Troubleshooting Smartthings motion detector

I have a Smartthings motion detector in my garage that has started going on for what appears to be motion in another dimension that only it can see. At first I thought there might be a critter in the garage so I setup my motion control camera in right next to the motion detector to validate the alerts.

When new alerts came in the motion capture camera detected no motion and took no pictures. Several times I was actually watching the camera when the alert for motion from the detector came out and saw nothing.

To double check I moved one of my indoor motion sensors into the garage and put them edge to edge. The original garage motion detector detected motion again and the one I moved from indoors (and worked fine as of last night) and the motion detecting camera did not see anything.

This is leading me to believe that the garage motion sensor has given up the ghost. Is there a way to factory reset the motion detector? And is there a minimum operating temperature anyone has encountered yet? The garage is cold but above freezing by 15-20 degrees and out of the elements. That’s the only real difference between the two detectors. That and this one sees dead people or something.

The sensors are rated for 32F on the low end, but as the temperature fluctuates, you may receive false positives. This is especially possible if your garage is connected to a warm wall in the house or the garage door is getting a lot of sun. If the sensor is not permanently affixed, you may want to try pointing it at a slightly different angle or swap sides of the room.

It is not permanently mounted, it’s just sitting on the concrete floor watching a door, the garage door, and below a window (the weak points in the room). I can move it as well. I am going to set it up inside to see if there is any change in behavior in a warm house.

Knowing our sensors, once you bring it inside to get warm, it will probably sneak over to the couch and curl up with a hot cocoa… but seriously - let us know if the performance changes!

I have the SmartSense Multi Sensor mounted to my garage door and was getting false “vibration/accelerometer” alarms because the door shakes with gusts of wind (so they were not actually false but not what I was trying to detect). I wonder whether the sensor you pointed to the garage door (the overhead one to be sure) may be picking up back and forth movement caused by wind.

THIS is an excellent point. It might just that. I will move it to the opposite side and point it just at the window and regular door (not the overhead) and see if that changes.

After I have it make me coffee or something.

So I’ve had the sensor indoors for the last 2 days pointing at a wall. No false alarms. When I walk in front of it, it goes off as expected but otherwise no mystery alarms

I am going to put it back in the garage in a different position so it can’t see the main garage door to see if that door is perhaps moving in the wind or something.