Elk M1G may send multiple emails

[Photon]

I have a rule to send an email to my business address when one of my home's overhead garage doors opens. It functions whether or not the system is armed. It works flawlessly 90% of the time. The other 10% it will send the notification anywhere from two to six times. The magnetic switch on the door is set to entry/exit delay 2, force armable, Slow Loop Response (400ms).

I assume this is caused by the contacts bouncing in the switch, but I can't get it to repeat when I am there on the ladder with my meter on the switch contacts. Furthermore, the contacts open when the magnet moves about 1.5 inches away, but they need to be only about half that gap to close. Bouncing doesn't seem likely. I've thought about just trying to add a delay in the rule, but it seems to me this is a mechanical error; not an Elk problem.

Has anyone encountered this phenomenon? How did you fix it?

Regards. . . . .John

 

[thewireguy]

I have a rule to send an email to my business address when one of my home's overhead garage doors opens. It functions whether or not the system is armed. It works flawlessly 90% of the time. The other 10% it will send the notification anywhere from two to six times. The magnetic switch on the door is set to entry/exit delay 2, force armable, Slow Loop Response (400ms).

I assume this is caused by the contacts bouncing in the switch, but I can't get it to repeat when I am there on the ladder with my meter on the switch contacts. Furthermore, the contacts open when the magnet moves about 1.5 inches away, but they need to be only about half that gap to close. Bouncing doesn't seem likely. I've thought about just trying to add a delay in the rule, but it seems to me this is a mechanical error; not an Elk problem.

Has anyone encountered this phenomenon? How did you fix it?

Regards. . . . .John

What switch are you using? where did you mount it on the door? I bet the wind is causing your problem.

 

[Photon]

I bought these sensors for the garage doors:
http://www.automatedoutlet.com/product.php...=203&page=1

I mounted them at a top corner of the doors. I monitor only one door by email. You may have something there about the wind. We've had horrible weather the last couple weeks with winds gusting over 60MPH. If the door was opened during one of these blasts, I can imagine that could be responsible for multiple trips.

Thanks. . . . John

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

That product offers a three inch gap, yet you said it will trip on 1.5 inches in your earlier post. How close do you have the magnet from the sensor (door closed)? Can you provide a picture?

Check to see if wind is a problem by violently shaking the garage door. Again, this sensor is supposed to offer a three inch gap so unless your magnet is already near that point when you mounted it, you should not be experiencing this problem. Also, maybe have the Elk announce when the garage door opens or closes so you can get a handle on exactly when this happens.

FYI, below is a pic of how I mounted mine on the top of the door.

 

[Photon]

If I shove the door against the weatherstrip, the magnet-to-switch gap is about 1/8 inch. If I yank it the other way it is maybe twice that much. I have chime set to voice, so I can hear it when it opens. That feature functions as designed: one announcement per opening. It only sends multiple emails about 10% of the time.

I think the attached foto shows my installation is not unlike many others. The white cylinders are PVC pipe I used to space the switch up from the nearest piece of husky material near the top of the door.

 

[rfdesq]

Unfortunately, M1 slow loop response time is a global setting. If not, you could set that zone for a 2 1/2 second violation time which should end any bouncing from the wind.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Curious, do you have this zone as an EOL? What is the value of the voltage (read with a meter set to DC volts) on the zone with the door open and closed?

Setting as a non-EOL and taking the resistor out will give you a lot more noise immunity. I would suggest possibly switching to that method pending results from the above steps.

EDIT: Before you do this, can you disconnect the zone from the Elk and take a resistance reading (meter on ohms) with the door open and closed. Make sure your fingers are not on the wire/lead ends as this will influence the reading!

 

[Photon]

I have this zone, and most others, set as NC; not EOL. 0.0V at the circuit board door closed; 13.7V door open. Disconnected wires from terminal strip and measured 6.6 Ohms with door closed; infinity with door open. I should have mentioned before that this zone is on an input expander board. From what I understand of response times for devices on the bus, I should actually have less likelihood of multiple triggering than if on the main board.

We've been in the new house for 18 months, and I found the box with my oscilloscope this weekend. Maybe I'll find the probes before another 18 months go by and I can check for ringing when the reed switch opens.

BSR, thanks for your help.

Regards. . . . John

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Well, I'm at a complete loss for why this is happening.

If the fix rfdesq mentioned above doesn't work you can always do a "hardware" bandaid and use an Elk-960 as a "one-shot". That unit will trigger when it sees the first logic change, but then will "hold" its relays closed for a time that you set. You would then connect those relay contacts to a separate Elk zone (and use that zone just for triggering the Email alerts).

Sort of a funny way to go about this though as we aren't really getting to the problem itself...

 

[Photon]

I guess my main goal in solving this issue is to learn more about the Elk and alarms in general. My first thought was to take a 555 timer IC and throw together a one-shot. Then I decided it would be more educational to add a time delay in the rule. Either way it fixes the symptom; not the cause. I think I'll live with it until I find my scope probes, and then I can see what is really happening.

Regards. . . . .John

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Agree and hope you find the real problem.

FYI, you might also want to take a look at this post describing a rule/method for ignoring a glitch.