Texecom GDA-0001 Capture P15-W Wireless PIR Sensor ( no blue light and constant blue light)

[TomThumbasdf]

Hi;
I'm having a few issues with this brand new device.
It has been learned on zone 25 .
I can trigger the pir and the blue light comes on and then goes off after say 10 seconds.

If I take the pir to the final destination i.e. garage and fix it , when I add back the cover I get a pink light and green which should mean its connected.

When I try to activate the sensor in the garage , sometimes I get a solid blue light and the blue light does not go off . I take it down to investigate and start again and sometimes I get no blue light at all. What do these two behaviours mean ?
I cannot find this detail in the texecom manuals.

How can I tell that a pir may be out of range or not connected to the system once in position? I assume red going by the manual https://www.manualslib.com/manual/2125200/Texecom-Capture-P15-W.html?page=24#manual
regards

Tom

 

[secureiam]

That’s strange as a rule wireless pirs leds don’t come on unless walk testing.

There are less that illuminate when it’s trying to connect to the panel

Firstly P15-W is the wrong sensor for the garage unless it’s very clean and tidy.

If the device has been activated in the last 3 minutes it won’t activate again as it is to save battery. So to be sure make sure it’s 5 minutes clear of the device before walking in front of it again.

You can look at ricochet monitor and you can look in ricochet diagnostics.

Have you ever put the system in commissioning mode to build up the ricochet mesh?

 

[TomThumbasdf]

That’s strange as a rule wireless pirs leds don’t come on unless walk testing.

There are less that illuminate when it’s trying to connect to the panel

Firstly P15-W is the wrong sensor for the garage unless it’s very clean and tidy.

If the device has been activated in the last 3 minutes it won’t activate again as it is to save battery. So to be sure make sure it’s 5 minutes clear of the device before walking in front of it again.

You can look at ricochet monitor and you can look in ricochet diagnostics.

Have you ever put the system in commissioning mode to build up the ricochet mesh?

Hi , many thanks for a response.

The garage is relatively clean and only used for storage, but I get your point.
I understand the 3 minute rule, but even after that time it's not showing a blue light when I walk past.
I have not "put the system in commissioning mode to build up the ricochet mesh" and will look into this. I only have one wireless device at present but plan to build out .

The PIR seemed to work fine when the device was in the house, could trigger an alarm in a walk test . I'll probably bring it back into the house to assess if that makes a difference.

The wifi expander is in a cupboard under the stairs with my wifi router . I have no issue with my house wifi signal in the garage, so I'd expect the same with the wifi expander.

 

[secureiam]

1, ricochet mesh works best with more devices (minimum of 2, as you only have one there is nothing to mesh with), and if you add or delete devices you should redo the mesh.

The whole point of the mesh is to bounce signals off other devices to make its way back to the panels wireless expander.

2. ricochet is on 868Mhz and does not use your wifi to get around you house.

However it can affect performance if the router is close to the wireless expander/ Panels built in wireless expander. 30cm or 1ft I recommend as a minimum distance between the two.

3. the leds will not illuminate unless in walk test when you walk past and it must be at least 3 minutes since last activation.
so in the case of moving the sensor to the garage it be at least 3 minutes after leaving the garage before returning to activate it.
The exceptions are when its struggling to connect, cant remember the led colours but they are in the manuals which you can download.
When you lift the device Lid and put the battery back in, or on the micro contacts if you press the button on the front.

