KB-79 - Why did my Fibaro Door & Window Sensor stop working after changing the battery?

Question

Why did my Fibaro Door & Window Sensor stop working after changing the battery?

Answer

We’ve seen some cases were the user inadvertently reset the sensor while replacing the battery.

The reset procedure is detailed in Section III of the manual:


  • Take off the Sensor's cover and remove battery
  • Touch the Sensor's body with a magnet
  • Insert the battery
  • Remove the magnet from the Sensor's body
  • Remove the battery
  • Re-install the battery
  • Reset will be confirmed by double LED blink

Although this looks like it would be impossible to do without meaning to, if you think about the steps you might take when replacing the battery you’ll see why this could happen:


  • Door / window is closed (magnet next to body)
  • Remove cover
  • Remove battery
  • Insert new battery
  • Open door and see if it updates in Z-Wave controller User Interface straight away (UI does not show sensor changing state)
  • Check the battery is in right ( pull it out, put it back )
  • Sensor is now reset

Step 6 is the tricky bit as it could take a couple of minutes for the sensor to stabilize and start reporting back on the Z-Wave Network.

It’s not unnatural for somebody to think it’s not working immediately and therefor check the battery, inadvertently resetting the sensor!

Solution

If it's been reset as above, then the sensor lost its Z-Wave network data.

You will unfortunately need to Exclude it from your Z-Wave controller and then Include it again.

Copyright Vesternet 2015

Updated: 07/09/2015