56 Messages
Motion Sensor Went "offline" - Best Way to Fix?
We have had SS3 for about a year. Sensors have all been in the same place for all that time, with no connection issues (except once, the keypad lost connection to the base station).
A day ago, the motion sensor upstairs went "offline". All other alarm functions work. I put the system into test mode, tested a few random sensors around the house as a control group, and they test function was working. I then tested the problem motion sensor, and the base station didn't give any indication it received a signal from the sensor. I then took the problem sensor downstairs in the same room as the base station and pressed the test button. Again, the base station gave no indication it received the signal from the sensor.
I'm using the term "problem sensor" just to refer to the motion sensor that has gone offline, but it has never before had any issues, just this one time. (If it matters, I actually test the entire system only a few days ago and all sensors worked. :/ )
Should I just go ahead and replace the battery? I thought they were supposed to last 3-5 years, no? We have an entry sensor upstairs near the problem motion sensor, and it has been working all this time, fwiw.
Or is there a way to turn the entire system on/off, without losing settings, to try and re-establish a connection to the problem sensor?
Official Solution
davey_d
Community Admin
•
5.7K Messages
3 years ago
Hi @jonny_gogo ,
Just to recap - a Sensor will be marked as 'offline' if it fails to check in with the Base Station. Since it's the only sensor that's having trouble, we can safely say that the issue is isolated to just that one sensor, and that's what we should be troubleshooting.
But it does sound like you've done quite a bit of troubleshooting already:
So you're right that this might be a battery issue. You're right, that lithium battery should be lasting 3-5 years, so dying so soon is very unusual. Before going ahead and replacing, I would actually suggest the following, before testing (via Test Mode on your Keypad) again:
If none of the above brings that sensor back to life, then we might actually want to replace the sensor itself entirely! Let me know and I can take care of that for you. Or you can give us a call at 800-548-9508 and our Support team can help.
(edited)
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jonny_gogo
56 Messages
3 years ago
@davey_d Good idea to just swap batteries.
I swapped the batteries between the problem motion sensor and a motion sensor in the same room as the base station. There was no sign of corrosion around the problem motion sensor's battery. Then I put the system into Test Mode.
But what happened, was that both sensors worked. I immediately got an email telling me the problem motion sensor was back on-line. Using the test buttons on top of both motion sensors caused the base station to announce each one correctly.
Weird. For some reason, it seems like turning the problem sensor off and on caused it to re-establish comms with the base station.
Good news, is that it's good to go!
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sugakuga
72 Messages
2 years ago
I have the problem of the "new" SimpliSafe motion sensors CONSTAN TLY losing connectivity. I have 3 original motion sensors and two of the new version released a few months ago. The old ones work great. The two new ones are absolute garbage as they are constantly losing connection, and they stay disconnected for days to weeks. What a waste of money on the two new sensors. To all people wondering about the new version of motion sensor . . . do NOT buy it. SimpliSafe KNOWS there are problems because I received a questionnaire on how well they are working. They would not ask if they did not want to know how many of their new sensors are failing. What a joke!
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lance843
1.1K Messages
1 year ago
When all else fails I always pull battery out and replace and 99% of the time it works
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hanks424
4 Messages
1 year ago
Having the same problem with the GEN2 motion sensors. Two loose connectivity at the same time -- twice in 2 days. Batteries 3.0 volts, sensors only about 3 months old.
My Gen 1 motion works fine.
It's not a wifi issue since BOTH loose connectivity at the same time. This is not an acceptable situation
SS is sending replacements so we'll see.
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rmolinowski
15 Messages
1 year ago
I've had the same issue. So far it's always occurred within a week after I installed the indoor motion sensor. When I tested it by entering test mode on the keypad, it detected motion. So apparently the offline alarm was spurious or due to a software bug. Then six hours later SimpliSafe was nice enough to wake me at 1:50 am to tell me it had been restored. Bad software either way you cut it.
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rjlegrow
2 Messages
1 year ago
Replaced battery and now sensor offline. Have tried everything above but base station won't recognize. Sensor still flashes blue when connection boken from magnet, just can't get back online
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ScottDC
3 Messages
1 month ago
This cannot be the only post about the latest generation motion detector. I use it over the old one as the new one is great with ignoring my cats in pet mode. The old one upside down and high up still alerted over my cats.
The issue with this newest sensor is it is not reliable, at all. It goes offline about once a month. It just did it again and I took the battery out and in again 3 weeks ago. That is how you get it back online again. But to have to constantly do this, is unreasonable and what if I’m away for days when it goes offline. And you don’t even know it’s offline sometimes unless you walk past it as a test. Sometimes it doesn’t sense motion. Time to take battery out and put back in, again. Annoying. All other sensors stay connected constantly. This must be a programming or hardware issue. I have trouble shooted it with support before. Never fixed it. Removing the device and reinstalling doesn’t fix it any more than taking the battery out for 10 seconds. SimpliSafe needs to fix this issue for the price we are now paying monthly.
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