These Bosch Sensors have high WAF!

[kwilcox]

Following the advice of fellow Cocooners from a different thread, I ordered up some Bosch Blue line 2 pet immune security sensors from Surviellent Security systems. Here's the info from Bosch's site: Blue Line Gen2 TriTech Motion Detectors. Everything showed up as ordered today so I installed the living room sensor after work. The wife really likes their clean, unobtrusive look and low cost. Plus they're powered over 22/4 shielded LV wiring like the rest of the motion sensors so no more batteries to change. Installation was a breeze too; they have beveled corners with mounting holes so they go right into a corner next to the ceiling which hides wiring (ceiling drop) nicely. The mount has a nice little built in level too. After installation, just snap the sensor in place by sliding from the bottom up.

We'll see how much she likes 'em in the morning after the cats have had the run of the place overnight though. Currently, intruder detection turns on all lights in the affected zone, along with the MBR lights at 30%. I've tried all kinds of pet rejection logic but the cats have overcome all obstacles and could still trip the old, non pet-immune ones occasionally. I was getting afraid that they were so desensitized that valid intruders wouldn't trigger them.

Hopefully I won't end up sleeping on the couch tomorrow night...

 

[tmbrown97]

The biggest trick with cats and pet immune sensors from my experience is placing them such that cats aren't getting high up in front of them. Even a 100lb pet immune dual-technology sensor can trip if a cat jumps on top of a dresser in front of the sensor. Also avoid pointing at stairs, etc.

These look to have a recommended installation height of 7.5-9' which is good; some I've used before don't want to be more than 7' up so butting up against the ceiling wouldn't be ideal @ 10'.

 

[kwilcox]

Yup, the mounting specs were a big reason for choosing this sensor since we have 8' ceilings. There were no rude awakenings last night which is good. It looks like I've got a Saturday project coming up to run LV wiring to the fireplace room for the second sensor. That's going to be a real pita since I just added another layer of insulation last year.

 

[video321]

I installed a few in my father's house. They work well.

 

[42etus]

Anyone purchased from this place. Or is it buyer beware? $13 wow

http://www.ctistore.com/product/1/code,ISC-BPR2-W12.html?gclid=CNGb8pKZgbQCFUjZQgodiGQABQ

 

[kwilcox]

That might be a different sensor. The one I installed is a BDL2, I can't find BPR2 on Bosch's Blue Line Gen2 page. Also no WP in the designation so not pet immune.

 

[SteveInNorCal]

22/4 shielded LV wiring

I ran standard 22/4 non-shielded...is shielding a requirement? Haven't lit up my three new Bosch sensors yet, so don't know if I'm in for trouble or not.

 

[tmbrown97]

Shielding is not a requirement.

 

[kwilcox]

definitely not a code requirement. I have some really long runs that could potentially run near to tracklight transformers so I figured why not.

 

[drozwood90]

How fast is the toggle rate of the contact-triggers? Is it adjustable? I've been messing with the same one recommended to me a while ago (do not remember who recommended it). They cost more.

In my kitchen, I currently use an X10 security sensor (Ms10?) to trigger a script. The script turns the lights on and sets a delay to turn them off. Each time the script is run, the delay is reset.

Depending on the inputs to the script, the timer is set to either 10 minutes or 3 minutes (I think). When I switched to the other sensor (Honeywell, I bought at $42, they are now up to $46 http://www.aesecurity.com/997cemopirmo.html) I was able to change the 10 minute timer to 2 minutes, and the 3 minute counter to 20 seconds. REALLY sensitive. I was able to stand at the far wall, from where I mounted the sensor place my fingers on the counter, twiddle them and 50% of the time get a trigger.

These are obviously NOT pet immune, so I would expect the Bosh to be slower. Maybe I'll pick one up for testing, since the "Eyeball" style is great for an application like my kitchen, where putting the sensor in the middle of the ceiling works out. There are some rooms I'd like to have something more on the wall.

>>>HAHAHA<<< I just searched the forum, it was you that recommended them to me! So, since you know how FAST the Honeywell's toggle, can you compare them? are you replacing your Honeywells? If so, I'm looking for more!

--Dan

 

[kwilcox]

These might work. They definitely don't trigger as often as the Honeywell sensors, but it looks like they can trip every 5 seconds or so which is more than good enough for automatic lighting with low light off timers. I'm actually going to install one in the Kitchen to cover the back door and it was my plan to compare it against the Honeywell sensor that's already there. The cats are always triggering the kitchen lights when they walk through so I'm motivated... the only challenge is ceiling mount vs. wall mount which changes sensor positioning (which is why I wasn't contemplating a full upgrade). I don't think you can ceiling mount these since they have a bubble level built into the mount. I've got the Honeywell sensor in the kitchen positioned so that it can only see motion in that room. The positioning of the Bosch sensor will be such that it needs to cover the kitchen and dining room areas so it can see the back door.

Great... now you've got me thinking about an overall upgrade...

 

[Del91574]

Pretty much 0 detectors out there for ceiling mount and PI.

If you're having faulting and if it's an option, I'd recommend using Sure Action pulsors for HA purposes. They work good for security as well.

 

[kwilcox]

Yeah, I wonder why that is too. I might want to try out the sure action detectors actually. Could these work in a situation where a person is in a room and not moving? (sleeping, reading a book etc..).

Ideally I'd like to see contact open when there was additional pressure on the floor and contact closed when there wasn't.

 

[Del91574]

To understand why there's no ceiling mount PI detectors you first need to understand how they work, essentially as quad element PIR's (over simplifying) with microwave.

The pulsors only sense the deflection of the framing members and generally, in a plywood subfloored house, with some adjustment, something like a 4X8' oval coverage per unit.

Once the deflection is gone, then they open. Might need to do some logic to see an "in" and an "out" event to keep a light on, unless you're only doing time based.

 

[dgage]

I'm planning to use the pulsors for the stairs on both levels of my house, one 3' up from bottom and 3' down from top. Plan to use for security as well as automation as the system will know which direction the person is headed and can react accordingly.

As DELInstallations stated, the pulsor control unit should show long term deflection. Based on my understanding, their controller actually translates into an analog value based on deflection. So assuming 0 is with no one present, a person walking or even laying on the couch in the area affected should show a non-zero value. Never thought of using it as an occupancy/vacancy sensor before but I guess it could be done.

David