Controlling Light with Motion Sensor

[Kentinada]

I have 2 simple programs (attached) to control the ON and Off of my Office light. I want it to turn the light on when I walk into the office and as long as it detects motion, leave it on.  When the motion sensor has been off for 5 minutes, I want the light to go out.  These 2 programs are close but don't quite handle all situations.  Suggestions?  Thanks.

 

[Techman]

What are you using for a motion sensor. Is it battery or A/C powered.

What do you mean by it "won't handle all situations", can you elaborate.

 

 

 

[apostolakisl]

are these all insteon devices?  If so, link them directly and get rid of the program.  Direct links work much faster and avoid unnecessary clutter in your program tree.

[Kentinada]

These all all INSTEON devices. The motion sensor is a 2842-222 sensor.  What happens is the detection of motion turns on the light no problem.  But some how the program to turn the light off doesn't always work. i.e. the light can still be on long after the 5 minute timer should be up. 

If I direct link the motion sensor and plug module, how does that keep the light on?  Not sure how direct linking helps. 

[paulbates]

7 hours ago, Kentinada said:

If I direct link the motion sensor and plug module, how does that keep the light on?  Not sure how direct linking helps. 

The motion sensor can be set to send an "on" to a device or scene when it detects motion, and then sends an "off" after a specified amount of time. You'll need to look at the manual for 2842-222 as well as options in the admin console to change the settings. Some things can be set in ISY options and some things are jumper pins on the back..but its not hard to figure out

What type of light is it.. regular, LED, fluorescent, low voltage? An unreliable "off" command could be because the light you are turning on is injecting line noise and possibly cause the "off" message to not reach the switch once its turned on...unlikely but possible and easy to eliminate: 

• To test if the load is the problem, remove the light bulbs if possible and retest.
   
• If that doesn't solve it, add to your program's then clause, put a 3 second wait at the end, and another turn light off. The motion sensor does this, it sends 2 "Off" commands a few seconds apart

Edited November 10, 2023 by paulbates

[RRoyceus]

Try this. I found that at times I don't move around enough to trigger the motion.  I set a slow ramp rate so when I notice the lights are going off, I wave my hand.

 

[apostolakisl]

As @paulbates said. Sounds like the light fixture is electricly "noisy". Might need a filter or a light that has cleaner electronics. And unless you have circumstances to control "off" that are more than just waiting a few minutes after last motion, you would be better off letting the MS be in control and skipping the program. 

[Kentinada]

It's not a noise problem.  The light works fine through the app or by telling Alexa to turn it on or off.  The problem is the OFF program which is triggered by the status of the motion sensor going to the OFF state.  The OFF program starts to run but then somehow the program gets stopped and the timer never runs out and the light stays on.  So looking at my original OFF program above, if the motion goes back ON when the 5 minute timer is running, does this stop that program?  

[jec6613]

46 minutes ago, Kentinada said:

So looking at my original OFF program above, if the motion goes back ON when the 5 minute timer is running, does this stop that program?  

Yes, every time the On is sent, it restarts the program.

[Kentinada]

OK I think I have the programs working correctly.  One dumb error on my part. In the OFF program, I had the wrong motion sensor selected to test.  Duh.  Fixed that.  Plus I added a "Stop program 'Office Lights OFF' command to the On program after it turns on the light so that the OFF timer stops running and won't restart until the motion sensor goes back to OFF again.  All is good.  Thanks.