56 Messages
Keypad Keeps Showing Alert that Sensor is Open
I have two doors very near each other on the side of the house opposite the base station. I mean, the doors are so close, you have to be careful opening both at the same time or else they'll hit each other. The keypad is secured to the wall right between them. Both doors have entry sensors on them.
We open both doors a lot each day.
The keypad frequently has that little exclamation mark notification that, when I click it, says the side entry door os open and that it will be monitored when closed. This will appear even on days when we have not turned on the system at all.
I'm not understanding what situation causes that notification to appear. Is it that the side door is left open for too long? If so, what's the threshold of time the door can be open before the notification appears?
Or for some reason is the sensor not registering when it's been closed? If not, why not? The keypad and other entry sensor on the other door both seem to communicate just fine with the base station so distance and location doesn't seem to be the issue.
Could the issue be that we are opening and closing the doors too fast for the system to properly keep track of the doors' current state?
Why does this notification appear even when the alarm is off? The sensor isn't being monitored anyway (except for the beep it makes when opened).
Everything else works perfectly and I've put the system into test mode and the "problem' sensor has always worked when tested.
We open both doors a lot each day.
The keypad frequently has that little exclamation mark notification that, when I click it, says the side entry door os open and that it will be monitored when closed. This will appear even on days when we have not turned on the system at all.
I'm not understanding what situation causes that notification to appear. Is it that the side door is left open for too long? If so, what's the threshold of time the door can be open before the notification appears?
Or for some reason is the sensor not registering when it's been closed? If not, why not? The keypad and other entry sensor on the other door both seem to communicate just fine with the base station so distance and location doesn't seem to be the issue.
Could the issue be that we are opening and closing the doors too fast for the system to properly keep track of the doors' current state?
Why does this notification appear even when the alarm is off? The sensor isn't being monitored anyway (except for the beep it makes when opened).
Everything else works perfectly and I've put the system into test mode and the "problem' sensor has always worked when tested.
hondaman88
113 Messages
3 years ago
I believe the base station "pings" the sensors regularly to check communications. So while they aren't monitored for the sake of the alarm when the system is off, the base is still looking for communication from the sensors.
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davey_d
Community Admin
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5.7K Messages
3 years ago
More good advice from hondaman88 there. I would just clarify that the sensor sends a signal ever time it's opened, as well as when it's closed (i.e. when you see the light blink). If the system gets an "open" signal, it will assume the entry is open for as long as it doesn't receive that corresponding "closed" signal.
Another thing to check - how far is that problematic sensor from its magnet? If it's at 2 inches away, it might be just on the border of detection, so it might take opening and closing a couple of times for it to register.
The same could happen if the sensor is placed on top of a metal surface - primarily iron or steel - since that can affect the magnetic field.
But you also mention, there are actually two separate sensors that are near each other. I would have guessed that there's some connectivity issues, where the signal from the trouble sensor doesn't always get to the Base Station. But if there's another sensor nearby not having the same issue, that's less likely.
- Johnny M.
SimpliSafe Home Security
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jonny_gogo
56 Messages
3 years ago
I have only attached the sensors using the sticky tape they came with. To switch sensors, can I just slide the top portion of the sensors off their bases, leaving those bases affixed to the doors, and place them on the "new' base?
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davey_d
Community Admin
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5.7K Messages
3 years ago
Yep, just slide the sensor off its mounting bracket.
- Johnny M.
SimpliSafe Home Security
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jonny_gogo
56 Messages
3 years ago
The distance from the bottom of the magnet (which is on the wood trim around the door) to the top of the sensor (which is on the steel door) is about 1.25" - so it's well within that 2" limit. I have three other sensors with the same configuration, also on steel doors and none of those have problems.
There is something unique about the problem door though. It shuts a little bit more deeply into the frame than the other doors, and so the sensor and magnet are not exactly on the same plane, if you know what I mean. So that must be the issue. I wonder if moving the magnet a little closer - there is room on the wood trim to move it - might help. Otherwise . . . I guess I could figure out a way to build up the door under the sensor so that it WAS on the same plane as the magnet.
Something I'm not sure of: just because the keypad shows that alert, does that mean the alarm will not sound if that door is opened? Would that alert go away on its own if the sensor reported to the base station that it is indeed now closed?
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jonny_gogo
56 Messages
3 years ago
It looks like the magnets do not use the 3M tabs, so what have folks used instead?
Once I get everything in a position that I know works during the hot summer months (check) and during the cold winter months (pending), I plan to use the screws. I have a few months though before doing that.
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shiherlis
738 Messages
3 years ago
Go to https://simplisafe.com/alarm-sensors
Click on 'EXPAND YOUR SimpliSafe Gen 3 (latest).' Next, you scroll down to 'Adhesive Tape for Entry Magnets (4)' and click 'add to cart.'
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captain11
Captain
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6.1K Messages
3 years ago
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toastie
175 Messages
3 years ago
we are constantly getting the ones like the OP described where we turn on the system and it tell us either a sensor open or sometimes a specific one is open so we have to turn off the system, open and close that door and re arm it. VERY annoying!
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jonny_gogo
56 Messages
3 years ago
One odd thing about our entry "sensor is open' notification, is that the sensor continues to cause a beep when it's opened. It's like that notification remains on the keypad even after the sensor has told the base station "I'm closed'.
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