In my bathroom I have two velux skylights, both operated by a Windows Master (WLC 100) Window Controller. The windows where here when I bought the house four years ago, and not been any problem, so I have not been that familiar with the details of how they work.

In the bathroom, we have a wall mounted switch that operates the two windows. Recently, the controller stopped working. I have checked everything I can think of. I doubt that both motors would blow at the same time. Also, there is a little red light on the control pad that usually lights up when a window is being open/closed. That light does not light up. This to me says it is a lack of power. I found the actual Window controller in the attic. All looks fine. The power line is hard wired into a wall cavity, but all of the circuts in the house are fine.

My best guess is that either the power supply in the controller unit has gone bad (likely), or something chewed through the power line (we have a squirel / mouse problem).

Any thoughts / suggestions?

Thanks,
~john

 

Is the wall switch hardwired to power or are they battery operated like a remote panel for a garage door? If the latter, maybe the batteries are dead and not sending a signal, and thusly not illuminating the red light. If not that, then I would de-energize the circuit to the control switches, take them out of the box and test the connections to see if your friendly mouse has done damage.

 

It is hard wired. The wall unit has switches (up/down/stop) for three skylights. I am only using 1 & 2. There are three wires coming out of the switch, and going up with wall cavity to the controller, where they match up to the inputs. There is no separate power.

Note that these windows do have a "rain sensor." I have considered that the sensor could be stuck, but I don't think it has worked in a while (we were not needing to open the windows during the winter, and I can't remember last year). Also, if memory serves, you could still open them even if the sensor closed them.

I think I have to conclude that the problem is related to power in the controller.

 

You may have solved your problem. It could be the rain sensor locking out the normal switched operation. If you can, check the controller box to see where power is evident. If evident in both wires of the rain sensor, then it is faulty and is causing it to stay closed. If only one wire is energized, then it falls back to the controller. Purchase a voltage sensor (tick tracer) which runs about $9 at your home center. That will allow you to check each wire for energy. It won't tell you how much, just that it exists.
Post back with results. Very curious.

 

I have the same exact problem. No lights come on when you hit buttons. This is NOT the rain sensor kicking in. When the rain sensor kicks in, it simply initiates the close-sequence...

Anyone else find a solution?

 

Do you have power to the window? Do you have good batteries in the remote? Have you had any power surges or lightning strikes that could have possibly fried the circuit board?

 

I would love to see a picture of the controller. I have yet to find mine. I only see the control wires and then the typical in-wall 12/2g wiring.

 

I have a Velux WLC100 electric skylight controller that after 16 years has failed to work. When I press the pad buttons, nothing happens, no lights even flash as usual. What is even better, is that they are no longer made, and paying over $300 for the WLC160 power supply/controller (supposed to be the replacement) does not make sense to me.

As previously stated, the problem is that the power supply in these units burn out, causing the internal fuse to pop. In some cases maybe replacing the fuse would solve the problem, but not in mine as the power supply components were toast! I would suggest replacing the fuse first and see what happens.

The controller luckily consists of two separate circuit boards, on being the 24v DC powersupply and the second being the actual controller. My controller board looked fine and I was betting that just the power supply had gone bad. I was correct!!!

You can repair these units (power supply) by purchasing a simple 24V DC adapter/power supply, and connecting it to the 24v terminals on the sensor board. Note the proper polarity and be sure to disconnect and/or remove the old power supply circuit board. Reconnect the WLC100 plug to the the keypad and motors, plug in the replacement power supply and you are good to go, saving hundreds of dollars!!!

A few helpful notes:

Be sure to get a 24V DC powersupply rated at about 500MA. Many are available with higher ratings (such as 1A or 2A) as they are commonly used for laptop computers, scanners, and printers but might cause a problem with the skylight in the closing direction due to the reduction circuit in the KEM140 motor units.

Should you have the problem where the skylight opens fine, but the motor quits quickly in the close mode, the reduction circuit in the KEM140 motor unit needs to be disconnected. This is easily done by unsoldering the BLUE wire on top of the KEM140 motor, or for those without a soldering iron, you can simply cut the BLUE wire and it should solve this issue. It worked perfectly for me!!!

Get those windows open and enjoy the fresh air!!!

 

Update to my previous post regarding the power supply.

I had time today to play around with some other external power supplies. Contrary to my previous post, a 24VDC 500ma power supply did not work, possibly because it was a "switching" type of power supply adapter.

So back to my first setup, a 24VDC 1AMP power supply from a laptop computer again works fine.

