Trouble with Ecolink Door/Window Sensor

I have a few Ecolink Door/Window sensors, two of which I’ve installed and associated with my Veralite. They’re installed on my garage doors so I can see the lock/unlock status of the doors, and also use them to trigger lights upon returning home after dark.

The one on my wife’s garage works perfectly. It shows as “tripped” immediately when the door opens, but mine never trips. I can successfully arm and disarm both sensors, but that one on my garage just never trips when the door opens.

There’s no obvious cause that I can tell for this fault. Is this a bad sensor? Or should I remove and re-add it? Are there any tricks to adding these sensors as there can be with certain other devices like door locks for example?

My entire foray into home automation began with a request from my wife to find a way to turn lights on when opening the garage, so at least hers works well. I initially tried using a Kwikset Z-wave lever lock as the trigger event for lights, but that seldom worked, and when it did there were unacceptable delays of 10-15 seconds. Maybe this is a range issue, but I have several GE light switches and outlets in close proximity to both the basement door and garage doors.

Thanks for any assistance!

  • Jason

[quote=“JasonR, post:1, topic:180630”]I have a few Ecolink Door/Window sensors, two of which I’ve installed and associated with my Veralite. They’re installed on my garage doors so I can see the lock/unlock status of the doors, and also use them to trigger lights upon returning home after dark.

The one on my wife’s garage works perfectly. It shows as “tripped” immediately when the door opens, but mine never trips. I can successfully arm and disarm both sensors, but that one on my garage just never trips when the door opens.

There’s no obvious cause that I can tell for this fault. Is this a bad sensor? Or should I remove and re-add it? Are there any tricks to adding these sensors as there can be with certain other devices like door locks for example?

My entire foray into home automation began with a request from my wife to find a way to turn lights on when opening the garage, so at least hers works well. I initially tried using a Kwikset Z-wave lever lock as the trigger event for lights, but that seldom worked, and when it did there were unacceptable delays of 10-15 seconds. Maybe this is a range issue, but I have several GE light switches and outlets in close proximity to both the basement door and garage doors.

Thanks for any assistance!

  • Jason[/quote]

Definitely remove and re-include the bad switch from your VL. If that helps it was just that.
If not I would try to plug in a evolve or Linear (These two brands will repeat the encrypted transmissions from the lock.) appliance or light module in the area between the VL and the sensors and the door locks in the garage. Preferably in the garage somewhere.
Do not include the door switch until you have the repeater module plugged in at its permanent location.
If it seems to work fine then, then you can assume that you had range issues.
Sometimes moving a sensor to another location will make all of the difference too.
There is a lot of radio frequency killing metal in our garages. It is not the best place for wireless sensors.

Thanks, Jamr. Do the GE ones really not relay encrypted signals?

Regardless, I’ll be adding a Linear WT00Z near the Kwikset basement door lock. I can always swap the GE outlets that I installed for the garage door openers with Linear/Evolve ones. They’re in plastic boxes in the garage ceiling, so that may be a nice location for some more repeating of encrypted signals since my Veralite is in the room just above.

BTW - thanks for the quick shipping on those 007 garage relays. I’ll have to take some photos as the installation was a breeze and looks awesome too.

  • Jason

[quote=“JasonR, post:3, topic:180630”]Thanks, Jamr. Do the GE ones really not relay encrypted signals?

Regardless, I’ll be adding a Linear WT00Z near the Kwikset basement door lock. I can always swap the GE outlets that I installed for the garage door openers with Linear/Evolve ones. They’re in plastic boxes in the garage ceiling, so that may be a nice location for some more repeating of encrypted signals since my Veralite is in the room just above.

BTW - thanks for the quick shipping on those 007 garage relays. I’ll have to take some photos as the installation was a breeze and looks awesome too.

  • Jason[/quote]

Jason, I am not a dealer of the GE switches yet. I will be getting a load in in a few weeks so I do not know for sure. My guess is not but I could be wrong until I get them in and do some testing on them.
My proposal for the plug in module was just to test and see. If it helps, you know you need to get some switches that relay encrypted signals down there to help the signal.
I am hoping at this point that your re inclusion was the problem, if not then maybe moving the sensor and test again.
Let me know what you have discovered.

Glad you received your RM10’s and they are working for you.
I would love to see some pics, if you want to send them to me through our site.