Just spent 4 hours on a single motion sensor in a 1920s house

Had a job in an old neighborhood, place was built in the 20s. The client wanted a motion sensor in the main hallway, which has these crazy high, ornate ceilings. I mounted the sensor, but it kept giving false alarms every time the old radiator kicked on across the room. I figured it was picking up the heat plume. Spent forever adjusting the angle and the sensitivity settings on the DSC unit, but nothing worked. Finally, after like 3 hours of messing with it, I realized the vibration from the pipes was shaking the whole mounting bracket ever so slightly. I pulled it down, added a thin foam pad behind the bracket to isolate it, and remounted. Problem solved instantly. Has anyone else run into vibration issues in old houses messing with gear like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

bettym891mo ago

That foam pad trick is smart. Did you try any other fixes before you figured out the vibration was the real problem?

burns.patricia1mo agoMost Upvoted

Tried tightening every bolt first, which just made the whole thing louder honestly.

sandra_black23d agoTop Commenter

Actually it was Patricia who used the foam pad, not me! But yeah, finding the real source of a noise can take a few tries.