Back on November 1, one of the DW Mini sensors reported “offline” at 11:10pm and came back “online” at 7:39am the next morning. The same sensor did this again on November 21 at 9:31pm. I opened and closed the window and the sensor properly reported these changes to the panel. However, this issue occurred once more early this morning when the sensor was offline from 4:41am until 8:47am.
This is not the closest nor the farthest DW Mini sensor from the panel. It seems the panel is reporting the offline/failure when it doesn’t receive the supervision signal from the sensor. This system was setup over Labor Day. All other sensors including a Mini sensor in each adjacent room are behaving just fine (one about 6 feet closer to the panel, and the other about 15 feet further away).
Is there anything I can look at or attempt before seeking a warranty replacement for this sensor?
(I’m also unsure what would happen if this happened while the panel was armed–would it cause an alarm?)
The cause of a sensor reporting Offline (loss of supervision) is signal trouble. It’s not impossible for a sensor to be bad and result in this message, but it is unlikely compared to common causes.
The main culprits:
Borderline low battery, weak power to sensor radio (very common).
Distance from panel.
Metal or other environmental interference.
Huge number of sensors (on 2GIG)
It sounds like distance may not be an issue, and this is a Qolsys panel, so we are left with 1 and 3 to investigate.
Just to clarify, since it looks like the system itself did not come from suretyDIY, was the sensor itself installed just recently, or has this sensor been there a while? If a sensor has been installed for a while and starts showing Offline, the best first step is to replace the battery.
If it is a new sensor, and/or you have already tried swapping the battery, is this sensor mounted to metal or is a lot of metal nearby?
Thanks for the response. The issue hadn’t happened again until yesterday morning.
The sensor is new from September, just like the others. I’ll go ahead with trying a new battery when I get back from traveling, and see if that changes anything. This sensor like the other Minis are attached with the adhesive to vinyl windows. There shouldn’t be any more metal than usual nearby. However, this one is mounted at the bottom of the window instead of the top.
Once I swap in a new battery, I’ll see if the issue comes back, and report back if the issue persists.
There shouldn’t be any more metal than usual nearby. However, this one is mounted at the bottom of the window instead of the top.
Orientation and placement can affect signal. If the battery does not resolve the issue, try reorienting the sensor from horizontal to vertical or vice-versa.