Motion Sensor II not for outdoors?

[Kentinada]

It appears that the 2nd generation INSTEON Motion Sensor II is indoors only?  What do we do for outdoors now?  

[larryllix]

1 hour ago, Kentinada said:

It appears that the 2nd generation INSTEON Motion Sensor II is indoors only?  What do we do for outdoors now?  

The first MS version was indoors only also. It didn't stop people from using it outdoors in protected environments though.

@paulbates uses his MSes with some glue to seal the face, in northern US weather, protected from precipitation of course.

[jec6613]

I have a bunch of MSII outdoors, and an MSI outdoors as well.  I protect them from direct rain with overhangs mostly, but even the one just under a gutter works fine after a couple of years out there.  Northern US weather, even in below zero they work fine.  They are modestly sealed for use in bathrooms, where I also have three battery powered ones.

The biggest piece of advice besides keeping them under overhangs is to, if possible, USB power them.  The CR123A are much better than the 9V in the MSI in extremes of temperature, but USB powering them means I never have to worry about any of that.  Also, I installed them realizing that I might lose one or two eventually, so I just figured that into the cost and bought a spare I keep around.

If I were doing it today though, HomeSeer has a floodlight integrated motion sensor that is properly weatherproof, and Zooz has an outdoor motion sensor that is rated for the colder and higher temperatures and has modestly better weather sealing (still keep it under an overhang though).  Since I have the ZW module and extenders for my door locks, it would be better for me to use those, but at the time they weren't available.

[Kentinada]

11 hours ago, larryllix said:

The first MS version was indoors only also. It didn't stop people from using it outdoors in protected environments though.

@paulbates uses his MSes with some glue to seal the face, in northern US weather, protected from precipitation of course.

@larryllix From the 1st gen motion sensor manual, it says it was indoor/outdoor which is why I asked the original question. 

@jec6613 The HomeSeer and Zooz option you mention are Zwave devices correct?  I don't have Zwave. Not sure how big a deal it is to add to my ISY/INSTEON environment.

Thanks for the replies though both of you.  I appreciate the information I get here.

[jec6613]

1 hour ago, Kentinada said:

@larryllix From the 1st gen motion sensor manual, it says it was indoor/outdoor which is why I asked the original question. 

@jec6613 The HomeSeer and Zooz option you mention are Zwave devices correct?  I don't have Zwave. Not sure how big a deal it is to add to my ISY/INSTEON environment.

Thanks for the replies though both of you.  I appreciate the information I get here.

Z-wave is a simple add-on board, though you'll likely need some range extenders. 

Though the MSI was marketed as indoor/outdoor, the weather resistance and temperature range is similar to the current MSII.  The OEM for both considers them indoor only. 

One other large change is detection range and fresnel lens angle, which on the MSI was more suitable for outdoor use, while the MSII is somewhat shorter in most setups. I do have one where they're similar since I'm looking at a 90 degree slice, and use a second MSII for the other 90 degree slice since they're on opposite sides of a beam sticking out of the house. 

[Kentinada]

@jec6613Thanks. I have ordered the Z-wave add-on for my ISY and a Zwave outdoor motion sensor.  I guess now I'll have to look into Zwave extenders.  Any suggestions?

[lilyoyo1]

37 minutes ago, Kentinada said:

@jec6613Thanks. I have ordered the Z-wave add-on for my ISY and a Zwave outdoor motion sensor.  I guess now I'll have to look into Zwave extenders.  Any suggestions?

Any hardwired zwave devices would work. I prefer using receptacles so that I don't have to worry about things getting unplugged or moved around (this can greatly affect your system). 

You can also use different plug in modules such as lamp modules or appliance modules. Aeotech has their 500 series range extender as well. The main thing is to make sure that whatever you buy is zwave plus

[jec6613]

23 minutes ago, lilyoyo1 said:

Any hardwired zwave devices would work. I prefer using receptacles so that I don't have to worry about things getting unplugged or moved around (this can greatly affect your system). 

You can also use different plug in modules such as lamp modules or appliance modules. Aeotech has their 500 series range extender as well. The main thing is to make sure that whatever you buy is zwave plus

While any hardwired devices work for sensors, if you want door locks eventually, you'll need devices which support Beaming, and very few receptacles and switches support Beaming, and it's a long dig through the spec sheet to find out.

I use the Dome extenders, and have ordered some Aeotec 700 series.  The Dome are cheap, support Beaming, and are 500 series ZW Plus with S2 support.  As an added bonus, you can control their built in light for a night light.  The Aeotec 700 series are one of the only 700 series devices at the moment, and all 700 series repeaters support Beaming and S2 (it's optional on ZW Plus/ZW 500 series) - so I'm adding them to future proof and provide some additional paths.  That said, they're about twice the cost.

Both can also be powered via USB, which is quite handy.

[lilyoyo1]

1 hour ago, Kentinada said:

@jec6613Thanks. I have ordered the Z-wave add-on for my ISY and a Zwave outdoor motion sensor.  I guess now I'll have to look into Zwave extenders.  Any suggestions?

Here's a link to a write up I did about zwave with the Isy. Hopefully it'll help you with a variety of things

 

 

[Kentinada]

Very helpful.  Thanks.

[Kentinada]

@jec6613 I looked on Aeotec's website and they pointed me to Amazon to buy their products.  Amazon says the 700 series repeaters are out of stock and they have no idea if and when they'll be back in stock.  But they did have the 600 series.  What did you think of those?

[jec6613]

4 hours ago, Kentinada said:

@jec6613 I looked on Aeotec's website and they pointed me to Amazon to buy their products.  Amazon says the 700 series repeaters are out of stock and they have no idea if and when they'll be back in stock.  But they did have the 600 series.  What did you think of those?

Their extender 6 is a 500 series device. They're fine, but the Dome are cheaper for the same thing so.... 

I think I ordered some of the last right now, shipments from China are way down due to lack of shipping capacity coupled with the stimulus checks driving Q4 type purchasing in electronics.