We had a low battery alert on a window sensor, changed the battery and a tamper alert is showing on our control panel. I acknowledged it but the system will not allow me to arm without bypassing the window with the tamper alert. How do I clear the tamper alert on that sensor? I seem to have this issue whenever I change a battery and end up having to replace the whole sensor which is ridiculous.
Happy to help. There are a couple reasons why a tamper alert would not clear at the panel:
-
If this is happening after every battery change, there is a good possibility that the batteries are being inserted upside down. This can be easy to do on the DW10-345, for example. The Positive + end should be facing up. Double check this.
-
The tamper switch may not be closed all the way. Make sure the sensor cover is fully snapped down. If the plastic tab which clasps the cover shut is broken, it may be too loose and not pressing on the switch. Check to make sure the tab was not damaged.
A tamper alert cannot be removed from the panel manually, the underlying cause at the sensor would need to be resolved in order to clear that alert. If you do not see any obvious cause, please take a photo of the sensor with the cover off and on and post here, we’d be happy to take a look.
One other thing to check: make sure you test a sensor after replacing its battery. Open it and close it a couple times. Does it report open? If you physically depress the little black tamper switch inside with your finger, does the alert go away? This would help narrow down the possible cause.
What make/model of window sensor is it?
I like honeywell 5811 window sensors due to their slim size, but I always have a persistent tamper after replacing battery. What I found was open/closing window to move magnet past sensor usually helps clear the tamper for some reason.