2 Messages
Consistent False Alarms with Motion Sensors
We have two motion detectors in our home, given the layout it's all we need. One in hallway and the other in the great room. The system was working perfectly until November when daily false alarms were triggered. Yes we have cats, and yes our heater is scheduled to keep the house a temperature as we are away. These factors were never an issue when we first purchased the system. After the first several false alarm triggers we moved the motions and changed their sensitivity. The false alarms kept coming. We called Simpli Safe who said AND I QUOTE, "turn it upside down.." Uh okay. Well fine, I'll play along and give it a shot. We did that, false alarms were triggered. We turned the right side up again. Here we are in January having moved the sensors everywhere that is logical for our layout and needs, nothing seems to do the trick. They still trigger! I called Simpli Safe again and they sent out refurbished sensors to "try" and we did that. Tested them for a week. False alarm triggered. My parents have a 15+ year old hardwired alarm system that has never had a false alarm. The motion detector doesn't trigger with their heater, doesn't trigger for their 112lb dog, but it perfectly triggers when we test it with people. I'm getting tired of simpli safe because the headache and consistent "when will it go off today" thought.
captain11
Captain
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6K Messages
6 months ago
@djahries We have nine motion sensors, one in almost every room of the house, and yes, we have no false alarms. Wasn't always that way and, with a few adjustments in sensitivity, positioning etc no issues for years. Why all of sudden you get them non stop is a head scratcher. I don't have an answer for you but suggest calling SS back and escalate this to a speiciatlist (that is if you haven't done that yet.
Simplisafe, how about shipping this customer a Gen2 motion sensor to try at NC? djahries, I have one of them and it is rock solid, especially for pets. Sorry I don't have some magic solution.
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davey_d
Community Admin
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5.6K Messages
6 months ago
Hi @djahries ,
There might be something going on here that we're not yet accounting for. But the same issue happening again for a replacement sensor would suggest that our culprit is somewhere in the environment.
As a short crash course, the way that our Motion Sensors work is by infrared; they're looking for sources of heat moving around in the room. Or more specifically, it's looking for a contrast in heat; a hotspot that's much hotter than the rest of the room. So it's not really about the size, and more about how much heat they can give off (and of course, things that are closer may appear bigger to the sensor as well).
The motion sensors do also have a limited field of view, that cuts off at 45º left, right, and down, but not up. Meaning that they normally can't see anything above their own level. When we ask you to turn the sensor upside-down, we also should suggest moving it lower to about 4-5ft; that way, it'll ignore everything below that level, and trigger only for signatures that are taller.
The tricky thing is if your cats are very active, or if they're able to get up close to the sensor (e.g. if they can get up on shelves or appliances), then the sensors might still be able to trigger. That is, assuming that it's actually your cats that are triggering the sensor. It could be something else, like super bright sunlight flickering through trees, or an air vent that comes on suddenly.
If you like, I can put you in touch with a senior specialist to go through troubleshooting with you one last time. We want to to everything we can to restore confidence in your system!
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