Think your trying to test the system too early at present, certaionly no point in doing the mesh yet as nothing to mesh with

When the device is in the garage, slide the front off and then slide it back in, that tamper signal will be sent to the panel and you can check in ricochet diagnostics when that zone last received a message and the signal strength, i would then wait 20 minutes if your not installing any more devices before checking if the panel has recieved another signal (devices report in every 15 minutes regardless of being set) you should be able to see last message and time,

 

[TomThumbasdf]

I performed some further diagnostics

I cleared zone 25 using the keypad .
I then chose to learn the device on the keypad
I inserted the battery. into the pir
There was a short pink light, a short green light and it then blinked blue for about 60 seconds , before it went solid blue. It was solid for a good few minutes so I then added the lid and the blue light went off. ( on other tests the blue light stays on when the lid is on)
The keypad said zone 25 had been learnt and it went on to ask if I wanted to learn zone 26.
Even after say 10 mins if I walked past the PIR the blue light did not come on,
If I try to set the alarm , it says Zone 25 active ( even though the pir is not showing blue when I have just walked past .
If you place the pir were it won't be activated and leave for a few minutes , and set the alarm , it DOES NOT mention 25 is active.
if I return to the PIR device after 3 minutes the blue light does not go on , but again If I try to set the alarm , it says Zone 25 active, so clearly the PIR is triggered even if the blue light does not come on .

perhaps there is a setting where you make the PIR not illuminate when triggered?

I have seen on some forums others mention this constant blue pir light and the device was faulty

 

[secureiam]

Wireless PIRs only come on when in walk test. You can do a walk test from engineering or from master user code.

Walking past the sensor when it isnt in walk test mode, will activate the device but not illuminate the LEDs

When looking for the ricochet network it may come on a certain colour.
This is in the manual please see the colour codes below, as previously explained wireless sensors do not illuminate unless in walk test mode.

If you have a any LEDs on outside of walk test and after the initial learn sequence is finished then there is an issue.

 

[TomThumbasdf]

secureiam thank you for your responses​

I have had more fun and games with this wireless device . At least now I have positioned the PIR in the garage and it triggers when the alarm is set if if I walk into the garage , so I'm just going to not touch it any further.

The keypad indicates a signal strength of the wireless pir device as 100. Tech support say the highest number is 100 , It represents a percentage value, and the higher the number the better the strength of the signal. Do you actually agree as my readings suggest otherwise?

what I find anynoying about this new setup is I have a £50 wireless alarm system currently covering my garage. The wireless pir is in the furthest point away from the receiver ( I have tried my texecom pir in the same spot with no joy ) . The receiver is in the same cupboards as the wireless expander . This £50 system took 5 minutes to setup and works. I have spent about 6 hours now trying to get the texecom pir working in a satisfactory way

 

[secureiam]

The scale was reversed many years ago from memory so pretty much it’s upto 100% and has been for sometime.

If you learn a device on the system near the panel it will record a value and that is likely to be 100%. When you move it into its final resting place then I would expect it to drop, however if the signal can’t get through then it won’t change and eventually device reports an issue. If you look at ricochet diagnostics and the zone and look at the signal strength is it still 100% now?

We look at a minimum of 30% if we are struggling and we have been to properties where signal below this is intermittent at best. You may be able to find my comments on the subject of switching sensors for those with better aerials when comparing various wireless devices.

The Capture PIRs have two printed circuit board aerials last time I opened one up at what looks like 90 degrees to each other. My own tests suggested that these performed as well as the elite wireless sensors with the copper aerials.

If your telling me that the cheap system has the pir and receiver in the same position as the Texecom systems receiver and pir and they both were on same frequency ie 868.x and the cheap one worked and the texecom didn’t o would be shocked.

Now I have no idea on what the details of the cheaper system or the location of its receiver.

Both ends are important.

I recall a house with a contact-W that was moved a relatively short distance and signal strength improved significantly.

It’s working now from what you are saying but changed nothing ?

 

[secureiam]

P15-W has different settings that can affect its sensitivity for different pet immunity options or not. They did some time ago withdraw the P15s and replaced with Q20s can’t remember why now, think it’s covered somewhere on Texecom forum

 

[TomThumbasdf]

secureiam

Nothing has changed. When the pir was in it's current position it had a constant blue pir light . I tampered the pir and the light went off , so I just left it and went to bed. Next day I thought I'd set the alarm and see if the pir triggered the panel. It did , so I'm just not touching it any more . I checked the signal strength after the alarm trigger it was 100 .

