Spent 4 hours tracking down a "bad" sensor that was actually just a spider web

Working on a home automation project last weekend. One of my motion sensors kept triggering at random times, driving me nuts. I checked the code, swapped batteries, re-paired it to the hub, even factory reset the thing. Finally after 4 hours I looked closer and saw a tiny spider web right across the lens. Wiped it off and it worked perfectly. Has anyone else had a tech problem that turned out to be something really dumb like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

bailey.jennifer12d ago

Lol nature just loves messing with our tech, doesn't it? Four hours of debugging for a spider's little art project is peak 2024 energy. Bet that spider was just sitting there watching you get all frustrated, thinking "yep, my web is definitely more important than your sensor." Honestly, I've had similar stuff happen where a spec of dust made my thermostat go haywire for a whole day. At least you didn't replace the whole sensor before finding the web, that would've been a real punchline to the joke.

felixlane11d ago

@bailey.jennifer is the spider paying rent for that web or just freeloading off your debug time?

the_brian11d ago

Are we really calling a spider web a four-hour debugging crisis?