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Pro tip: Stop putting sensors on trim instead of the wall
Was on a service call yesterday in a house built in 2019. Owner couldn't figure out why the front door sensor kept false alarming. Pulled the cover off and sure enough, the magnet was mounted on the door trim, not the door itself. Gap was like 3/4 inch. Seen this at least 5 times this year from other installers. Trim moves, door settles, then you get nuisance alerts. Just mount the magnet on the flat door surface. Takes 2 extra minutes. Anyone else running into this?
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margaretw411mo ago
Is this really THAT big of a deal? I mean yeah 3/4 inch gap is too much but a little gap isn't the end of the world. Most sensors have some adjustment or you can just shim the magnet a bit. I've seen plenty of trim-mounted setups work fine for years if the house settles right. Seems like people just overcomplicate this stuff.
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jaken231mo ago
@margaretw41 you ever actually try to shim a recessed sensor in a door that already has a tight reveal? On a steel door with maglocks the magnet has like zero room to move. Ive seen guys spend an hour on a single door just trying to get that 1/4 inch gap to work and the house still shifts every season. What doors are you working on where a shim is that easy?
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andrewt411mo ago
Oh man you're not wrong, I spent a solid 45 minutes once on a steel door just trying to get the magnet to line up with the sensor, ended up having to grind the bracket down just to make it fit. Meanwhile the house shifted a month later and I was back out there again anyway.
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