Problem with SmartSense Multi Sensor - False Indications/Won't Connect

General Discussion
1

Hello,
I purchased a ST SmartSense Multi Sensor (the 2015 model with a CR battery type) to provide an alert for my garage door in the up position. A few days ago, my neighbor’s garage that adjoins mine was broken into, so getting this solution working is a top priority in my mind. The ST sensor quickly paired to my existing hub following all directions (within 5 feet, use the app, etc). I configured the sensor to work stand-alone without the magnet using the accelerators for a tilt indication and mounted the sensor on the back of the door as shown in the ST video. Problem: sensor showed “active” in the app, but gave no indication of proper open/closed position. I checked the IDE - showed that the sensor was offline. Tried rebuilding the zigbee mesh by taking the hub offline for 15 minutes thinking that changing the location of the sensor from near the hub to my garage may have messed with its communication. No change. Moved a ST wired switch between the hub and garage to act as a bridge/signal repeater and rebuilt the mesh - no change. Followed directions to reset the sensor (remove batt, hold button while reinstalling batt, etc) - no change. I now notice that even when I have the sensor sitting directly below (4’) a zigbee light bulb, I’m still either showing the device offline or it is showing active in the app and giving an improper open/closed reading and in some cases, no temperature reading at all. One other odd thing - when I first paired the sensor two days ago, the battery was showing 99%. Today it shows 88%, so nearly 12% battery drain ! I’ve been troubleshooting this problem for 2 days and have made no headway, so I thought I would turn to the community. I see other questions regarding this sensor giving improper readings, but no good solutions. Anybody have any ideas? I’m almost ready to chalk this sensor up as a lemon and exchange it for another. Thanks in advance for any suggestions/advice!

Kyle

2

Would that bulb happen to be an OSRAM (Sylvania) one? There have been problems shown in the SmartThings labs with OSRAM bulbs failing to repeat ZigBee signals to ST devices. They are releasing a fix soon but some immediate solutions can be found here.

3

Thanks for your reply. I should have specified the hardware types - the bulb is not an OSRAM… it is a Cree Connected. I also have Wemo bulbs, several ST motion sensors, a ST moisture sensor, and a Wemo motion (IP-based) in my setup. I am not using a Wemo link hub - only the ST hub, so I don’t have any added interference.

4

I would contact support. As a note battery levels for ST sensors report in 11% intervals. So 88% can be anything between 88% and 98%.

5

Thanks again for your reply. I’m fairly new to ST and didn’t know about the 11% batter increments. As an update to the forum, I was able to easily resolve this issue. My problem was a bad multi sensor unit. I returned it to the store, got a new one, and everything now works as expected. I immediately noticed a change when pairing the new sensor - it paired quickly and easily functioned within range of all other zigbee devices.