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J
Motion sensor false alarm
troubleshooting
How do we troubleshoot this? There's nothing better than being jolted out of bed at 1 in the morning because of a motion sensor false alarm. This really does not instill much confidence in the system. And what if it falses while I'm at work and I'm in a meeting and don't catch the text/phone call? Then the police show up?
We have no kids, no pets, nothing that would trigger it.
I've only been using it for a few weeks now. In 15+ years of using Simplisafe, it falsed exactly once. Now granted, the reason I dumped them was because their motion sensors were crap, but still.
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09-09-2026 00:13:34
Responses (1)
- J
Understood on the infrared. I'm not sure I need to do the box test; I've had the notifications turned on for it and it hasn't falsed since.
But it's placed in the upper corner of a large living room, and we do not run the aircon/heat overnight, so it's not a vent issue. There's literally nothing in that room that generates heat or would create any kind of heat differential such that the alarm would be triggered. It just has some furniture (and a ton of Halloween decorations). Is it possible that a spider could have crossed the face of it and set it off (they are cold-blooded however, so I doubt it)?
And to be clear - is it not in fact a motion sensor, but a temperature sensor?
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10-09-2026 23:30:42
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Tom_Ring
Hi @JoeBlow. These Motion Sensors have Infrared Sensors that they use for motion detection. So if there is an AC vent nearby, or a home appliance that generates heat, this can set it off inadvertently.
Here's a test you can do to check if the device is functioning as intended. Put the Motion Sensor in a box for a few hours and see if motion is detected. If it detects motion in the box, the Motion Sensor is likely at fault. If not, there is something in the environment that is causing this.
If that is the case, feel free to share a picture of the room from the vantage point of this Motion Sensor and I can help identify what might be causing this. Thanks!
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10-09-2026 19:30:48
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