dusty wrote:
"FriscoSoxFan" wrote in
ups.com:

The motion sensor and the flourescents don't play well together. If I
use just the Off/On it works fine, but in Motion mode I get wierd
behavior.

Any thoughts?



2. Solid state ballasts create a lot of line noise that affect other solid
state equipment adversely.

This is likely the cause of problem: Electrical interference

3. Fluorescent lights are not what they appear to be (on all the time) they
are actually flickering off and on a 60Hz rate. The motion sensor can see
this.

No, they don't. They don't see motion per se, they sense changes in
temperature, short term, as one moves across a field divided up like a
fly's eye. They detect heat, i.e. infrared radiation.

Assuming you had it adjusted properly, set the temperature in the room
you and the switch were in to 98.6 degrees and your body temperature
would remain at 98.6 degrees while you were jogging around the room, you
could do this all night in the dark since the "motion" sensor would
never detect your presence.

My office has motion detection in place for the alarm system. It also
has the largest span Hunter fan made (think it's 54" or something) and
it sits the path of two of the three sensors in the general office area.
It's rarely turned off yet never trips an alarm because it is at the
same temperature as its surroundings.

We DID, however, have to install plastic deflectors to dissipate the
hot/cold air coming out of the HVAC ductwork as THAT temperature
differential would trigger an alarm condition.

4. Try this, put an incandescent (regular light bulb) lamp near the motion
sensor so that it out shines the fluorescent lamps. If the motion sensor
is still flaky then you'll have to get a sensor rated for fluorescent
lamps.

Won't make any difference unless the fluorescents are being controlled
by the motion sensor, in which case you're correct, they have to be
rated to handle fluorescent fixtures.

Still think the answer is RF (radio frequency) interference on the line
that's screwing up the detectors. We still occasionally get a false
trigger if one of the squad cars triggers his radio when he's right
outside the building. Cured that with requiring secondary signals (i.e.
multiple zone) to the alarm controller rather than just one hit off the
IR sensors.

Anyway, no motion detectors YET in my shop but after following this
thread, there are for sure going to be some electronic ballast fixtures
out there AND in the garage. They sound really good.