Troubleshooting 2-Wire Smokes on the Qolsys Hardwire 16-F

Hi, DIYers. Joe from Alarm Grid. And today we're going to talk about how to troubleshoot hardwired smokes on your Qolsys IQ2 system. Now today we have a 2-wire hardwired smoke connected to a 16-F hardwired translating module that's programmed into the Qolsys system. This is really probably going to be the way that your 2-wire smokes are going to be connected to your IQ2 if you are using them.

There's a couple different ways that you can run into trouble when using this particular setup. The main ones are that the wiring may be incorrect from the smoke to the 16-F. And it could also be programmed into the system as a normally closed zone instead of the normally open zone. The wiring is easy to fix. As you can see, our 2-wire smoke is connected to zone number 16. And we do have a resistor installed in parallel. So that's one thing to check.

You're going to want to make sure that your smokes are connected to zone 16, as that's the only zone on the 16-F that can use 2-wire smokes. And they also have to be connected with a resistor in parallel on that terminal pair. Also, with these smokes, you have to connect these to the device before you program the device into the system. If you didn't do that, we have to reset the memory in the module and then walk through the real moment process to our panel to get it to work again.

So let's do that. Let's say that we did install it. But we connected the smoke after we programmed it into the system. And then we didn't program it correctly, so nothing's going to work.

So first, I'm going to go into my zone setting on my Qolsys panel. So advanced settings. 2-2-2-2. Installation. Devices. Security sensors. Delete sensor. And I'm going to delete the hardwired translator and my smoke. So now we're back as if we have nothing in the system.

So on my hardwired translator, I'm going to unplug it. And then what you have to do is you have to hold down the memory reset button and keep it held down for three seconds while you reapply power. You can see these three little LEDs down here flash a whole bunch when you've done this. So that flashing tells us that we've just reset the memory on our 16-F. And we're ready to re-enroll everything to the system.

Now, as you can see, we already do have our 2-wire smoke connected to zone 16. That you're going to want to do before you do the memory reset. So now that we're set on here, let's go back into zone programming. So I slide down from the top. Settings. Advanced settings. 2-2-2-2. Installation. Devices. Security sensors. Auto learn sensor.

So now that we have our auto learn sensor set up, we're going to press and hold the EOL LEARN. And our EOL CAL LED is on, which tells us we're ready to learn this into the system. So I'm going to loosen up one leg of the tamper. And that loosened that connection, so it lost it for a second. And as you can see, the serial number on the Qolsys is the same that's on our module. 4B44A0.

So that's great. Just going to retighten up the tamper terminal. I'm going to click OK. I'm going to click sensor type. I'm going to go down. Hardwire translator. Click Add Now.

So now our translator is in the system. So now we can learn in our smoke detector. All that you have to do to do that is hit the test button on the smoke. And just to shut this up, I'm going to remove it from its base and click it back in. Click OK. Sensor type. This is important.

On your sensor type, make sure you go down and click on smoke detector. Because as you see, it learns in as a door and windows sensor. And if you just click Add New, it won't work properly. Door and windows sensors are normally closed. Smoke detectors are normally open. So I go to sensor type. I go down to smoke detector if I can find it. And then I'm going to click Add Now.

So now we have our translator in and our smoke in. So I'm going to click and hold EOL LEARN until the light turns off. Click Home to go back to the main menu. And now we can test our smoke to make sure that it does work. You can use the test button on the smoke to test it to make sure it works. But it's not a true test of the smoke detector, as it's not actually testing it with smoke. Rather, the recommended way to test the smoke detectors is to go out to the store or go online and purchase a can of canned smoke.

This is smoke in a can. And you can blow this right in your smoke detector, and it will simulate a real fire. So let's try to set it off. So I take my smoke detector and I blow canned smoke in it.

[RINGING]

We got the alarm. And as you can see, the power reset did occur, which turned the smoke detector off, which shows that we did reprogram it successfully to the system. And it's all working great.

So just to reiterate, if you do have a 16-F with a smoke detector or 2-wire smoke that you're having trouble setting up, do a memory reset on your 16-F. First, actually, check that your wiring is all set. Make sure your resistors are all set. Make sure that your smokes are wired up. Make sure that there's a resistor wired up in parallel. Next, do your memory reset on the 16-F, and then readd it to your system. And then check to see that everything's working.

If you do have any questions about setting this up, about the Qolsys system, or 2-wire smokes with the 16-F, feel free to give us a call at 888-818-7728. Send us an email to support@alarmgrid.com. Or head to our website, www.alarmgrid.com.

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