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The product made big waves for being practically noiseless. This was a classic example of redefining the parameters of competition in an industry. Beforethe advent of Lutron’s quiet motors, consumers did not even know that motor noise level was or would become a factor in their motorized shade purchase decisions. Only in the last couple of years has Somfy caught up to the QED’s noiselessness. Today, there is still a difference, but it is slight and most consumers do not consider it a deciding factor.
Somfy manufactures two different types of ‘quiet’ motors used in motorized window shades; an AC powered version (ST50) and a more recently introduced DC powered version (ST30). Lutron’s QED Motors are all low voltage, DC Motors. The difference between AC and DC power is that the former is high voltage while the latter is low voltage. AC Power is the same as the power received from plugging a cord into a standard wall outlet. Low voltage is powered by that same outlet but the cord has a transformer (think of a cell phone cord or a computer power cord with their boxes on the plug on in the middle of a cord – that is a transformer) and reducing or ‘knocking down’ the high voltage power received from the outlet to low voltage power. A main reason that DC power is important is that fewer building code issues arise and no electrician is required for wiring low voltage powered motorized window shades. Absent an electrician, wiring costs and job complexity are both considerably reduced.
The QED is available in three different sizes called the QED64, QED100 and QED225. If you can’t hear anything, remove the switch and test it with a circuit tester. Ground the tester to a good source and probe the switch, if no power is present and the window worked from the driver’s door, the problem is between the driver’s door and the switch at the failing window. Check for loose connections and broken wires. If power is present, operate the switch in one direction and then the other checking for power on each terminal individually. If switch passes, return to the driver’s door and test the correlating switch in the same manner. The main switch should have power at all terminals when operated. It will pass power to the secondary switch for the failing window. If the main switch failed this test, replace it. If the main switch passed and the secondary switch failed, replace the secondary switch. If both passed, your problem is in one of the two remaining parts.
Remove the door panel and look for obvious problem with the regulator. Broken cables or a loose connection to the motor can cause the window to fail. The motor has two wires. Test it by grounding on terminal and energizing the other. To make the motor operate in the other direction change the polarity by swapping the ground and energy. If the motor fails either test, replace the motor. If the motor passes, something is bad in the regular. It could be a stripped gear or broken cable and you need to replace the regulator.
Check AutoTruckToys.com How To Section for a video of a power window motor replacement and see how easy it really is.
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