Do motion sensors lose range over time? Age?

[theedudenator]

Have a Honeywell wireless motion under my car port.   Outside but not in any weather.
 
It used to work perfect, but after 5 years, plus another 5 from when I bought it.
The range of detection is like 5 foot now.
 
Is this normal?
I did just replace both batteries with no improvement.
 
Running on ELK M1

 

[ano]

Have a Honeywell wireless motion under my car port.   Outside but not in any weather.
 
It used to work perfect, but after 5 years, plus another 5 from when I bought it.
The range of detection is like 5 foot now.
 
Is this normal?
I did just replace both batteries with no improvement.
 
Running on ELK M1

Just so you know, the range of these vary widely with temperature. The closer it is to 98.6, the worse they will work. In colder weather they should work better.

 

[LarrylLix]

Winter is coming. Some bug may have curled up for  the winter hybernation, inside the lens.

 

[theedudenator]

I had it in the house last night.  
Cleaned it out and new battery.
 
Walking close to the room it is in triggered it.
 
Mounted it back outside.  My car driving close would not set it off.
Had to wave my hand 12" from the sensor to trigger it.
It was 65F out.

 

[upstatemike]

Can the plastic lense covering the IR sensor eventually degrade from exposure to UV outdoors? Most plastics are affected by UV over time.

 

[ano]

Passive IR motion detectors operate at 8000nm to 14000nm which is pretty far up there. Plastics certainly degrade over time, and the focus of the detector may be off if the plastic has distorted. This wavelength band is termed "mid-IR" and it operates like visible light. You could shine a flashlight on it to see if it focuses on the sensor. Open it and make sure the sensor is not dusty. Maybe use compressed air to dust it off. 10 years, especially if it's outdoors, is not an untypical lifetime for these types of sensors. 
 
I should add, about 39 years ago I had the pleasure of working with one of the engineers that designed the passive IR sensor. Not the original one, but a different way of creating them. I was an engineering intern at the time doing a whole lot of testing on passive IR sensors at a company named Detection Systems. It was fun.

 

[Torrentine]

With the right security system, a motion sensor light should work well. But like any other component, things can eventually wear out. A bad sensor or bulb could be to blame for the light not working.