ST motion sensor issues

I have experienced some problems with the SmartThings motion sensor lateley. It is supposed to turn on the bathroom light and the turn off the lights after 15 min of no motion (simple automation), however it turns it off after about 1 min. Anyone else experiences issues lately with the motion sensors and know how to solve the issue?

Hey there! @JohanW

Can you please provide us with a Screenshot of your Automation for turning on/off your bathroom light to determine your symptoms?

The first thing that comes to mind would be adding the Device state to your ‘if’ Automation. If the device is set to turned on status, and there’s no motion for 15 mints, then turn it off. Allowing it to check the status of the device to see if it is on prior to shutting it off.

I hope this message finds you well!

^SamsungZell

Hi!
Thanks for the input. Uploaded a screenshot (text in swedish:) )The automation is conditional of the time of day.

With adding “device state”, do you mean something in addition to “motion identified” (rörelse identifierad) ?

It has worked well for many months but recently started to get these issues.

I understand your frustration and you are correct, you’ll end up with two re-written automations using Device status using this workaround.

Both will have your conditional Time of day. However, you would need one for when device is on and no motion detected and One for when Device is off and there is motion is detected. It would activate to turn your device on or off based on the event occurrence. This may address your symptom of the device as it would check device, prior to activating.

In simple terms, it will check is the light already on or off, be sure to set it as When all conditions are met. ‘If’ Time>Device Status>Motion Detection or Not Detected for 15 Mins, then turn on or off lights.

The Motionless Duration is an additional option to allow for selection of No motion for 15 Mins. This will equivalate for your desired off time.

I’m currently using this setup to Automate my dog’s Feeding area without issue.

I hope this message finds you well!

^SamsungZell

Hi!

Thanks for the input,

Your logic makes perfectly sense. Instead of one automation for “bathroom day” I make two. It limits the risk of the lights going off after 15 min.

The strange thing is that the old settings in the automation used to work flawlessly before. After 15 min (if I was still in the room) the lights went black and then on again. But usually I was out after 10 min after showering so was no problem.

But I cannot get why suddenly the lights went off after 5 min?
Do you know if anything has changed in the ST cloud that has triggered this lately?

The motion sensors (smartthings sts-irm-250 and others) behave differently in the “Automations” option than they do in the Classic Smart Lighting option. The Classic Smart Lighting option in the “Smart Apps” is now working pretty good, somebody worked on it, and now you can add a particular time without it crashing. I have an Apple phone. The motions sensors keep the lights on as opposed to using the “Automations” for lighting, which will turn off the lights at the preset time even with the motion sensor active.

I have used the smart lighting app and “automations” to control lights with motion sensors and it also works better for me with smart lighting than with “automations”
The advantage of using automations is that you can disable and enable them individually in the app and not in smart lighting, unless you do it in the IDE.