One suggestion though, as all of these power units can be a bit different, if having difficulty in he closing mode, first try disconnecting ONE of the two white square resisters that are wired in parallel together and see it that works. If not, then go ahead and cut/disconnect that blue wire!!

Good luck!!

 

This thread is 7 years old with one fibrillation last year. Hopefully the OP got their controller fixed and is leading the good life.

 

I just cannot believe that the exact same thing happend to me. Literally after 16 years, the power supply in the WLC 100 fried. You could see the two surface-mount resistors charred on the board. I found a 24VDC 2.8 A switching power supply at All Electronics for $20. I removed the original PS board and connected the PS to the control board. One skylight had a power blind that worked fine, but the vent skylight opened and didn't close. Clipping the blue wire on the motor did the trick. You saved me at least $300, thank you gschabel!

 

Welcome to the forums! I guess our ancient archives are a helpful tool. Glad it was a help to you. Saving that much money made it worthwhile.

 

Glad to be of assistance to whomever I can!!

Enjoy the working skylight and shade!!!

I know I again enjoy mine!!!

Glenn

 

Ugh, it didn't last long. The skylight seemed to be working correctly, but yesterday, a sudden thunderstorm activated the moisture sensor. The window closed, but the motor failed to stop. By the time I got inside, the gearbox was trashed. I found a replacement, but its $750! Any suggestions?

 

WOW!!!

Mine works fine with the rain sensor. Previously, when closing manually, did it stop automatically?? I'm not sure if the rain sensor really had anything to do with it as it only starts the closing sequence.

I''m suspecting that the power supply had too much amperage to force a load when closing shut. That load is sensed by the controller to shut off as the motor strains when reaching the end of opening or closing. That is why I don't experience that with the 1amp power supply I am using. That motor must have been spinning pretty quickly too!! I had posted to cut out one of the white resistors to see if that works as it adds load back to the controller when closing. The two resistors provided are too much for replacement power supplies, keeping one can work, but if still too much, then eliminate both by cutting the blue wire which is my case.

Ok, so you need a new KEM140 motor unit. Hard to find but are available. I have seen them discounted on Ebay and Craigslist, so try there. If I come across any I will post them. Keep an eye out for a 24v power supply with less amperage as well.

Good luck. Let me know how you make out.

 

I found a new KEM140 on eBay for $279. That's a LOT of money, but not as much as other places selling it for $800! The unit shipped was a KEM140 "B", which had a slightly different layout and mounting bracket. The motor was loose against the support bracket, and required removal of the whole gear assembly to tighten it up. I almost couldn't figure out how to get it back together, but I still had my old KEM140 with stripped gears to follow as a model. Also, the "B" version doesn't have any visible resistors and diodes, so I wasn't sure if it would work with my hacked up old controller and new power supply.

I'm happy to report that after installation, the new motor opens and closes the skylight perfectly, stopping with a definitive click of a micro switch at the travel limits. I suspect that the limit shutoff circuitry is slightly different in the "B" version, but I couldn't see the components under the copper shielding plate. Anyway, it works now, so all is good! Thanks for the tips! And for anyone else, they're popping up on eBay all the time now.

 

Great news!!!

Glad to hear you are back up and running! My old KEM 140 is still working too, closing fine, even with the rain sensor working!!!

Do be careful with that 2.8amp power supply as I think that is a higher rating than what is called for. My 1 amp is working fine since day one! I don't want the high amperage to burn out your stop sensor circuit or fry the delicate contacts on the relay over time, or even worse over powering your new KEM 140!!

Keep an eye on it, and if it opening/closing real fast of without any lag, that is a tell tale sign of being overpowered. It should lag a bit when it gets strained, ultimately then tripping the stop sensing circuit.

Wishing you 20+ years of skylight functionality!!

 

Thanks for the feedback. Oddly enough, the window seems to open *slower* than before, and the pitch of the motor is slightly lower. I think the B revision has some current limiting built in, you can hear the micro-switch click when the window reaches the end of its travel in either direction.

As far as the 20 years, I don't think I'll be in this house for more than seven years. My younger daughter will be out of college, and the property taxes are too high for anyone to stay. But at least I'll be able to sell the house with a working skylight!

 

Hi,

My Velux Skylight stopped working. The remote controller has fresh batteries and when I pressed on the buttons, I do see red LED flashes. I was able to close the shade but then it won't open again. The window does not open or close.

This unit has power wired from a GFI so when I don't see the LED flashes when I pressed the remote control. I know there is no power to the motors. But this time the LED flashes but the window does not open.

How easy is it to get to the motors? Where do I start to troubleshoot? I don't like heights and may not have a tall ladder.

