Not sure if you have any suggestions on this - but I have two z-wave sirens as you can see… the downstairs one is on its original set of batteries, the upstairs one keeps getting switched roughly once per month. Is it due to z-wave distances or just a faulty device in your opinion?
The upstairs siren sits roughly 12 feet above the main panel and is about 4 feet away from a z-wave lamp switch that likely has a repeater. The downstairs siren is about 30 feet from the panel and also about 4 feet from a lamp switch. So not much difference in environment.
Would love to know how to deal with this as switching batteries every 3-4 weeks is getting old. Also on the topic of batteries, I am now about 18 months on all my sensor batteries - I suspect they will need replacing soon. Is there a way to poll the network of sensors and get a percentage of life left or will they only start sending a “I’m getting low” message?
What model of Z-wave siren are you using? Are they both the same model?
If you notice a Z-wave device chewing through batteries, a good troubleshooting step would be to remove the device from the panel and re-add. Make sure to bring it close to the panel to do so.
Often, these battery issues are less a physical problem and more an issue with excessive signalling. The siren may be stuck trying to transmit something.
I am now about 18 months on all my sensor batteries – I suspect they will need replacing soon. Is there a way to poll the network of sensors and get a percentage of life left or will they only start sending a “I’m getting low” message?
Set up low battery notification in the system actions to watch notification. You can’t poll for battery levels from sensors, but “low battery” is a status that will be generated.
Depending on usage, you should see anywhere from 2-5 years use out of most standard sensor batteries. High traffic areas will see more usage and quicker replacement.
In my own home I will typically replace all of the same sensor type at once when one shows low.
I will try and remove it, replace batteries and re-add it today. Will report back afterwards - or hopefully it will stop. The Siren is the Utilitech TSE07-1 - both are actually.
Also thanks for the heads up on the battery notification.
Done. One thing that’s weird though is ADC still shows the old siren (upstairs siren) as well as the newly added node 29. Also - the tree switch “malfunction” status is still there even though I plugged that back in (it was disconnected for a while). I restarted the panel, re-checked the z-wave network. Panel shows all clear - ADC still has the broken switch and old low batter siren (that is now removed). Is there a way to force ADC to re-pull the list from the panel to update?
One thing that’s weird though is ADC still shows the old siren (upstairs siren) as well as the newly added node 29.
If the device was added back in quickly, ADC likely never got the status from the panel that a device had been deleted. This can happen here and there. I’ve requested an updated list and that device shows as removed now.
the tree switch “malfunction” status is still there even though I plugged that back in (it was disconnected for a while).
Removing/re-adding or moving devices, you will want to run a Network Rediscovery to fix routes. “Check Network” does not resolve issues, only tests to see if they are present.