The pir is literally 15 feet from the receiver, albeit a wall in between.​

 

[secureiam]

if it’s working properly now sounds like it hadn’t settled down after learning ie out of walk test, didnt know it goes into walk test for 10 minutes after learning on might check that one day. We always do a walk test after commissioning mode is completed and we do that twice. Reason we do the commissioning mode twice as we have seen signal security improvements according to ricochet monitor completing the process twice over just once.

 

[TomThumbasdf]

This info from support may save others the pain I had , in the future

The PIR indicator will pulse blue for approx 1 minute after learning on, then when it's fitted into the backplate will stay on for approx 10 minutes, following that the only time it will illuminate again is during a walk test, in normal operation the indicator will not come on, this is to reduce battery consumption.
When arming the alarm the PIR's locations should be clear of movement otherwise you will get zone active messages, this is normal, once the system has armed any zones with a P15-W will not trigger the alarm for approx 4 minutes, this is because the detectors are put into a sleep mode.
The wireless devices need to be commissioned after they have been learnt on, this is done in order to build a mesh network between all devices in case the main communication path is blocked they can signal through each other back to the expander (receiver), if this process has not been carried out then the operation may not be reliable, Texecom is the only system on the market that meshes the detectors, the process is patented.
To mesh the network depends on the system, if you have a standalone Ricochet expander simply remove the cover (keep the control panel in the engineers menu) and leave it for approx 30 minutes, this starts the process, then secure the cover back into place.
If your system is a wireless panel, eg Elite 64-W, again make sure the system is in the engineer's menu, remove the cover then on the right hand side of the PCB between the copper antennas you will see a three position link marked JP7, there will be a removable plug on it linking the centre and right hand pins, reposition this to link the centre and left hand pins, again leave it for approx 30 minutes then move it back to the original position and fit the panel cover back into place.

 

[secureiam]

The mesh needs more than 1 device.
The 10 minutes staying on I am going to look at now.

 

[secureiam]

Hmm thats not what I am seeing here.

So on the Elite PIRs behave differently to the Capture which is to be expected.

Elite PIRs learn and flash and need to be placed into walk test to activate and light up after learning on.

Capture after learning on goes through the warm up cycle and then is ready for activation, flashing blue light during warm up once flashing stops its ready for activation.

The blue light on the Capture however does not stay on for 10 minutes, however it does appear to stay in walk test mode (10 minutes or so)
It activates every time then restores shortly afterwards, then the light can be reactivated after that it doesn't illuminate unless in walk test mode.

As for the reactivation of the device after 3 mins or 4 minutes never timed it, however we used to get lots of calls from people claiming the sensors weren't activating, so on site I would ask for a brew and stand with the customer out of sight of any wireless PIR for a few minutes (because just walked past some sensors activating them) and then they would all work usually, the contacts and shocks this does not apply to.

As for the mesh.

I always use the laptop and look at ricochet monitor, when you open the lid of a wireless expander the system starts the mesh or placing the jumper in commissioning mode. If you put the lid back on the wireless expander and your viewing on ricochet monitor the meshing process appears to stop, as does replacing the jumper on the Built ion wireless panels.

When you view on a laptop you can see it buildup for each device, and you can see which devices each device can see.
Once completed it goes to 100% and displays the green red or yellow bars based on its signal security, the more devices a device can see the more likely you will end up with a big green bar than a red bar.

When you repeat this process after it has been completed it does sometimes improve according to the ricochet monitor display. ie larger green bars for more devices.

We dont put the system in commissioning mode until all the devices are learned on, however seem to recall on The Texecom Forum JG doing some indepth explaining on how it worked (so that would be be over 2 years ago as I was not on that forum for around 2 years at one time and recently rejoined the community), but things do evolve over time.

As for the patent, not sure how long that has left and there are systems out there that allow bouncing off different devices but not necessarily in the same way as ricochet.