I purchased and installed a Qolsys IQ Pro panel a few months back. I have a bunch of sensors connected and it’s been working flawlessly.
Now I am trying to add/configure some system sensor 4 WT-B smoke detectors, but experiencing issues. Essentially, as soon as I add the smoke zone, the zone triggers a fire alarm. After clearing the alarm and rebooting the panel, the zone triggers an alarm while initializing as well. Something is obviously wrong here…
Originally I had 2 detectors in a chain connected, wired with an RM-1 in the circuit. After experiencing my issue, I decided to try with a third detector, this time no RM-1, only the EOL resistor, basically keeping things as simple as possible to troubleshoot.
I also put my meter on the EOL resistor to verify the correct resistance (5.6k — meter rounds to 5.5)
What am I missing here? Since the detector is normally open, I would not expect it to trigger unless the sensor was actually activated. I have read a lot on this topic and watched several videos, and seems I am doing everything correctly, yet I am still experiencing this issue. At this point I am truly baffled so any help would be greatly appreciated.
Are you bench testing the zone or are the smoke detectors installed?
Can you add a photo of the wiring of each detector connected to the circuit?
Do you have the smoke detectors installed on their bases and powered up when the alarm occurs or does it also occur with just the bases wired up and no detectors attached and powered up?
“Are you bench testing the zone or are the smoke detectors installed?”
I am bench testing a unit that has not yet been installed properly. It’s just connected to the panel with a scrap length of wire. I wanted to eliminate any other possible wiring issues and connect it as simply as possible, just a single detector.
In regards to your last comment, the detector is connected to the base. I have not tested what happens with the base alone, I can try that and see what happens. Also, I did put my meter on the zone wires with the detector mounted to the base, and the resistance is what is expected: same value as the resistor.
Are you able to completely delete the zone and then learn it back in?
Also, please add a resistor directly to terminal 7 and common. Do you have any other open zones on the panel? If you are still having issues, try using a different common like the one between zones 5 and 6. If this is still giving you issued, please try a different zone completely.
The system should remain normal with only the resistor across the zone and common terminal. Once we determine the panel zone is working normally, we can then add the wiring to the smokes.
Unfortunately, problem persists with this test. I powered down the panel, added the 5.6k resistor to the expansion board I have installed (none of the zones are used at this point, but I previously tested that the expansion board works properly with a motion sensor). I then powered the panel back up, waited for it to fully initialize, then added the smoke zone to the panel. As soon as I add the smoke zone, it goes into fire alarm. I used a different resistor this time, but one that came with the panel. So, this eliminates the smoke detectors being the culprit. What else could be the issue here?
I have 2 lots of resistors: the ones that came with the panel, and the ones that came with the expansion board. I read all the values with my meter (Klein) and they all register between 5.49 - 5.51, not 5.6. I imagine part of this is the meter rounding to some degree and that those values should still be inside the allowable tolerance.
If you factory reset the panel, it will automatically reconnect back. You can perform a backup and restore as well if that makes it easier. The last one was performed on January 10th but a new one can be requested if changes were made since then
I have several wired security sensor connected to the panel currently (door entry, motion, glass break). None of the them have SEOL resistors wired yet. I am going to “bench test” an extra entry sensor I have with an EOL resistor. I am curious if the panel will read the resistor value correctly in this scenario.
Did you try a factory reset on the unit yet? Qolsys got back to me and said this is the next recommended step after all previous troubleshooting has failed.
We can perform a backup, factory reset of the unit, and then a restore of the backup if it would make it easier for you. All PowerG devices will need to be tampered so they can be seen by the panel again
I did not factory reset the unit yet. Actually, had some interesting progress last night:
I bench tested a door contact with a SEOL in the circuit. This worked as expected. I then tried the test of putting the resistor directly across a zone configured as a smoke zone, this now worked as expected. I then proceeded to bench test a smoke detector, and magically this now is working. Very strange. It seems the panel now is properly reading the resistor value I. The smoke zone. Kinda makes me wonder if the panels DAC is faulty or if something else is wrong from a hardware perspective, but I will test more tonight. Thanks for the help so far.
Everything seems to be working properly now. Very strange, but seems adding a regular device (door contact vs smoke detector) with resistor “tricked” the panel into reading the resistor values correctly on a smoke zone. Thanks again!
Continuing to experience similar issues as I add more smoke zones. At this point, I think I should try factory resetting the panel. How do we coordinate timing of this? Thanks.
Qolsys said that the backup may not restore the hardwired zones on the takeover module. Only regular wireless sensors. It is best to take note of the current programming incase that part fails to restore successfully.
Restoral can be performed during normal business hours
