door-Window-M to my knowledge.

That should be Shock - IQ Shock. Use sensor group 13 if opening the door should cause an alarm in Stay and Away modes. Use sensor group 17 if it should only alarm in Away.

Mount it temporarily to the door. Make sure the reed switch has the magnet lined up with the ridge on the side.

The shock detection portion cannot be reliably tested if it isn’t on the surface. Open and close the door, tap on the door/window. Do you get activity that way?

Well I set to IQ-Shock and turned off the reed sensor and mounted them on the door, and I turned the sensitivity to the max (all the way clockwise). They only seem to activate if the sensor actually moves. It doesn’t seem to matter how hard I hit the surface they are mounted to, they don’t trigger. But, if I move the sensor even very slowly it will activate. So I’m not too certain it’s going to do what I want.

Also, for some reason they frequently get stuck “Activated” indefinitely.

Now that it is mounted, you’ll want to go through the calibration to test when the sensor would detect an alarm. It sounds like you may be using the activated status in Alarm.com, is that correct? The activity monitoring status in ADC won’t be reliable to test alarms. I am adding the instructions from the manual about calibration below:

IMPORTANT: Calibrate the IQ Shock Mini’s accelerometer from the final mounting position by moving dip switch 1 to ON (enable installer test mode). While in this mode the LED will flash RED when it detects a shock level strong enough to trigger an alarm at the control panel. There are 3 total sensitivity settings and the LED will flash each time the sensitivity threshold is changed. Please note that no RF transmission from the sensor occurs during installer test mode.
Gently hit (using the palm of your hand) the surface on which the device is installed. Gradually increase the pressure or turn the shock sensitivity adjustment dial clockwise with a small screwdriver until the desired response is obtained. Ensure that the device is not triggered by accidental vibration (e.g., wind, birds, window coverings) hitting the protected window or surface. Normal traffic or operation of the door/window should not trip the shock sensor. When testing the sensitivity of the unit, do not cause stress or damage to the mounting surface or to the glass.
WARNING:
In order to avoid personal injury while testing sensitivity, do not apply pressure to glass inserts or windows.
Move dip switch 1 to OFF (disable installer test mode) once shock sensitivity has been set to the desired level. Verify that the IQ Shock Miniproperly communicates with the Panel.

Ok, I think that did it. Basically what I was missing is that dip switch 1 seems to need to be enabled and then disabled while in the exact final mounted position. Otherwise, if the orientation changes at all, it will emit a perpetual alarm state.

Also, with that resolved, I am able to use as a Door/Window sensor. The reed switch will set the door to open/closed and if the shock sensor is triggered, it will report the door as opened briefly. I’m not sure if there is any difference in “Door/Window” and “Door/Window-M”… it seems to behave the same as far as I can tell.

Thank you!!

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