X10 Community Forum
🛡Home Security => Home Security General => Topic started by: lurky on October 18, 2008, 09:34:11 AM
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Hi
I just bought the 99 dollar package.
Im most interested in the motion sensors, but theyre awfully big and require batteries.
Can anyone tell me about how long the batteries will last in the motion sensors?
I was hoping for the option to plug them in, can they be wired to do so?
or are there other components on the market that work with the system? perhaps smaller ones?
THX
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Can anyone tell me about how long the batteries will last in the motion sensors?
Mine have lasted a couple years (so far).
or are there other components on the market that work with the system? perhaps smaller ones?
Not that I have heard of.
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Hi
I was hoping for the option to plug them in, can they be wired to do so?
They can, I have one that I power from 3 volt "wall wart". But...they are very sensitive to "ripple" on the DC supply. I had to add extra capacitive filtering before my Active Eye would work. However, depending on the amount of traffic the sensor sees, the batteries can last a year or more, so putting them on power supplies may be more trouble than it is worth. Unless you back-up the wired power supply with re-chargable batteries, everytime you lose power, you will have to reprogram the sensor.
If you are still worried about replacing batteries... I also have a couple Eagle Eyes that, because of location, I power with D cells rather than AA cells. A 2 "D" cell battery holder hot glues perfectly to the back of the Eagle Eye. The battery weight is a great stabilizer, so the sensor becomes more "placeable" for a longer time ( i.e. jammed in the fork of a tree for two years).
FWIW To any of you "surplus" guys out there; Electronic Goldmine (www.goldmine-elec.com) has 3V DC switching wall warts for $1.29 each. A surplus Radio Shack brand power adapter for Game Boys. They have a clean 350ma output. What a deal, I bought ten. So far I am only using three, but they tolerate being controlled by Socket Rockets and they don't "noise-up" the powerlines enough to effect X10. FWIW