Hello, in the past 24 hours our alarm reported an open / close on zone 3 “middle door” 2 times. This resulted in police being called in both instances. I was able to place a 30 day test period on that zone via the central monitoring people.
I recall this happening multiple times last December it was always during the weekend or Christmas break when the building was unoccupied and heat was set to minimum, so I assume temp may have something to do with it. The central office guy said it also went off in August too, maybe extreme heat? Who knows. Also this zone will randomly report a tamper on occasion.
In addition to getting to the bottom of what’s going on, I would like to change the order the phone calls are made before the police are bothered.
I have a Qolosys IQ panel 1. This sensor is a hardwired magnetic door switch from my previous hardwired Alarm. It has been in place since 2010. I have the old sensors connected via a Qolosys hardware-16. This is the only one that’s ever given any trouble. It has happened so randomly I haven’t been able to figure out what’s wrong.
In addition to getting to the bottom of what’s going on, I would like to change the order the phone calls are made before the police are bothered.
Soon we will be releasing a more robust system manager which will allow you to make real time changes to your call list on the fly, stay tuned!
Currently, to make any necessary contact list changes, please send a secure message here with your requested changes.
I recall this happening multiple times last December it was always during the weekend or Christmas break when the building was unoccupied and heat was set to minimum, so I assume temp may have something to do with it. The central office guy said it also went off in August too, maybe extreme heat? Who knows. Also this zone will randomly report a tamper on occasion.
Temperature changes often cause slight swelling in doors/frames and can affect the performance of installed sensors.
There are a few ways false triggers could be caused by such swelling. Most commonly the sensor and magnet may be misaligned or installed near the edge of the magnetic gap. This can result in minor shifting being enough to open the sensor.
The door itself may have more physical sway when contracting in cold temps, and wind and pressure may then have a more pronounced effect, which can also accidentally open a misaligned sensor.
Lastly, a sensor may be screwed down too tightly, perhaps bowed a little against the frame if it is a surface contact, which may cause the internal reed switch to stick. Sometimes removing and reattaching the sensor can assist.
I haven’t been able to get to the bottom of this. How do I change this sensor so it will not activate the alarm when it reports a false tamper or open/close.
Thanks,
Stephen
I haven’t been able to get to the bottom of this. How do I change this sensor so it will not activate the alarm when it reports a false tamper or open/close.
Have you checked the suggestions in the above post?
If so and you are still experiencing intermittent false alarms, it may be best and easiest to just replace that zone in programming with a new wireless sensor.
That sounds like a good idea. I actually have a new in the box qolsys wireless sensor. Should I just delete the old sensor from the panel? Add the new one and call it day?
Should I just delete the old sensor from the panel? Add the new one and call it day?
Yes, you would just remove the old zone (Settings → Installation → Security Sensors → Delete Sensor)
Then add the new one via auto-learn (Settings → Installation → Security Sensors → Auto-Learn Sensor)
After one more false alarm last night. I finally got around to this today. I installed a QS1115-840 Mini DW sensor & deleted the old wired sensor from the panel. It looks like the metal door frame is interfering with the sensors ability to sense the magnet move when the door opens and closes. I bench tested it away from the door and it appears to work 100% of the time. Once it’s placed up against the door frame it drops down to a 20% success rate.
I’ve changed it to a local safety sensor for now, to prevent any false alarms. Is there a more robust wireless sensor for commercial metal door & frame applications?
Something like the RE101 would have a larger antenna and the internals are raised a bit further off the frame, which may help.
If the excess metal is just too much for the wireless signal, it could also be used as a wireless transmitter for a new wired door contact as it has a wired input. Wired door contacts are typically inexpensive. That would let you mount the wireless transmitter a little way away from the metal.