Motion Sensor Flashes like a Camera Flash??

I have a motion sensor in the corner of my bedroom. At night I am armed in Home mode, so the sensor does not activate the alarm. I woke up to go to the restroom and the motion sensor flashes like a camera flash going off. This has happened 3 or 4 times in the last two nights. Why is it flashing? How do I turn it off? Thanks

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The contact sensors and motion sensors all flash when triggered. There is no way to turn it off. I like that feature as confirmation.

You might want to try taking the cover off and putting some tape over the inside where the led flashes. Just be sure not to interfere with the action of the sensor. Disclosure - I have not tried this.

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Hey @paulozi! To add to what @Brad said, the Alarm Motion Detectors will indicate when a motion was detected via the LED indicator. To clarify further, this will only happen on the initial motion detected from a “cleared” state. For example if you remain in the room, and never allow the Motion detector to “clear” and it continuously senses your motion, you will not see a constant LED. You will only see the LED indicate the initial/ first motion detected after the area was “cleared”. Hope this helps! :slight_smile:

Dear Marley,

My issue is the same as @Paulozi. My wife is quite unnerved by the flash everytime she gets out of bed at night. You’re saying that there is no way to disable the flash? If I set the “motion Sensitivity” to the lowest level will that at least lessen the amount of flashes. My understanding is that the detector will reset for motion every 4 or 8 minutes. Will adjusting the sensitivity increase that time?

In addition, there was a suggestion to mask the light that flashes with tape. Is that truly possible and will it hamper the device?

@Djsomerset wrote:

In addition, there was a suggestion to mask the light that flashes with tape. Is that truly possible and will it hamper the device?

Using tape will not hamper the device. The place where the flash shows is not in the window of the sensor. But it is easy to test afterwards to make sure.

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Thanks Brad,

I think the place you mean is a clear plastic piece that’s near the top of the device. I’ll use some black elecrical tape there.

Brad,

I put the tape over that piece and it still detects motion. We’ll see if it blocks the flash tonight. Thanks for your help

The bright flash is actually above that window. That window is there for the sensor. But, remember a motion sensor is really a heat sensor. So the trick is to cover the flash enough and not impact the heat detection. I think trial and error is the answer.

You could also open the unit up and tape over the actual flashing led.

Maybe this is an option Ring could add with a future firmware update?

Thanks

@paulozi , @Brad , @Djsomerset , @Ninko

You been heard by Ring, and no longer need to use tape to cover the Motion Detetor’s LED that flashes when there is movement. Just use your Ring app to turn it off.

From Main Menu, tap Devices > Alarm Base Station > select the Motion Detector > select LED Settings > toggle Light off, then tap SAVE.

When toggled off, your Motion Detector will work as usual, but LED light will remain off when motion is detected. Cool, huh? Thanks Ring. :slight_smile:

I don’t currently have that option in my app…

@Ninko wrote:

I don’t currently have that option in my app…

My smartphone is a Samsung Android. My wife’s smartphone is a Apple iPhone.

Both of our phones have this new option to control the LED lighting.

On ther Ring app, ensure the sing-in was with the primary Ring account (owner email), because only the owner will have this control option. Shared Users (different email sign-in) will not have this option.

If you are signed-in with the owner email account and still do not have this LED option displayed, then you might not have the latest version of the phone app.

I hope this helps :slight_smile:

I am in the UK, so I suspect we haven’t received that update yet, we’re normally a year behide lol.

Thanks

Ahhhhhh . . .

@Ninko wrote:

I am in the UK, so I suspect we haven’t received that update yet, we’re normally a year behide lol.

Thanks

You’re in the UK . . .OK. I hope you get it soon! :wink:

I dont see an LED settings option within any of the motion detectors active on the alarm devices control panel.

Android phone and app, fully updated.

@KBunny wrote:
I dont see an LED settings option within any of the motion detectors active on the alarm devices control panel.

Android phone and app, fully updated.

Hello @KBunny ,

Thanks for attaching the screenshot. Apparently, the LED setting option is Gen2 sensors only.

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Right. There is only one way to fix that. Open the case and cover the small blue LED with a piece of black electric tape. That will almost completely stop the light and makes it acceptable

Folks, we are talking about two different things here. There is the blue led flash when motion is detected and there is also a bright camera like flash. Not sure when or why it goes off…happened to me the first time today which brought me here. I understand the blue led light but what the heck is this camera like bright flash?

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Yes, exactly the same thing happening to me so it is not a ‘fault’ as such. Definitely not the blue led, it is a bright flash like a camera flash and it doesn’t happen all time. Seems like it only goes off when you first wake up