Captain
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6.2K Messages
Motion detector goes bump in the night....
Yesterday my wife and I left for a weekend trip and I received a text at 6:12am that our master bedroom motion detector went off, causing an alarm at 6:12 am. Excellent performance on the SMS alert. At 6:14 while I was looking at the Android app my phone rang with a call from SS monitoring. He asked whom he was talking with, I gave him my name and safe word (not first rodeo on this) who quickly answered my questions: 1. no other sensors in play, 2. nothing on my 3 smart cameras that cover 95% of my first floor.
My assessment: False alarm, no dispatch. Advised the agent same, thanked him and and hung up. Got home and checked the area and no clue what set it off. My guess: a spider. Course of action: the motion sensor is not reporting low battery (I proactively replaced it about 18 months ago, based on my excel spreadsheet - hint hint SS - and it was installed in August of 2017. Wow, 7+ years already, time does really fly when you are having fun.
Just ordered a Gen2 motion sensor to replace it with the 40% flash sale. Designed to be more false alarm resistant but I think will wait for Black Friday at SS, Amazon, Best Buy etc and replace more.
Simplisafe, excellent job on the monitoring front.
Now how about that garage door sensor??!!!
captain11
Captain
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6.2K Messages
8 days ago
Update: The master bedroom sensor that caused the false alarm early Sunday morning (after being there for 7 years) just had a "low battery" warning last night. I removed it from the system and will install the new Gen2 I purchased from Amazon later today but wondered if that could have caused the false alarm.
Simplisafe, what's your take? Original sensor 7 + years old, same location, nothing changed and a low batter warning 48 hours after a false alarm.....
Decided to call support. The cliff notes version: agent was very nice and suggested to swap with another gen 1 sensor and change position...both of which I am not going to do. 7+ years old sensor, has not moved in all of that time, causes a false alarm and then the system generates a low battery warning 2 days after? Took the sensor down and something is rattling in it. Yes, we agree to disagree, and the Gen2 is going up in its place. So much for replacing the unit as possibly defective under the lifetime warranty with the Pro plan. To be fair, I didn't ask or suggest.
Gen2 motion is up and installed.
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dlpsr
1.4K Messages
8 days ago
Here's an opinion and some unscientific thinking no one will read nor cares about.😁
I'm of the assumption that low batteries can and do cause false alarms. Search and read for the assumptions. My opinion only of course. (And "almost" all of the Internet)
I've read too many posts here on this forum and elsewhere for it to be coincidence. Various brands, hubs, devices, including this brand.
I've also personally experienced cross talk between sensors. Test front door, alarm goes off. Timeline says, Alarm 😲 front door entry tripped. And also says French door entry also tripped, even though it wasn't opened during the test. 🤷 Go figure.🤔
As well as, low fob battery and interference, until removed from the system.
For my home grown system it's even recommended to use sensor groups and sensor areas, where if one sensor is randomly tripped it won't cause an alarm without a 2nd different sensor being tripped.
I can setup cross groupings and areas.
For instance, PIR motion false alarms are common for various reasons and brands, hubs etc.
Let's say for example purposes I have two motion sensors covering the entire living room. (no pets here anymore)
If I make a cross group of motion sensors, and an automation to handle that as an area in the alarm.
If only one PIR motion sensor is tripped with out the other being tripped, it might be safe to say 1 was a false alarm and doesn't trigger the siren if I don't allow it.
(Bugs etc.) Or weak batteries and therefore weak RF signals, zigbee signals, whatever signals, which may be susceptible to interference and signal leakage etc.
What are the chances of two bugs on two PIR sensors simultaneously? Slim to none.
Do cars run well with weak batteries?
I can also make entry sensor groups similarly and with assigned areas, where if one is tripped, no siren alarms without a second sensor, perhaps a motion sensor covering that area also being tripped as a cross check trigger.
If this, and that, then alarm.
Ok, what about a bug on that motion sensor. Well, perhaps I'll use an mmWave radar sensor to detect human(s) presence detection instead.
In any case, well in my case, any sensor trip sends me an immediate TTS and a push notification regardless. Your rattling motion sensor is giving me new design ideas.🤔😂 (Note to self, buy more sensors to experiment with)
I can monitor battery levels easily enough with my automations and blueprints. Low level currently set at 30 percent. (may need to adjust that🤷)
I cannot say yet where the bottom of that level is as to false alarms. Or if it absolutely will occur. It's known to occur, even with ZigBee etc. sensors. Time will tell.
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