Thanks for your help.

 

Do you have a model number for the system ?

 

My manual says Velux VSE for Venting Skylight Electric and RMA/DMA FMA for Roller shade/LightBlock shade/Pleated shade.

Thanks.

 

Well, I have the WLC100 with the KEM140 motors, the old style products which I am very familiar with. I do not have experience with you model. but basic troubleshooting would checking power to the controller (AC) power to the motors (in both directions) and go from there.

I have one hint for you: after a window shuts or opens in one direction, the system will NOT apply any power to that motor until current is applied and the motor has turned in the opposite direction of the direction that caused it to stop. I guess that is a safety feature.

Being that you have the newer product, I assume motors would be readily available from your Velux dealer or via online.

Good luck!!

 

I called Velux tech support and they told me that there is a safety switch somewhere along the screen window. I didn't remove the screen but used a pole to tap along it. Wa la, the skylight works now. Praise God. I prayed that He help me since I don't want to spend time and money on this. He answered.

Thank you for you guys who help people on this forum. God bless you all.

 

Oh yes. That safety switch. Forgot about that but it should not have changed unless the screen was removed. Mine is bypassed anyway. Glad you got it working again.

Good luck!

 

This thread was priceless! My Velux window system of approx. 1998 vintage also went kaput about a month ago as it auto-closed at the onset of a downburst. Found this post and diagnosed the blown fuse and then the fried circuit on the power supply board. Went on to order a 24 V, 1.04 A, AC/DC converter from TRC electronics for $12. Got it today, stripped the coax wire and twisted onto alligator clips (for a coax power cord, the center wire goes to the + and the outer mesh wire goes to -). Yanked out the old PS, snapped those gators on, plugged it in and we're back in business! I did end up clipping the "blue wire" as discussed. I'd say the window motor runs a hair faster than before, but the motorized shade seems about the same. Many thanks to gscahbel especially and others for keeping this thread "alive"!

 

Welcome to the forums.

Glad you found a helpful thread.
These old threads go way back and there is a lot of knowledge in them.

 

Glad to be of assistance that everything worked out for you as it did for me!

Not too difficult right?

There are probably a lot more people out there in the same boat that need to find this forum.

Best wishes for continued good use of the skylight and shade for many years to come!

Glenn

 

Hello,
Excellent thread! My problem is the following:
the PS on my WLC 100 controller is fried (the motor controller board seems fine) and I'd like to replace it with another 24V 1A PS, as you have suggested and was apparently successfully done by several readers.
The motor controller board has a 3 prong connector which plugs into a 3 hole female connector on the PS board.
There is no labeling to indicate polarity or what the third contact is. How can I figure out how to properly connect a new PS to the motor controller board?
What is the third contact?
I appreciate any information/advice I can get.

 

Welcome to the forums.

You should see + and - on the far right side of the control board.
The third wire is most likely an un-needed ground wire.

 

I agree. I ignored the third wire for my installation.

Good Luck!!

 

Thank you PJmax and gschabel!

The first picture is of the fried PS board.
The second one shows the female connector on the PS board.
The third one shows the matching male connector on the motor controller board.
The final one shows both boards connected to each other.

I was trying to figure out the connector which connects both PCBs together, and never saw that there was a pair of pins available for an external 24V supply on one of the corners of the motor controller board. These can be seen at the very bottom of the last picture (blurry). These 2 pins are indeed accessible from the outside of the housing box, which is labeled 24V + and -, and the - pin is clearly connected to the ground plane of the controller board.
Thanks again!

 

Thanks for your contribution of the great pictures!!

Yes, there is an external power supply connection, but you need to make sure the internal one is removed or disconnected first before connecting any external power source!!

Congratulations on your fix!!

Glenn Schabel

 

The low voltage connection on the board is there so that you could add a battery backup system so the window could be operated during a power failure.

That original supply is a switched mode power supply and looks pretty beefy..... explains why the replacement is so expensive.

 

I'm having some problems similar to those described, however the change of power supply doesn't seem to be helping. I have a set of 3 Velux windows each with an external roller blind controlled by a WLC 100 control unit, connected to a WLI 100 infrared remote receiver, along with a WLR 100 remote control unit. Everything was installed by Velux in 2003, and the springs renewed at great expense by them just 2 years ago. My blinds are stuck in the up position, and there is no click from the control unit when I press the buttons on the remote. Velux refuse to come and even look as my units are now obsolete, they say I have to buy new blinds, control unit, remote etc...! I have replaced the power supply as suggested with a 1A but this hasn't changed anything. I'm wondering if there is simply some sort of reset button or something to reinitialise the blinds (I saw a comment which I didn't fully understand about apply current somewhere to get things moving). Also I don't know if there is a button on the blinds themselves I should be looking for. I have tested the remote control, but don't know how to test the remote receiver. Is there some way to activate the blinds by connecting terminals in the control unit? Also what is the black button which makes a red light go on in the control unit for (circled in red in photo)?

