Before setting up the sensors, I had taken the batteries out of each one in succession and measured their voltages with a voltmeter to confirm that they were close to new (the answer was yes). In putting the batteries back in, that activated the particular sensor and somehow the keypad and base registered the sensor without my having to go through the install sequence that you are asked to follow when first setting up, in which you are supposed to pull out the tab of paper out between the battery and contact and then choose a label for the sensor. Since the sensors had already been registered, the keypad didn't respond when I pushed the little test button.
The way that I verified that the sensors had already been detected was by going to the keypad and typing Menu, then Devices, then scrolling down. I saw entries like "Motion abcdef" and "Entry abcdef" where "abcdef" represented some random sequence of letters and numbers. I could then delete each of these sensors and start over by pushing the test button as originally asked by the install procedure, and then the keypad detected the sensor and gave me a chance to name it.
I also found that the keypad did not always detect a sensor when the test button on the sensor was pushed (which caused a light to blink say on the entry sensor), even though the keypad was just a foot away from the sensor and even if I pushed the test button repeatedly. But if I quit the keypad "Add Device" mode and then went back to this mode, the keypad would detect the sensor after a second or third attempt. It is unfortunate that the documentation with a Simplisafe system is so sparse, it should warn the new owner that it might take several attempts to register a new sensor, this would save the customer some anguish and save Simplisafe from having to answer phone calls.
Finally, for those who might be interested, here are the voltages that I measured for various batteries with an inexpensive volt meter. The readings are comparable to brand new batteries when I purchase them:
- keypad: 1.60 V +/- .02 these are 1.5 V AAs
- motion: 3.24 V Li 3V
- entry: 3.25 V Li 3V
- smoke: 3.21 V Li 3V
All the batteries had voltages a little bit higher than their official values, which is typical of new batteries.
Thank you so much for this post! I was running into the same issue and SimpliSafe does not tell you that if the actual devices are appearing in the Menu, then they are already recognized by your system. This should be indicated somewhere in the instructions! I got frustrated last night and never started installing my sensors because the Test button was not being recognized after using the Keypad to "Add A Device".
Hopefully others will search for this issue and find your reply and also, hopefully, SimpliSafe will let their customers know that their devices are probably already in the system and all they may want to do is rename them.
It's also because then they'd have to spend more money to update their manuals for new shipments. When SS3 first came out, users had to enter their sensors manually via keypad. After several months, SS started pre-entering them before shipping, so the customer didn't have to do much when it arrived - all SS has to do (until they update their manuals) is send a note with the shipment that sensors are already added - guess they aren't as "simple" as that :)
New to the Community? Get started by reading our Welcome Post.
hsg_1
8 Messages
3 years ago
Before setting up the sensors, I had taken the batteries out of each one in succession and measured their voltages with a voltmeter to confirm that they were close to new (the answer was yes). In putting the batteries back in, that activated the particular sensor and somehow the keypad and base registered the sensor without my having to go through the install sequence that you are asked to follow when first setting up, in which you are supposed to pull out the tab of paper out between the battery and contact and then choose a label for the sensor. Since the sensors had already been registered, the keypad didn't respond when I pushed the little test button.
The way that I verified that the sensors had already been detected was by going to the keypad and typing Menu, then Devices, then scrolling down. I saw entries like "Motion abcdef" and "Entry abcdef" where "abcdef" represented some random sequence of letters and numbers. I could then delete each of these sensors and start over by pushing the test button as originally asked by the install procedure, and then the keypad detected the sensor and gave me a chance to name it.
I also found that the keypad did not always detect a sensor when the test button on the sensor was pushed (which caused a light to blink say on the entry sensor), even though the keypad was just a foot away from the sensor and even if I pushed the test button repeatedly. But if I quit the keypad "Add Device" mode and then went back to this mode, the keypad would detect the sensor after a second or third attempt. It is unfortunate that the documentation with a Simplisafe system is so sparse, it should warn the new owner that it might take several attempts to register a new sensor, this would save the customer some anguish and save Simplisafe from having to answer phone calls.
Finally, for those who might be interested, here are the voltages that I measured for various batteries with an inexpensive volt meter. The readings are comparable to brand new batteries when I purchase them:
- keypad: 1.60 V +/- .02 these are 1.5 V AAs
- motion: 3.24 V Li 3V
- entry: 3.25 V Li 3V
- smoke: 3.21 V Li 3V
All the batteries had voltages a little bit higher than their official values, which is typical of new batteries.
1
0
lance843
Advocate
•
750 Messages
3 years ago
0
0
coltmaster1
Advocate
•
2.8K Messages
3 years ago
0
0