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bk_'s profile
bk_

2 Messages

Monday, September 19th, 2022 6:18 PM

False Alarm, unknown triggers

Today I had a front door entry sensor and motion sensor trigger. However, nothing could have or should have triggered them. And there's no evidence that anyone entered.  Plus, no animals, no direct sunlight, no heat/cooling.  Weird. 

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10 days ago

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davey_d

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

2 years ago

Hi @bk_ ,

This is definitely strange. And you said that the Entry Sensor triggered first? Since this sounds like a one-off incident, it's hard to diagnose.

But for now, I would troubleshoot each trigger separately, even if they were at the same time.

For example, Entry Sensor false alarms can be triggered at any time if the sensor loses contact with the magnet. Like if one of the pieces had accidentally been knocked off its position. Or if they were just on the border of the detection radius (of about 2"), just a little shift in the house could cause the sensor to trigger.

Or similarly, if either piece was on a metal surface (specifically iron or steel), they could demagnetize and spontaneously register as opened.

For the Motion Sensor, you're on the right track. It's triggered by heat sources moving around in the scene. Pets and heating vents are a good place to start, but you could also check for appliances like dishwashers or laser printers, where heat could suddenly appear when it wasn't there before.

Of course, we recommend reaching out to our Support team for more in-depth troubleshooting!

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Postman77

29 Messages

2 years ago

Sounds odd. Im assuming there wasn't any camera footage of either of the triggers? Two sensors malfunctioning or giving a false alarm at the same time seems unlikely. 

I would definitely want to confirm 100% that no one did gain access to the property. And then troubleshoot from there. 

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kccanuck

1 Message

11 days ago

Same thing happened to us today. Motion sensor went off first then an entry sensor. Not sure what triggered it.

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simplisafe_admin

Community Admin

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981 Messages

@kccanuck this is interesting. The Motion Sensor is triggered when it detects sources of heat moving around, so it could trigger a false alarm if senses a sudden change of heat. This could happen for a few different reasons - like if it's located hear a heating vent that kicks on, or if direct sunlight hits the sensor. Pets getting too close to the Motion Sensor could trigger a false alarm as well.

 

As for the Entry Sensor, a false alarm could trigger if there was a slight shift on the surface where it is mounted, causing the sensor and magnet pieces to be more than 2 inches apart. And if either piece of the Entry Sensor is placed directly on a metal surface it can demagnetize, causing the system to incorrectly register the sensor as open. We'd recommend looking at the placement of the Entry Sensor to see what material it's placed on, and to see how far apart both pieces are.

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10 days ago

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captain11

Captain

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6.3K Messages

@kccanuck​ Quick story that may help. Years ago on my first system, SS2, installed it and everything was great, that is, until  a false alarm when we were entering the kitchen and the system appeared in countdown mode waiting for our PIN to disarm. Hindsight is 20/20 but at the time a real head scratcher, for both me and SS support.  I emailed my house floorplan, location of sensors etc. Two days later a very excited Tech specialist called me. "I think we nailed it" he said. He instructed me to take down the motion sensor that was 25 feet away from the kitchen door and set the sensitivity from high to medium. Tada. Problem solved. When we opened the kitchen door, the motion detector picked us up and it and the entry sensor signal would rush to the base. Normally the entry sensor was first (good) but about 1 x a week the motion sensor, on instant trigger, would make it first.

All of that is said for this reason: Step back, look outside the box and consider all possible, feasible causes. Heat ducts, sunlight, ceiling fans etc. Leave nothing to chance. Swap out the entry sensor with another, same for the motion sensor, and see if it happens again.

Good luck with this one and hope you find out the cause. (And if you do, please post here). Thanks!

(edited)

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10 days ago

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