Okay So Another SmartThings Motion Sensor Broke

General Discussion
1

Okay so some time ago now I had one of my SmartThings Motion Sensors go faulty on me where it constantly reported motion sensed then stopped then sensed and so on even when removed and placed into a pitch black box with nothing else in it and it still did it.

As that sensor was under warranty still it got replaced thankfully.

Roll on a month or so and my second sensor is doing the same but this time out of warranty and SmartThings won’t do anything which I am rather annoyed at because it seems very strange the exact same issue is occurring again. Not only this but the person at SmartThings even said they have had the same issue but they stated replacing the battery solved the problem. I have tried 4 brand new batteries and also batteries from other sensors I have which I know aren’t dead and yet not a single one does anything to fix the problem. On top of that now, today I removed the sensor from my app and tried to add it again but now even with new batteries it won’t turn on at all so it’s totally died.

I understand warranty is only 1 year but SmartThings could do something about this because not only are the new sensors available cheaply but this is the second sensor to do this which I find odd and almost like it’s the norm which it should not be.

Why should I buy yet another sensor only for that to fail because so far that’s all that seems to happen?

2

Did you try changing the battery? Did you try repairing with your hub? How far is the motion sensor from the hub?

3

Hi, I did try multiple batteries including brand new ones and ones out of other sensors which I know to be working. I have also removed the sensor from my hub and attempted to add it back but the LED doesn’t even flash anymore so won’t go in to pairing mode because it’s just died completely it seems. I have the sensor all of 50 cm from the hub also so distance isn’t an issue.

4

Have you tried rebooting the hub? If that still doesn’t work, try a complete shutdown by taking the batteries out (v2 hubs) and pulling the power out for 20 minutes, then plug it back in.

5

Sadly tried that but it seems it’s the sensor at fault.

6

I’ve been there too. These ST motion sensors break way too easily, and in my case ST was not willing to replace them even though they were still under warranty simply because I live elsewhere in Europe that is not the UK.

There’s a dirty way to still get a replacement though: buy a new sensor in Amazon, swap the circuit boards, and return the package for a refund, claiming it’s malfunctioning. I bet Amazon will just send it back to ST, so no harm done to other users.