15 years in and I just realized I was mounting motion sensors backwards

So I'm doing a service call for a repeat customer who keeps getting false alarms from their basement. I go down there, look at the sensor, and it's pointing straight at a furnace vent. Easy fix, right? Then I glance at the mounting bracket and it hits me like a ton of bricks. I've been putting the little arrow on the bracket pointing DOWN instead of UP for over a decade. The arrow is supposed to indicate the direction of the detection pattern, not which way is down. Found out when I called my old boss to ask him about something else and he just laughed for like 30 seconds. Has anyone else had that moment where you realize you've been doing some basic thing backwards for years?

2 comments

2 Comments

evan_dixon671mo agoMost Upvoted

Right, calebw50 makes a good point, if it works it works. But here's the thing, the arrow is there for a reason and over time that tiny misalignment adds up to a lot of false alarms that you just don't need. It's one of those little details that separates a half-baked install from one you can set your watch to, so it's worth getting right from the jump.

calebw501mo ago

Call your old boss every time you think you messed up, got it. Honestly as long as the sensor works fine and the customer isn't complaining, does the arrow really matter that much.