‎Entry sensor on door in a hot garage | SimpliSafe Support Home
 

2 Messages

Wednesday, June 16th, 2021 8:10 PM

Entry sensor on door in a hot garage

Howdy,
I live in Georgia.  The garage I have gets quite warm - 90+ degrees - on a regular basis.  Due to how the door frame is set up, it was easier to set up the sensor outside - so it's in the garage.  It's technically not outdoors but it is definitely warm.  It's a metal door, which has been painted, and the door frame is painted wood.

My question/concern is that - do I have to worry that the heat will cause the adhesive to eventually loosen, causing one part of the sensor to fall of and trigger the alarm?  If I'm away from home that's my concern.  Does anyone have any experience with their sensor being in a similarly hot environment and/or a sensor falling off in such an environment?  

Thanks,
~j~

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

3 years ago

Hi J,

There's a couple of flags that come up. First, you should know that our official recommended operating environment for the Entry Sensor is as follows: 32°F to 120°F, 90% Max. So assuming that the sensor isn't directly exposed to the elements, it should do just fine there.

But you did mention that the door itself is metal - probably steel? We'd suggest adding a bit of padding under the piece that directly touches the door, just in case. You might have figured out, but the Entry Sensor works by detecting the smaller magnet piece, so the metal could possibly affect that.

Though one more thing about that door - the metal can also block the signal going to the Base Station. It's possible that you have it at an angle, so the door isn't actually directly blocking the signal's path to the Base Station. But you'll want to keep an eye out for error messages on your Timeline event log, which would indicate communication issues!

- Johnny M.
SimpliSafe Home Security

2 Messages

3 years ago

Thanks - that's helpful.  It's been about 2 weeks so far and no errors.  It's accurately picked up each time I open/close the door.  While I've seen the garage get to 100, that's been the peak.  I think I should be ok.  

I appreciate the reply and insight.

Captain

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6.2K Messages

3 years ago

@ keg312 I have an entry sensor on a door hinge, steel door and a steel hinge. Temps get in the 90's and no issues over a year.

113 Messages

3 years ago

@keg312
I'm in TN and I have an older SS system installed with an entry sensor on my side garage door.  It's been there for years with no issue using the original mounting strip.  My garage is not insulated and gets hot/humid in the summer and cold in the winter.

Captain

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6.2K Messages

3 years ago

@hondaman88 welcome back to the forums!

113 Messages

3 years ago

Thanks Captain.  Its been a few years.   Good to see you're still here helping out.  Not sure how much help I can offer since I'm not familiar with the new system.

...and you finally got that camera!

Captain

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6.2K Messages

Yes, I did, have 3 on them on the 1st floor and opted in for visual verificaton...and works as advertised..tested it of course.  BTW, you were greatly missed by me and many others. Glad you are back! Have a great week.

1 Message

10 months ago

@tecumseh​ This could be an issue range or interference. Is this Entry Sensor farther away from your Base Station than your other sensors? And are there any thick walls or appliances in the path between this sensor and the Base Station?

If the sensor is farther away from the Base Station, or there's denser objects physically getting in the way between this sensor and Base Station, it could cause the sensor to work a little harder to communicate, which in turn would cause its battery to drain faster. 

I would first recommend moving the Base Station a little closer to this Entry Sensor to see if that has any impact on its battery life. If changing the location of the Base Station doesn't change anything, I would then try swapping locations of this Entry Sensor with a sensor that is not experiencing this issue to see if it's a problem with the sensor itself or its location. 

If this problem sensor continues to go through batteries in its new location, that could mean that there's an issue with the device itself. In that case, I would then recommend contacting our Support team as we may need to replace that device.

(edited)

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@tecumseh​ This could be an issue range or interference. Is this Entry Sensor farther away from your Base Station than your other sensors? And are there any thick walls or appliances in the path between this sensor and the Base Station?

If the sensor is farther away from the Base Station, or there's denser objects physically getting in the way between this sensor and Base Station, it could cause the sensor to work a little harder to communicate, which in turn would cause its battery to drain faster. 

I would first recommend moving the Base Station a little closer to this Entry Sensor to see if that has any impact on its battery life. If changing the location of the Base Station doesn't change anything, I would then try swapping locations of this Entry Sensor with a sensor that is not experiencing this issue to see if it's a problem with the sensor itself or its location.

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