Using two Primary Z-wave controllers (Vera & Qolsys)

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I have been doing enough research to know that natively this will not work. But I need it to work. I have been doing a lot of thinking and think I may have found a way to solve this, but I have a couple of questions.

First off, I am using a Vera Plus controller for everything. I have been up until now using a GE Caddx alarm system with an NX-584E automation board. This has been feeding alarm signals and sensors to my Vera. The alarm finally died and I opted to replace it with a Qolsys Panel 2 since I was able to continue using the 40+ sensors I already had for this system. Now comes the issue. They won’t talk to each other and nothing works. I ended up moving the door locks and water shut off valve to the Qolsys. Only to find that my 15+ leak sensors will not work with the Qolsys panel. Delima, I either purchase 15+ new sensors that do work or try this idea which may work with other things I want to do as well:

Add a Z-wave NO/NC relay by the alarm panel. Include the relay into the Vera and hardwire the relay to the Qolsys hardwired sensor inputs. Create a scene in Vera so when any of the leak detectors go off, they will trigger this relay. Setup this “hardwired” sensor in the Qolsys as a leak detector if possible otherwise just set it up as a sensor that when triggered will shut off the main water valve. I also believe that I could use this same idea to trigger other settings elsewhere. My question, has anyone else tried this before? If so, do I need a resistor between the relay and the panel and what size?

My last question has anyone found any other way around this? I wish there was a way to tie these two together as I had many scenes utilizing alarm sensors that I no longer have access to. I.e. opening a window for more than 5 minutes shut off the thermostat, opening a door would turn on a light, etc. The vera has a much more powerful z-wave scene system and I cannot move everything over to the Qolsys because of this. Besides the fact that I have many sensors that the Qolsys just won’t recognize in the first place. The only thing that I want the alarm.com app to control is the garage door, door locks and water valve and nothing else. Those were all controlled by my Caddx system in the past. Any help would be appreciated!

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Add a Z-wave NO/NC relay by the alarm panel. Include the relay into the Vera and hardwire the relay to the Qolsys hardwired sensor inputs. Create a scene in Vera so when any of the leak detectors go off, they will trigger this relay. Setup this “hardwired” sensor in the Qolsys as a leak detector if possible otherwise just set it up as a sensor that when triggered will shut off the main water valve. I also believe that I could use this same idea to trigger other settings elsewhere. My question, has anyone else tried this before? If so, do I need a resistor between the relay and the panel and what size?

This would be the best and really only way to get info from incompatible devices. A wired relay is a universal translation.

Per the Qolsys Manual you would need to use a Normally Closed contact relay and use a 4.7kohm resistor. See page 11 for wiring diagram of the terminal block.

My last question has anyone found any other way around this?

Ultimately the short answer is no. There is no way to add compatibility to one controller by adding a second controller, it just creates two parallel control methods.

Z-wave sensors are objectively less reliable than the RF sensors used by dedicated alarm panels, and they require a fairly large and very stable network of repeating Z-wave devices. If you have a strong network then they work well, but it is more fragile than direct RF communication with the panel.

I wish there was a way to tie these two together as I had many scenes utilizing alarm sensors that I no longer have access to. I.e. opening a window for more than 5 minutes shut off the thermostat, opening a door would turn on a light, etc.

You can easily do things like this with Alarm.com rules. There are thermostat overrides and sensor activity rules to trigger lights, along with many other rule options. Most of the automation power of the IQ Panel 2+ comes from ADC.

Automation options on the panel, without a service provider, are minimal, unfortunately.

Do you have an Alarm.com service provider? I’m not seeing a related Surety subscription.