brockp Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 I have 15 leak sensors. I use the programs described here: They were installed in two batches. The first half worked perfectly. The second batch, about 4 of them have very unreliable heartbeats. It's very inconsistent. I have moved them to other locations (many have a dual band device within feet) adding access points close by, and the they still have their heartbeats missed. Generally at least 1 sometimes 2 devices are missed in any given day. The first batch still has no issues. Any thoughts? Can low batteries make the heartbeat weak? Am I running out of hoops? Did I overload my 994pro? Thanks Link to comment
PhanTomiZ Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 I can't say for sure that all four of your leak sensors have weak batteries, but the possibility is there. Is the manufacturer date the same? Were they all purchased from the same vendor at the same time? I have had three heartbeat devices skip a heartbeat or two in the last month. Two were from leak sensors and one from an open/close sensor installed in a garage during the cold winter months. All three had very weak batteries. Replaced the batteries and heartbeat fixed. Easy enough to check if the batteries are low. PhanTomiZ Link to comment
brockp Posted May 11, 2018 Author Share Posted May 11, 2018 So I swapped new batteries in, and I'm still getting unreliable heartbeats from some of the sensors. I might just increase the timeout to see the heartbeat from 25 hours to 50 so they have a chance to send two heartbeats. Still finding as I add more devices that 4.x with a 994pro is getting less reliable. Eg. I have some programs (that I only use when it's warm so only recently found) look for control signals to then take action. They are not 100% reliable, I do have an old PLM, the one that still provides power over cat5 to the ISY. I see lots of reports of these failing, but mine has not 'failed' Do you think I should replace it if I'm missing signals to my ISY994? Link to comment
Brian H Posted May 11, 2018 Share Posted May 11, 2018 The old 2412S that also supplies power is a completely different design. The 2413S that has a poor power supplies is what most are reporting failed. I have seen lots of 2413S failure reports but not too many 2412S ones. The 2412S has a slower clock speed and as the link database fills up it could get slower as device are added. Depending on its age it probably has the >2000 entry database. I have seen reports anything over 800 links and it starts missing stuff. I doubt it is so old it has the 417 link database. It would fill up quickly and some links would roll out of the database as more is added. If you have the revision number on the back. it would be a clue to what it has. The firmware reported ni the PLM Info test would also give a clue. Link to comment
larryllix Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 1 hour ago, brockp said: So I swapped new batteries in, and I'm still getting unreliable heartbeats from some of the sensors. I might just increase the timeout to see the heartbeat from 25 hours to 50 so they have a chance to send two heartbeats. Still finding as I add more devices that 4.x with a 994pro is getting less reliable. Eg. I have some programs (that I only use when it's warm so only recently found) look for control signals to then take action. They are not 100% reliable, I do have an old PLM, the one that still provides power over cat5 to the ISY. I see lots of reports of these failing, but mine has not 'failed' Do you think I should replace it if I'm missing signals to my ISY994? Did you measure the voltage of the new battery before installation? What does a new battery measure at? Where did you get the batteries for the LDs? Link to comment
brockp Posted May 12, 2018 Author Share Posted May 12, 2018 Brian, The PLM links Table queried from the ISY is 263 entries, PLM info /status says v85 The PLM label is: 2412S Rev 3.1 0852 As for batteries, they were brand new amazon basics, so no lithium like the original batteries, didn't expect them to last as long (though these sensors are new, but some of them are refurbish so who knows how old the batteries were). I still find it strange how the some of the old sensors have no issues, it's only the newer ones I added. I guess I could compare revision/models Looking in the ISY only a leak sensor with no issues is: 2852-222 v00 One that is having issues shows up the same: 2852-222 v.00 So no luck there. BTW these two sensors are within 10' of each other. Link to comment
larryllix Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 Brian, The PLM links Table queried from the ISY is 263 entries, PLM info /status says v85 The PLM label is: 2412S Rev 3.1 0852 As for batteries, they were brand new amazon basics, so no lithium like the original batteries, didn't expect them to last as long (though these sensors are new, but some of them are refurbish so who knows how old the batteries were). I still find it strange how the some of the old sensors have no issues, it's only the newer ones I added. I guess I could compare revision/models Looking in the ISY only a leak sensor with no issues is: 2852-222 v00 One that is having issues shows up the same: 2852-222 v.00 So no luck there. BTW these two sensors are within 10' of each other. IIRC the lithium batteries were 3 volts. Alkaline and zinc carbon are 1.5v. Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk Link to comment
Brian H Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 The older 2412S is single band so the sensors have to have their RF signals passed to the PLM from another Dual Band Module. RF can be strange so I can't say whey you seem to see one sensor OK and one ten feet from it is flaky. I looked. The Amazon basics CR132A are a three volt Lithium battery. If that is what you used they should work fine. I didn't see the capacity rating on then but I doubt they would be any worse than the original ones Smarthome is using. Only thing I did see was a warning about one brand of camera. My guess would be the camera may have high current spikes when being used. I did find in a search. An alkaline A132. It was also a 3 volt cell but it probably would have a much lower life. A rechargeable CR132 it also was a 3 volt cell. Link to comment
brockp Posted May 12, 2018 Author Share Posted May 12, 2018 No the leak sensors all use AA's 1.5V, Link to comment
brockp Posted May 12, 2018 Author Share Posted May 12, 2018 Actually on top of that, I should have kept those batteries, Insteaon claims those batteries should be good for 10 years, https://www.insteon.com/leak-sensor Link to comment
Brian H Posted May 12, 2018 Share Posted May 12, 2018 Yes I was thinking about the Motion Sensor II. Thanks for the correction. No telling how good the original ones where or if the ten years is a typical calculation. I had a AA cell in a Open Closed Sensor package. Weak from the factory. Link to comment
brockp Posted May 13, 2018 Author Share Posted May 13, 2018 So given I put in brand new batteries, and I'm still missing heartbeats do you think the newer/faster PLM would help? Or should I just change my timeout to miss two heartbeats before raising an issue? I just worry not just the false positives about issues, but while I have not missed any 'wet' messages when I test, that those messages will be lost also and defeat the point of having the sensors. Link to comment
larryllix Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Yup. 1.5V. I just confirmed mine. I didn't know there was such a thing as 1.5v lithium cells. My bad. Link to comment
Brian H Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 I too forgot there are Lithium AA and AAA cells. They do run higher in voltage. I just measured some AA and AAA ones. From package ~1.7V DC 50mA load and ~1.65V DC 100mA load. Link to comment
brockp Posted June 23, 2018 Author Share Posted June 23, 2018 I replaced my PLM with a new dual band PLM and I have not had a problem sense receiving heartbeats. Link to comment
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