Question

HOLY maceral!  I installed a hc-sr501 motion sensor in my front porch, connecting it to a zone input on a konnected board.HOLY maceral! I installed a hc-sr501 motion sensor in my front porch, connecting it to a zone input on a konnected board. Everything has been working great until this weekend when I would get random notifications of activity. Pulling my hair out trying to figure out what's going on. Sensitivity is set at the midpoint. Range of this is 3-7m, so I guess its about 5m. Its very cold here, being 10 degrees F. I JUST looked at my motioneye cameras and saw cars, 38m away triggering this motion sensor. Wow! Cars driving past my house have enough engine heat to set this off. Unreal!  

Answer 1

Your problem is with ambient temperature.  

Answer 2

Remember infrared is like a light source being shined at the sensor

Answer 3

Motion sensors are notoriously temperature sensitive. It’s also going to get flaky on a hot summer day with 80% humidity. And yes the specs say it will work at that temperature. Which it is. It just doesn’t work well.  

Answer 4

Motion sensors will give out false readings when outside, changes in weather, light, wind.  

Comments

@crural And when I say false readings thats mainly because they are too sensitive to outside conditions. A gust of wind can set it off as well or change in temp. You need to look for an outdoor pir but there's not much out there.