Re: pir false alarms

["Crash Gordon" <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

could also be aux power related...and mess of other things.


"Matt Ion" <soundy106@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:b4f9h.355932$R63.301753@xxxxxxxxxxxx
| Jim wrote:
| > joble_5@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
| >
| >>Hi,
| >>
| >>we have an alarm for 2,5 years now. It is a Rokonet system. The PIR
| >>detector's used are Pyronix Magnum Ultra.
| >>
| >>It worked fine for more than 2 years, but last summer we had false
| >>alarms almost once per week. Always on the same sensor. Sensor was
| >>replaced by the installer, but next night there was again a false
| >>alarm.
| >>
| >>The Pir is now replaced by a dual detector, and this detector seems to
| >>work well.
| >>
| >>The next week we had false alarms with both the two other PIR's. So
| >>they are also replaces by dual's.
| >>
| >>Now it has worked fine for 3 months. But the installer sends us a bill
| >>for the replacement of the first detector. And i think another bill for
| >>the two others will follow. Together this is the 25% of the price of
| >>the system! I do not think this is normal after 2,5 years. (The
| >>warranty of the system is 1 year, but on the pyronix site i read the
| >>pir detectors come with 5 years of warranty)
| >>
| >>
| >>I want to argue with the installer but first i want to learn more about
| >>the problem. So i have some questions:
| >>
| >>Is it possible that a fly triggers the pir?
| >>Can this problem be due to bad adjustment of the pir or the use of the
| >>wrong lenses?
| >>Can the reason be in the rokonet system instead of in the PIR's?
| >>Any other ideas???
| >>
| >>
| >>Thanks in advance...
| >
| >
| > A couple of things that haven't been mentioned yet.
| >
| > Strong radio frequency signals can sometime cause sensors to trip. Do
| > you have any RF souces in your home or do some neighbors?  Taxi cabs,
| > police cars etc can sometimes cause problems.
|
| This was along the lines of my first thought: if the original sensor was
swapped
| out, even with an identical one, and the problem repeated within the same
day,
| then the problem is clearly not with the sensor itself - there's either a
wiring
| fault, or the "brain" of the alarm is failing.
|
| I didn't think of RFI, but that would certainly explain the problem
occuring in
| other sensors/zones.  One test I would have performed as well would have
been to
| leave the first offending line with NO sensor on it for a couple days to
see if
| that line triggers again (which of course, would determine or rule a
wiring or
| brain fault).
|
| > See if you can figure out when ( time of the year) (time of the day)
| > false alarms occured. If you've changed window coverings, sometimes the
| > angle of the sun at certain times of the year can shine directly into
| > motion detectors ..... reflect off of objects in a room ..... heat up
| > glass which can rapidly cool ....... or if you've changed houshold
| > heating system or moved objects that now allow hot air to flow past the
| > PIR's.
|
| Seconded as well.  Unfortunately the OP doesn't mention the relative
positions
| of the three sensors to each other - are they in different rooms, on
different
| floors, etc.?  Is this a home, an office area, a warehouse?  More details
like
| this would help the "remote troubleshooting".
|
| > Obviously, dual technology sensors will help reduce these things from
| > affecting sensors.
|
| There is that as well.
|
| Bottom line, from what we're told here, it sounds like the "installer"
that put
| in the new sensors really didn't do very thorough troubleshooting - the
failure
| on the other sensors after replacing the first should have been an
indication
| right away that something else was wrong.  Who knows, maybe the chance to
sell
| the OP his new "fancy" sensors was incentive not to dig too deeply into
the real
| cause of the problem.
|
| I hate to agree with Bass here, but I wouldn't pay the installer either -
he
| hasn't solved the problem, he's just sold the OP snake oil.