I seem to be having some problems with my TS-1 keypad as of late as was hoping you could be of some assistance.
Back on January 2, I got a message during the day that the keypad had some type of malfunction. This error cleared itself later in the afternoon without any intervention. Upon my returning home, I checked all connections (power, etc) to ensure they were all fine.
Everything appeared OK until last Evening when my Wife returned home. When she opened the door and went to enter her disable code, the entire display was flashing on and off making it impossible to enter her code, so she had to run to another part of the house and enter it on the main panel.
As of this Morning, the keypad appears to be functioning fine once again. My worry is that there is some internal problem with the keypad which will cause these types of things to happen again. Would it be possible for you to send me another TS-1 in exchange for the one I have?
Any insight/advice would be appreciated. As always, thanks in advance for your prompt attention and response.
Do you have backup batteries installed in your TS1? You can put 3 AAA backup batteries in it to keep it running when power fails. If the issue is being caused by fluctuations in power then the backup batteries might kick in for a few seconds and keep it running smooth.
Backup batteries are installed and are fresh. What would make the entire display flash on and off? That issue is more troubling right now than the “loss of power” error.
I was hoping power fluctuations with the lack of backup batteries was what caused the flickering. If you had batteries in when that happened then it must not be.
It’s possible that there was a hiccup in the flashing process for installing the firmware onto the TS1. I would suggest reinstalling the firmware on the TS1 and see if that fixes the problem. Do you have a 2GIG firmware update cable? If not, then there’s nothing we can do but exchange the TS1.
The ts1 will eat though the AAA batteries very quickly in event of AC loss (within hours). Once the batteries are depleted enough, the ts1 will start flashing on/off, as batteries are too weak to push the display.
What I started doing is using rechargables in it, if in event of power loss (even if just an hour or so), I will just switch out the batteries as a matter of course. New rechargables go in, old go back on charger.
According to 2GIG the ts1 was never really meant to be run off DC, and they state future versions will not have the battery option (which to me is stupid) the TS1 should, in my opinion include a rechargeable battery/battery pack something like a polymer li-ion
I received and installed my replacement TS-1 about a week ago and all seemed fine until yesterday when I went to arm my system. As soon as I hit “Arm”, the unit went completely off then came right back and seemed to “recycle” for lack of a better term. I was then able to arm it normally.
Upon further testing today, I am unable to acquire the status of and of my Z-Wave devices from the main panel even though they all seem to be operating correctly.
Something strange definitely going on here, I just have not been able to figure out what it could be.
As always, thanks in advance for any insight/assistance.
That’s discouraging. I’m sorry to hear it’s still an issue.
From the back end it looks like all your z-wave devices are successfully communicating. Are you currently able to control them from the 2GIG panel, turn them on and off and such? If you’re having z-wave communication problems it’s usually a good idea to try a “rediscover network” from the 2GIG z-wave toolbox.
Since we’ve seen 2 TS1’s have the same flickering problem, it’s probably not a TS1 hardware defect. I’ve confirmed that your firmware versions match in the TS1 and the main control panel. Let’s try to list everything that might affect it’s operation and test them one by one.
Is the temperature where the TS1 is located kept between 32 and 120 degrees? The TS1 datasheet says “For optimal Touch Screen use, operational temperature is 0°C to 49°C (32°F to 120°F)”.
Is it possible there is a problem with the receptacle you have it plugged into? Can you try temporarily plugging it into a different receptacle using an extension cord? Ideally one that’s on a different circuit?
Are the power terminal connections well connected on the back of the TS1 and at the power supply?
Is it possible there is a problem with the wire powering the TS1? Maybe there is a slight break in the wire near the TS1 and just touching the TS1 causes the wire to momentarily separate and cut power?
When you swapped the old TS1 with the new one, did you also swap the 14VDC power supply or did you use the new TS1 with the old power supply? Maybe there is a problem with the power supply itself?
Is there an excessive amount of moisture in the air where the TS1 is located? That would be a long shot but maybe worth mentioning.
Is anyone pressing the screen too hard and possibly damaging it? On some occasions I’ve seen people pressing the touch screen really like it’s an industrial outdoor keypad or something.
Are the main control panel and the TS1 very far apart? Is the transceiver in the main control panel seated well and are all the pins in tact? I wouldn’t think a communication issue between the main control panel and the TS1 would cause the TS1 to reboot, but I suppose it’s possible.
