Battery status on Insteon Motion Sensor, old version

[tmorse305]

I have a 2842-222 v.44.  At the last battery change, the battery low indicator is stuck 'on'.  I did a factory reset, and restored it via ISY.  It functions correctly, it's just that the battery low indicator will not shut off.  I'm using a lithium type battery which I have used for years.  It's a new  battery and measures just slightly over 9 volts.  Any suggestions?  Thanks

[Techman]

In order to reset the low battery node in the ISY all you need to do is query the node from the ISY after you replace the battery. Right click on the low battery node, the click on query.

No need to reset or restore the sensor.

[tmorse305]

Thanks Techman, I had done the query on the main node thinking it would cover all parameters of the sensor.  Not so I guess, a query on the battery node reset it.

 

 

[jgcharlotte]

I don't use the battery bit as I've found it to be not too reliable.  Instead I use normal operation, such as the day/night bit, if it doesn't see one of those for 24 hours I get a text.  Unfortunately you do not get any advance warning since at that point it's dead, but it is extremely reliable.

[Techman]

Quote

The older motion sensors had a firmware issue, when the battery got low the sensor would start sending out numerous false motion on signals rather than the low battery signal.  It's possible they fixed this issue in a later firmware release prior to the sensor being discontinued.

 

[gviliunas]

1 hour ago, Techman said:

The older motion sensors had a firmware issue, when the battery got low the sensor would start sending out numerous false motion on signals rather than the low battery signal.  It's possible they fixed this issue in a later firmware release prior to the sensor being discontinued.

Up to a few years ago, I was experiencing the dreaded "All-On" event 2-3 times per year. At that time, I had 7 of these first-generation Insteon motion sensors. I replaced all of these with ZWave Multisensor 6 and have never seen an all-On event since. I can't be 100% sure but suspect, as Techman indicated, that these sensors had a problem when the battery level was low. Sometimes just sending errant motion on signals but I also believe they were the cause for my all-On events as well.

[paulbates]

1 hour ago, gviliunas said:

Up to a few years ago, I was experiencing the dreaded "All-On" event 2-3 times per year. At that time, I had 7 of these first-generation Insteon motion sensors. I replaced all of these with ZWave Multisensor 6 and have never seen an all-On event since. I can't be 100% sure but suspect, as Techman indicated, that these sensors had a problem when the battery level was low. Sometimes just sending errant motion on signals but I also believe they were the cause for my all-On events as well.

I still have 3 of them outside and have settled on proactively changing the batteries 6 months apart in the fall and spring, without waiting for the alert

Paul

[Techman]

4 hours ago, gviliunas said:

Up to a few years ago, I was experiencing the dreaded "All-On" event 2-3 times per year. At that time, I had 7 of these first-generation Insteon motion sensors. I replaced all of these with ZWave Multisensor 6 and have never seen an all-On event since. I can't be 100% sure but suspect, as Techman indicated, that these sensors had a problem when the battery level was low. Sometimes just sending errant motion on signals but I also believe they were the cause for my all-On events as well.

I also swapped out some of the older motion sensors for the later version of the "old" sensor, and also replaced some of the motion sensors with the multisensor 6. I haven't experienced an all on event since then. 

The following is from the UDI Wiki:

Random All On events are related to INSTEON commands being sent to the PLM from ISY and, on the other hand, one (or more) INSTEON devices sending events to the PLM at the same time and thus causing packet collision. RF/dual band devices increase the likelihood of this event since they send two packets for each signal.

The combination of the following technique will dramatically reduce the likelihood of All On events:

• You don't have any programs that use Control for a device and then send a Scene command to a scene which includes the same physical device. So different buttons from the same KPL are considered one device

• Don't Use a Control for a device which is already a Controller for some Scene and then have the program send other INSTEON commands to other devices/scenes. This basically causes two or more events arrive at the PLM at the same time

In addition, motion sensors with low battery, sometimes go crazy and start sending sequences of on/off every second or so. As such:

1. Check Tools | Log for sequences of motion sensor on/off every few seconds and in succession
2. If you do have those, change the motion sensor battery