Hi !, Is there any way to bypass a motion sensor in hubitat?
In a motion sensor when the battery die they die active, I understand why they do that but that screwed my automations big time. I created a rule that notifies me when a motion is active for long time , so I know the sensor has died but , I can't not bypass it or ignore it with out modifying the logic. Also I run automations to check the batteries level but it doesn't seems to be very reliable so I always replace batteries too early or too late. If always happens when I am away , many of my automations wont execute correctly.
Thank you in advance
The behavior you are describing doesn't sound correct, but maybe you have an unusual sensor. Why would a motion sensor report active if the battery died? It would simply stop reporting, and motion inactive is the odds-on favorite to be the last state it reported.
Battery reporting from devices can be iffy. It isn't the automation that is unreliable, but the device reporting.
Maybe you could create a virtual switch to turn on if you believe a sensor has died, and make that sensor being off a required condition for your rule.
I would suggest telling us what sensor models we are talking about, and also posting an example rule that you wish to work differently.
1 Like
It's common with the Aeon MultiSensor 6's that I have so many of... As the OP indicated, I tend to notice when they show active for days.
Batteries die ultra fast in my experience. You see the battery report.. 92% and you have to say to your self, " oh that will be dead tomorrow." It seems common to me that most of the stuck MS6 I look at have battery at around 88%. Battery levels get reported at a low rate.. once an hour or so.. so between battery reports if the sensor goes active, that radio burst may be the very thing that eats the last of the battery. Least that's been my hypothesis for why it seems so common to me.
2 Likes
What make/model of motion sensors are you using?
Thank you for the comments , The sensors report active just before the battery die. If I remove the battery they just die in in the last state. I always thought that this was a normal behaviour, a way for motion sensors to tell that they are not longer reporting. (always happening when the battery is low , in my case around 30%) I have seem this behaviours with all my sansung smartthings motion sensors and also with a zooz zwave sensor. The logic i use is very simple but I can see the sensor get stoked in "active" state when logic fails. maybe it just loose communication with the hub?
The inbuilt drivers don't monitor the device health, so when the battery dies, the last successfully sent attributes will stay forever. As the device draws 100 times much more power when it transmits a message to the hub ( 'motion active' as an example), it is very likely that this will be the last motion state.. and the battery will show 30% forever too..
For the Samsung motion sensors (Zigbee) you can try some custom drivers, which will automatically reset the motion to inactive when nothing is received from the sensor for some period of time, i.e. the device is offline to the hub. Probably such custom drivers exist for Z-Wave motion sensors as well.
2 Likes
You can install either Device Activity Check or Device Watchdog which will check it's status every 12 hours (or when you set it to). If it hasn't checked in you'll get notified. As to bypassing it, I don't think that's possible. What make/model is it?
1 Like
If it's stuck in an active or open state you could use a simple app to close it or mark it as inactive while you search for a battery. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/thebearmay/hubitat/main/apps/forceClose.groovy is one such app.
5 Likes
For each of my motion sensors I have a switch nearby, usually the device the motion is controlling, that I can disable by tapping up three times, and re-enable by tapping down three time. It's kind of a convention, but then again, I'm the only one who's at my place who's remembers.
The switches are GE/Jasco toggles using @JasonJoel 's driver which allows more buttons than the stock driver. The rules are Simple Automation and the taps close or open a restriction switch.
Completely agreed , this is what is happening !, it makes sense. Also I have tried to force the sensor to "inactive" from the detail page in hubitat but nothing change. Could you point me in the right direction to find this custom driver?
1 Like
This seems to be something good to have , where can I find this? in custom apps?
I have the old samsung smarttings motion sensors (zigbee), they are very reliable
1 Like
wow it is a bit advance for me but I'll check it , thank you
Yes it's a good idea , I can use the mirror device function maybe but I'll have to modify all my logic and pistons , I was trying to avoid that , thank you
I don't know if it's been mentioned, but you could use the Devices page. This came up the other day. There's a greyed out "X" that if you click on it a column opens up that lets you disable any device you want. See below.
It's also possible with a rule, see actions below.
1 Like
How did you get that??? mine dont have the checkbox.. I just updated to the newest 2.3.5.130.
very interesting !!!
I'm telling you, it's grayed out up top. First you have to check that X and then the column becomes visible.
Plus, I just checked both ways out with my Hue motion and it works. Very easy.
I got it !! thank you so much , I will test it when i get back home !!!!
