Hi again. I have 4 SmartThings motion sensors: 2 of the 2016 version and 2 of the 2018 version.
The 2018 version sensors paired with no problem as Generic Zigbee Motion Sensor and correctly report motion, temperature, and battery.
Of the 2016 sensors, one paired quickly as a Generic Zigbee Motion Sensor. I had to reset, exclude, reset, etc., the other one several times. It kept pairing as a moisture sensor and changing the device type did not convince it otherwise. It’s now paired correctly. Both of these sensors report motion and temperature, but neither will report battery.
Is this a known weirdness with the 2016 sensors? Searched the forums but I’m obviously not using the right search terms.
Should I dump them in favor of something else? New 2018 sensors, or ???
Try selecting "configure" and then "refresh" on the sensor's device page that should bring over all of it's attributes for you.
Depends on if the superior mounting options, standard battery size (CR2), and better detection range/sensitivity are important to you. I've binned all of my 2016 models due to not being able to obtain replacement batteries (Can't find a shipper to Alaska). The magnetic mount is super cool on the 2018 models too, and sensitivity and range are far superior IMHO. Oh and they're cheap too ($24.95) at my local Best Buy.
What zigbee channel are you using on your HE? I believe the 2016 genre sensors prefer channel 20 or below. Also do you have enough "routers" (powered zigbee devices) as a weak signal can cause all kinds of pairing and performance issues.
Just for "fun" try removing the battery and re-inserting it on one of the devices to see if that causes a report to send. If that doesn't get you going I would probably open a support ticket perhaps something is broken in the latest HE platform build?
Edit: disregard on the theory that it's a platform issue, I just added a "spare" Iris V2 motion sensor (same generic zigbee driver) and battery value populated immediately.
I have a couple of these as well (in very low traffic areas) that I just changed the batteries in both of them a couple weeks ago, and already one is reporting only 34% and the other is at 0%, and both work just fine. Thought I got a bad batch of batteries until this post, .....I'm just going to ignore the battery level and change them when the device stops working.
Surprised to learn this. Weren’t the older ST motion sensors made by Cenralite? Would have expected them to be as reliable as the Sylvania Lightify or IRIS, both also Centralite.
I will probably be pitching these anyways once I run out of batteries as these are the only devices I have that use that battery, and they are a bit pricey batteries compared to others
It's only the battery that's been weird on mine. They're very fast and reliable with regard to motion. I don't use the temperature, but they seem to agree with the other thermometers in the same areas.
I'll probably dump them, though, in favor of either the 2018 version, because I like the mount, or something like the Dome that has lux as well.
Their use location doesn't have power access, and I'm not much on spending more on outdated equipment, One of the things I do now that I didn't do when starting in this rabbit hole, was to look at batteries on devices in such so that I can consolidate battery stocks and have them mainly universal.
I'm a really big fan of the Hue motion sensors (although a bit pricey) but they use the standard easy to find/get AA's and after over a month of using it, is still at 100% And I love the driver Mike created that adjusts their re-trigger out to over a minute freeing up repeated logs from active/inactive as these and my other motion sensors repeatedly log re-triggering..
I would definitely try, or at least consider the new SmartThings motion sensor. They’re very nice. I prefer them to Hue, which I find pricey as you mention, but I find the Hue reaction time is quite slow too.
I have one Hue motion sensor that's paired with my Hue hub. It's in a room where I need a simple automation: turn the light on if there's motion, but not if the light level is already adequate. It works quite well for that. I didn't find it very successful when paired with SmartThings (YMMV), which is why I re-paired it to the Hue hub. The areas where the other sensors are located have complex enough automations that the Hue hub can't handle what I want.
+1 on the 2018 SmartThings motion sensors - form factor and battery life are much improved over previous generations. Response time is also very good. I still have some 2015 and 2016 ST motion sensors deployed but have otherwise standardized on the 2018 versions.
Just looked at it......again would have to keep stock of a different size battery I don't currently use, kinda a deal breaker for me as I already stock 4 different battery types and am looking to consolidate down.
Same scenario as you, except I tried to get it work with HE. Tried a couple of times, no response from them on HE, so moved back to Hue and it’s PIA to do each time, so vowed to stop doing that. However, this was before the driver was reworked in all fairness, and everyone is saying that it works well.
I have about 6 of the ST motion sensors. some use a CR2450 battery, others a CR2477 battery. About 8 months ago Samsuck pushed firmware updates that destroyed the battery life on these sensors.That was the last straw, gave ST the boot and came to Hubitat-Best decision ever.
I now have about 15 Iris motion sensors,all using Soshine rechargable CR2(15270) batteries. I get between 6-10 months before recharging. Beware if you go this route, as the discharge curve is steep with lithium, 100% today, dead tomorrrow. I just keep them charged in a regular cycle and it's not a problem.
