‎What caused my false alarm?

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Peachypie10

What caused my false alarm?

motion-detector

device-settings

I have been using the alarm system for about 3 months now with out any issues. Last night for no reason the motion sensor in my wife's office set off the alarm. Closed room, no people, no pets, no lights, no heat source. I have not had this issue before and I can't duplicate it for the life of me. I have read the other threads about disconnecting and reconnecting, watching for heat sources, other best practices; but what caused this? I have heard of insects crawling over sensors setting them off, but I didn't think that was the case with the sensors used in the Ring 2nd gen sensors. I would really like to have an explanation for what happened. I have a hard time trusting a system without a good explanation of its limits and I want to trust my alarm system. Side note to the alarm being triggered: I have two devices (Ring outdoor security cam, and Ring doorbell) linked to the alarm, but only the security cam recorded a linked event when the alarm was tripped. Any ideas why the doorbell (which is otherwise working properly) did not record a linked event?

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25-10-2021 23:52:03

Responses (2)

jacksonayres

Hey Peacie, I'll try and be as upfront with you as possible to help avoid awkwardness lol, so please bear with me. It's very likely that we won't be able to tell what actually caused the alarm. The best bet would be to try and see if you can replicate it through normal use and put a camera in there to see if you can catch anything. I've got a motion sensor in an unused room of the house and it's never gone off inadvertedly like that. As far as prevention goes, there's a few things you can do. I'd start with lowering the sensitivity of the motion sensor, which can be done in the Ring app under device settings. For the camera that's not recording a linked event, it is more than likely a connection issue. I've had it happen once and it was literally just because I needed to give the device a proper restart (unplug the battery, leave unplugged for 10-ish minutes ((great time to recharge the battery)) and then plug it back in). Note that if your device is hardwired into your actual doorbell you might be safer cutting the power off to it and then unplugging the battery. I'm sorry! I know this probably wasn't the answer you're looking for. I hope it does help.

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26-10-2021 01:59:14

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Peachypie10

Thank you for the response Jackson. I have lowered the sensitivity setting for the motion sensor. I am still baffled how the sensor detected motion at nigh, with no heat source near, in a closed and empty room. I have not for the life of me been able to replicate the false trigger state. Question about the connectivity issue. Are the linked events different than regular events? The doorbell works properly for rings and motion, just not the events linked to the alarm.

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27-10-2021 16:28:49

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Tom_Ring

Hi @Peachypie10. You've done a great job of covering all of your bases as far as possible triggers. @jacksonayres has also made some great suggestions, thanks! A few follow up questions, is there a window in the room? Or is there any glass or reflective surfaces like a desktop monitor or TV? Although it is rare, it's possible that this could cause a false alarm. Another thing you can do, if you feel comfortable doing so, is post a picture of the room from the perspective of your Motion Detector so we can possibly help identify what caused this false alarm. :slightly_smiling_face:

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28-10-2021 17:07:08

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