How To Test A Wired Motion Sensor Without Alarm Panel
- Thread starter ccmichaelson
- Start date
ccmichaelson said:
The battery will work to power the detector. But a battery like that can provide a lot of current (i.e. amps), and that can be a hazard if you aren't careful. You want to be very sure that you don't short the wires while connected to that battery. If there is a short, the battery can deliver hundreds of amps for a short time, melting the wires and possibly causing burns or a fire.
A reasonably safe way to do this is to first connect the wires on one end of the cable to the terminals of the PIR detector. Put F1 or F2 connectors (that match the battery terminals) on the other end of the cable. Then when you are ready to test things, slide the terminals onto the battery lugs. An even safer approach would be to place a fuse of 1 Amp or so inline with the wire going to the positive battery terminal.
I don't mean to scare you. But since you said you aren't a hardware type of guy, I want to make you aware of the possible hazards.
If you don't feel comfortable with this, then I'd recommend using the 12V wall wart instead. At 15V, it's right on the edge of being acceptable, but it will not be able to deliver a potentially dangerous amount of current like the battery can. The wall wart probably won't blow up the detector, even if it is a little bit over 15V. You'd be trading one risk (that of a short that could result in injury to you), for another, probably lower, risk (that of damaging the detector).
Cheap wall warts have that over voltage so that they will be at 12V under full load. If it worries you, just connect something like a 12v lamp across the voltage and the voltage will quickly drop. If the wall wart is rated at 200ma, for example, maybe a 100ma 12v lamp will work good. You'll be at 12.5v to 13v range with the bulb attached, but I don't think 15v should harm a motion detector in any case.
I'd still recommend the battery and a couple of .250 F1 connectors and call it a day. Maybe a fuse on the positive if we were being extra cautious. I think, in the case of a prewire, it's the safest option. Nobody mentioned the need for 120VAC and whether or not the extension cord would be grounded and connected to a GFCI. That's a heck of a lot more dangerous than a DC battery if I were to choose between the two.RAL said:
In the case of the wall wart, many of the cheap units out there (Chinese seem to be the worst offenders) the secondary is typically not fused, so a short will generally cause a failure and overheat until something gives, either the LV or HV portion. While it's not an explosion risk like a shorted battery, it's still not a pleasant day if that happens.
@ Ano, the older reed relay based PIR's were/are a little more tolerant to over volt compared to the newer solid state units. Just tossing it out there.
ccmichaelson
Active Member
Sweet - my motion sensors arrived today and the wall wart works like a champ... Now the dilemma is if I should purchase the Bosch BlueLine Gen 2 PIR or PIR + Microwave version.
I have both of them and it seems like just the PIR is more sensitive to movement, which is what I am looking for because I plan to put a motion in every room of my house to augment my lighting control.
I will have an Elk M1 gold and an ISY994i and plan to trigger lightings on/off when motion is detected. Based on my initial walk test, the PIR model (ISC-BPR2-W12) is faster at responding to movement then the PIR+Microwave model (ISC-BDL2-W12G). I called bosch tech support prior to purchasing these units and they claimed that the PIR+Microwave version is faster/better but that's not what I am seeing...?
Another bonus is that the PIR only model is 1/2 the cost.
I have both of them and it seems like just the PIR is more sensitive to movement, which is what I am looking for because I plan to put a motion in every room of my house to augment my lighting control.
I will have an Elk M1 gold and an ISY994i and plan to trigger lightings on/off when motion is detected. Based on my initial walk test, the PIR model (ISC-BPR2-W12) is faster at responding to movement then the PIR+Microwave model (ISC-BDL2-W12G). I called bosch tech support prior to purchasing these units and they claimed that the PIR+Microwave version is faster/better but that's not what I am seeing...?
Another bonus is that the PIR only model is 1/2 the cost.
And usually has 2X the false alarm potential for the perceived capture performance. There's a reason why there's a cost difference. Devil in the details.
Dualtecs are what should be installed for security wherever possible. PIR's are the "base/economy" model.
You need to determine what is important, verified capture performance or more sensitive PIR performance that may cause falsing in the hopes of being able to use a single detector for both security and occupancy (which will always be a compromise and have lackluster performance on both).
Remember, the detectors need to be adjusted after being installed. Also, if you're in a prewire situation, consider the weather/temperature. A 98.6 degree body in the summer, open unconditioned space will always have poor capture performance, no matter what the detector. Not enough contrast for the pyro on the detector.
Dualtecs are what should be installed for security wherever possible. PIR's are the "base/economy" model.
You need to determine what is important, verified capture performance or more sensitive PIR performance that may cause falsing in the hopes of being able to use a single detector for both security and occupancy (which will always be a compromise and have lackluster performance on both).
Remember, the detectors need to be adjusted after being installed. Also, if you're in a prewire situation, consider the weather/temperature. A 98.6 degree body in the summer, open unconditioned space will always have poor capture performance, no matter what the detector. Not enough contrast for the pyro on the detector.
PIR+Microwave will be slower because both need to trip before the zone trips. Tech support likes them because they cost more.
To prevent false alarms read about the "cross zoning" feature and turn it on. Then add lots of motion detectors and add them alll to cross zoning. No false alarms and good motion detection for lighting control.
To prevent false alarms read about the "cross zoning" feature and turn it on. Then add lots of motion detectors and add them alll to cross zoning. No false alarms and good motion detection for lighting control.
ccmichaelson
Active Member
In my existing home I have motion sensors all over the place. 95% of the time those motion sensors are useless because most of the time at least one member of the family is at home. At night only the doors/windows are armed. Why not leverage the motions (strategically placed in my new home) to automate my house? For example, during the weekday (during school months) I plan to use my ISY994 to trigger Insteon/Z-Wave lights to ramp up in my kid's bedroom (help them wake up). If the motion in their room doesn't trigger in x minutes then play music (or loud warnings) via my WHA speaker(s) in their room. If my HA controller sees motion in their room, then in bathroom it knows they are in the shower (or at least going potty). If I see movement in bathroom then in room X perform action 123... you get the idea.
Ano, this is not true. Anyone that has spent any time in the field installing and servicing would disagree with you. If that were the case, you'd need to look at the progression of the PIR's over the years and what detection had been added to help eliminate false alarm problems, all the way up to today with a ton of extra chips to filter the pyro element signatures. Same holds true with detectors installed in hot or hostile enviroments. Care to guess how many PIR's don't capture with 100 degree heat or high heat items in their pattern (or false) yet a PIR or RCR detector works fine?ano said:
Straight PIR are horrible for false alarm immunity. Cross zoning is a band-aid approach to help mitigate a false alarm issue or potential. It goes back to the days when guys would either add a capacitor across the alarm relay of a detector (PE beams or old school PIR's) or wire multiple PIR's in parallel in the same vicinity to attempt to eliminate a false alarm issue. The only thing modern cross zoning does is set a trip timer and software zone pooling to eliminate the old hard links that would be installed. Cross zoning is a way for poor system design and execution to still function and minimize the triggers.
A properly sighted and adjusted PIR or dualtec will have the same performance but one will have higher false alarm immunity. The industry standard is typically a 3 pulse count for an alarm.
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