The problem this time around was totally different than the last. This time the panel went completely off then came back on after all I can describe is a recycle.
The temperature where the TS-1 is located is usually between 62 and 70 degrees at the coldest.
Prior to you sending me a new panel, I went ahead and changed both the wiring and the receptacle I was using. My main panel works just fine and it’s still powered by the same receptacle that the TS-1 initially was.
It’s actually been quite dry in my house until I hooked up a humidifier a couple days ago to bring the relative humidity to normal levels.
The panel is not being pressed too hard, I can assure you of that. My Wife and I are the only users.
The main panel is maybe 20-25 feet from the TS-1, so I don’t think that could be an issue.
I just armed the system from the TS-1 and had no trouble but I’ll keep you posted.
What’s more troubling and leads me to think there is some other problem is that I cannot get a status from any of the Z-Wave devices when I try to query them from the main panel. It just keeps telling me to try again. I have done the rediscover network thing a couple times and get no messages/errors.
Now that I look at all the devices via the main panel, the TS-1 only shows up as a “static controller” and none of the serial #s show up like they do for the others.
How exactly are you querying the z-wave device status? Do you mean from the home screen when you do Services -> Z-Wave -> switches and then choose a switch, it never acquires the device status? Normally it would say “acquiring z-wave device status” for a few seconds before displaying the screen that lets you control the device.
It sounds like you’ve narrowed the potential TS1 problems down.
When you swapped the old TS1 with the new one, did you also swap the 14VDC power supply or did you use the new TS1 with the old power supply? Maybe there is a problem with the power supply itself?
Is the transceiver in the main control panel seated well and are all the pins in tact? I wouldn’t think a communication issue between the main control panel and the TS1 would cause the TS1 to reboot, but I suppose it’s possible.
I’m not 100% sure but I don’t think that the TS1 problem and the z-wave status problem would be related. It might be 2 separate problems.
“Do you mean from the home screen when you do Services -> Z-Wave -> switches and then choose a switch, it never acquires the device status?” Correct. Always says something like try again later…If device has batteries, try changing them, etc.
“5) When you swapped the old TS1 with the new one, did you also swap the 14VDC power supply or did you use the new TS1 with the old power supply? Maybe there is a problem with the power supply itself?” Used the old power supply. Last night I went ahead and totally disconnected the TS-1 and reconnected. Let’s give it a couple days to see if it still has issues.
“8) Is the transceiver in the main control panel seated well and are all the pins in tact? I wouldn’t think a communication issue between the main control panel and the TS1 would cause the TS1 to reboot, but I suppose it’s possible.” Will check that tonite.
Ryan, I sincerely appreciate your time and effort and I’m sure we’ll be able to track this thing down…
Earlier you wrote “I am unable to acquire the status of and of my Z-Wave devices from the main panel even though they all seem to be operating correctly”. If the panel can’t acquire device status, how exactly are you able to see the devices operating correctly? Where do you send the commands from to turn them on and off?
Two ways, I have rules setup through alarm.com and via mobile app, I can manually turn devices on/off, etc. Now tonite, I can get status of all devices through the main panel with the exception of the TS-1 even though the TS-1 appears to be operating fine for the time being. I opened the main panel to make sure everything was connected properly and all seems fine.
The one thing I still see as being unusual is when I go Services/Zwave/Toolbox/Advanced Toolbox/View All Devices it shows static controller on node 1 unknown manufacturer and unknown id. Shouldn’t the TS-1 info be showing up here?
The static controller with node ID 1 is actually the z-wave controller in the main 2GIG control panel. I never thought about it before but that is kind of confusing that it would show up there at all, let alone say unknown manufacturer, the manufacturer of that node is 2GIG.
The TS1 is not a z-wave device so it doesn’t show up there at all.
OK Ryan…based on your last response, I guess everything is operating as normal right now except the “unknown manufacturer” thing, which doesn’t seem to be causing any problems. TS-1 worked fine again when arming system, so let’s consider everything to be operational at this time.
BIG Thanks once again. Your level of customer support and technical knowledge is exceptional!!
The “unknown manufacturer” thing is operating as normal, all the 2GIG panels show that. It was just a bad UI decision on 2GIG’s part. Happy to help! That’s my job.