 

Your unit appears different than my WLC100 and the pictures previously posted. What is important is that the old power supply is completely disconnected from the board, and that you hook up the new 24v DC power supply to the board with the correct polarity + and -. I am not sure the picture you are showing is of the power supply section, as it looks more like a controller section.

Assuming that you get the proper power and polarity to the controller board, plug it all in and first press ONLY the down button, one at at time for each shade. Hopefully they will go! If not and there is no clicking, you will have to look into how you are attaching the power and polarity.

Also, each shade motor has two wires. If you attach the 24V DC power supply to them directly, they should move as well, just be sure to get the polarity right for the correct direction!!! If they don't move after a second, STOP and reverse the power wires!!

Since I don't have the same unit, I can just describe the steps I would take, but I assume the circuits are very similar.

Let us know how it goes.

Good luck!!

Glenn

 

I'm not totally familiar with that controller either. It is a European model which is different from the ones I've seen here. That model is a VLC100-51-04

 

The unit in the photo is all there is : power supply to the left connected by 2 brown wires to a single circuit board on the right. I cut the 2 brown wires and used a domino to substitute an external 24v 1A supply, before noticing that on the upper right hand side there appear to be 2 external connectors for the supply, so I could simply have unplugged the existing supply from the circuit board without cutting the wires; live and learn. I have identified a domino connecting the 24v supply at each blind, so I will follow your advice and try a direct connection.

 

OK. What is on the left from what I see is a transformer, but not a complete power supply, only the transformer part. The power supply components must be integrated into the right side PC board. Since you patched into the transformer feed (which is not the 24VDC feed) such would explain why it is not working. Disconnect the connection you made, and connect the new power supply to the 2 external connectors and see if that works. Be on the lookout for any components heating up indicating that they are a faulty part of the power supply. Anything is possible, but being that I don't see any burnt areas I assume that just the transformer quit, but the power transistor could be faulty as well.

Good luck and let us know how you made out!!

Glenn

 

I am pleased to announce success! I reconnected the wires to the terminal block on the upper right hand side of the controller board ... it still didn't work, however there were a couple of encouraging clicks from a relay on the board. I tried the remote, but it didn't work. I noticed that the remote sensor looked like it had been opened. Upon opening it up I noticed that the wires of the connector inside were bent which was preventing the case of the sensor from closing properly. I gently twisted them back into position, and suddenly the blinds sprang into life. Obviously the previous tenants of the apartment must have damaged the sensor somehow (I'm guessing they wondered what is was for, and tried to open it). Now I need to try connecting the original transformer in place of the replacement 24v supply and see if it works.
Many thanks to all that contributed your expertise to this thread, as I would not have found the solution without your help and would have ended up spending a fortune and perhaps even replacing the whole installation!

 

I have experienced perhaps somewhat similar problems in getting the electronics to function in my KLR 100 Velux skylight. It was installed late last year and we moved into our new townhouse in early October 2013. The skylight was working normally at the time. Then as the heat of the Australian summer started to hit us in early December we tried to open the skylight and the electronics would not respond. The remote controller kept giving the message "Failed to scan". The installing carpenter could not get it to work again. The builder's electrician also could not get it to work, despite consulting the KLR 100 manual. Finally, I contacted Velux support in Sydney Australia and they eventually tried to get me to activate a reset button on the mechanism in the ceiling. It takes it back to factory settings, like any computer chip based product these days. But the reset button is set back behind a cover. Velux asked me to poke down the access hole to the button with a straightened Glide-On paper clip. I couldn't get it to work. I then called for Velux support to send out a contract technician - and he couldn't get it to work either, using the suggested paper clip.
But using his initiative the technician dismantled a ball point pen and used the reverse end of the ink tube to poke down the hole. And this activated the hard to reach reset button. So the skylight now works.
The Velux manual is hopelessly inadequate in this situation. There is no structured Troubleshooting section to guide a user or technician towards taking this reset button step if the mechanism will not work and you have taken the other steps suggested. The only guide to this solution is hidden in an apparently unrelated section of the manual on "resetting and preparing for registration". And the manual offers no real help in how to access the reset button if you happen to realise that this is what needs to be done.