Strange False Alarm Today...

[jmed999]

I had a strange false alarm today and I'm trying to figure out how to prevent it from happening again.
 
The cleaning lady came today and opened the front door like she does every time she comes to the house.  She immediately walked toward the keypad which is at the garage entry door.  As she walked the alarm went off.  The alarm is an Elk M1G with Alarm Relay and Bold Net.  She typed in her code and it turned the alarm off.  I got a call from Alarm Relay like I should have and the rest was history.
 
When I got home, I looked at the alarm log on Bold Net and noticed the living room motion (interior) was violated first.  Then 8 seconds later the front door zone (perimeter) was violated.  So basically the front door sensor was somehow violated after the interior motion detector was violated which gave her no delay to get to the keypad and type her password in.
 
I called Alarm Relay and put my system in test mode to see if I could duplicate the Alarm.  I armed away and walked out the front door.  Once armed I walked in the front door.  This time I was given a delay to enter my password so everything worked as it should.  I can't seem to duplicate the alarm but I'm sure it didn't fix itself and will likely happen again.
 
Any ideas as to how I can prevent this?  How could the motion be violated before she even walked in?  Anything I could check to see if I have a mistake in ELK RP?  Any other suggestions?  
 
Thanks!

 

[jpmargis]

My guess would be that you have a sticky sensor on the front door.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

How is the motion sensor set to trip?  With a time delay, follower, etc...
 
Also, what is the entry delay time you set up with the Elk?  Are both of those sensors in the same defined area?

 

[newalarm]

just out of curiosity, what is a sticky sensor? I can't figure out how that would work on a magnetic contact, unless the magnet fell out and somehow stayed at the door frame...

 

[jmed999]

How is the motion sensor set to trip?  With a time delay, follower, etc...
 
Also, what is the entry delay time you set up with the Elk?  Are both of those sensors in the same defined area?

The motion is not on a time delay and it isn't a follower. The entry delay is 30sec. Both sensors are in the same area.

 

[jmed999]

My guess would be that you have a sticky sensor on the front door.

The door sensor is a wireless GE recessed sensor. Not sure how it can "stick". It has been working properly since installed a few months ago. No communication or low batt errors.

 

[dougmeredith]

For some reason your system was late in detecting that the door opened.  Pure speculation, but if the wireless sensor expects an ACK, radio interference could have caused it to fail, and then retry a few seconds later.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Just to clarify, BOTH the door sensor AND the motion sensor are on the SAME entry delay of 30 seconds?

 

[jmed999]

Just to clarify, BOTH the door sensor AND the motion sensor are on the SAME entry delay of 30 seconds?

The entry delay is 30 sec but since the motion detectors are set to "interior" then they do not have a delay unless a "perimeter" (ie front door) is violated first.

Thanks for everyone's help so far!

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Again, I'm not an expert, but I think that is your problem, as the 'interior' is set to give an instant alarm during away mode and is ignored when armed in a 'stay' mode.
 
From the Elk manual on zone types:

 

04 Burglar Interior - For motion detectors, interior doors, etc. Creates an instant alarm if tripped during the AWAY arm
mode. This zone type IS NOT ACTIVE during the STAY, STAY INSTANT, NITE, and NITE INSTANT arm modes.

05 Burglar Interior Follower - For motions detectors, interior doors, etc. which may be in the keypad or entry pathway.
If an entry delay zone is violated first, this zone will delay (Follow) also, otherwise it will create an instant alarm.
This zone type IS NOT ACTIVE during the STAY, STAY INSTANT, NITE, and NITE INSTANT arm modes.

 
You may want to consider the 'interior follower' for your motion sensor zone type.

 

[jmed999]

Again, I'm not an expert, but I think that is your problem, as the 'interior' is set to give an instant alarm during away mode and is ignored when armed in a 'stay' mode.
 
From the Elk manual on zone types:

 
 
You may want to consider the 'interior follower' for your motion sensor zone type.

This is something to consider for sure.  I need to check again when I get home to see if they are indeed set to interior.....it sounds like they may be set to interior follower.  Either way it wouldn't have helped in this false alarm.  The motion decector was violated 1st then the door sensor was violated about 8 seconds later.  So in this example the motion wouldn't have had anything to follow.  Something delayed the door senser from being violated and what ever that was is the problem.
 
Thanks for your help and great suggestion!

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

OK, another easy thing to check while you are in the Elk system is to just look at the voltage for that zone and see if it is fluctuating in both violated and normal states.  This would give a quick check to make sure you don't have any hardware/wiring problems that can easily stand out.
 
Did you happen to have severe weather changes or humidity increases during that time frame?

 

[jmed999]

There wasn't any severe weather or humidy changes.  Just a normal day in the 60s and cloudy.

 

[michelkenny]

Is the door set to fast loop or slow loop?

 

[chrisexv6]

Probably a dumb question but is it possible something fell in the living room area and tripped the motion?
 
Like if the cleaning lady hit a wall or something from outside.