I have ran a line for the Qolsys IQ panel from attic to where it needs to be installed for its power. Every time I connect the IQ panel to its power supply through this line, the panel start acting up and no matter where I am trying to navigate, the panel refreshes back to main screen immediately. However, if I connect the panel directly to its power supply, everything works as expected. I know the following are correct:
The polarity of the attic wires are set correctly
The output is 12 VDC with no drops
The only thing I can think of is the distance of the panel to its power source. Can that be an issue? Has anyone else have come across such an issue? Is there a way to fix this?
I assume you have a multimeter and are able to measure voltage and resistance?
What voltage do you measure directly at the transformer?
Disconnect the transformer and control panel from the cable in the wall. Connect the conductors at one end of the cable and measure resistance between the conductors at the other end of the cable. Is there significant resistance on that wire loop?
If you measure voltage at the power input terminals on the Qolsys panel while the panel is connected and running, do you still see no voltage loss?
When you say the output is 12V with no drops, do you mean at the transformer, or at the panel end of the cable you ran? What gauge of cable did you run for power?
Ryan and Jason,
Thank you for your response. I’ve done some more testing and it turns out that voltage drops under load. I measured the voltage and when its connected to the panel it drops to 9.5 ~ 9.8. Thats almost 20% drop, so I am thinking to use an adapter with 15 VDC output to cover for the loss under load. Would you suggest that?
Answers to your questions:
Could detect any resistance on the loop
Low Voltage cable gauge 18.
I would personally first recommend running to another available receptacle. Unless you purchased your panel used, a different power source I believe would void the warranty (I’ll have to check on this).
If my math is correct, that kind of voltage drop would require a cable run of around 100 feet. Is there a closer receptacle that could be used?
So I listened to your advise and tried another receptacle which has cut the distance to half (about 42 feet), but the same issue exist. At this point I am not sure what else I can do to resolve the issue beside using another power supply. Any suggestions?
Based on what I am seeing out of our demo panel power supply it looks like the Qolsys power supply covers only about a 4% drop. I am getting roughly 12.03 volts at the power supply which is a bit strange considering the high end of operational voltage is likely 12.4 or 12.5. Considering the installation variations from home to home, I would have expected slightly more voltage.
The low-end operational voltage is 11.6 volts I am told, so that is a fairly small window. Using a different power supply would indeed void warranty, so that is the last thing I would resort to.
You can always use thicker gauge wire if you are set on running to this location, which of course can be simulated by adding additional 18 gauge conductors.
If you can measure the voltage output at your power supply (as a production run it may in fact be different than the one I measured), I could suggest whether to double the 18 gauge conductors.
Jason,
Thank you for going the extra mile and providing the extra information. Indeed that’s a very narrow window of operation which does’t help in my case. I am surprised as why Qolsys made such design decision considering the installation variation. I am going to try and run a set of wires with lower gauge. I report back with a result.
I just had the same exact issue. I ran Ethernet to provide power over about 50’. Turns out the gauge of the wire wasnt enough. I doubled up the wire and it works fine. Run a heavier line.