Is Your Blink Camera Not Detecting Motion? Here’s How to Fix It
A Blink security camera is a fantastic tool for keeping an eye on your property, but its effectiveness hinges on reliable motion detection. If you've noticed that your camera is no longer sending alerts or recording clips when there's clear movement, it can be a real worry. Don't panic; the problem is often a simple settings adjustment or a connectivity issue that you can resolve yourself.
This guide will walk you through the most common reasons why your Blink motion detection might be failing and provide clear, step-by-step instructions to get it working again, ensuring your peace of mind.
## First Steps: Check the Blink App Essentials
Before diving into more complex troubleshooting, let's cover the basics within the Blink Home Monitor app. It's surprisingly easy to overlook a setting that could be causing the issue.
### 1. Ensure Your System is Armed
The most common reason for no motion detection is that the system is disarmed. When disarmed, your cameras are not actively looking for motion.
- How to check: Open the Blink app. At the bottom of the home screen, you will see two buttons: "Armed" and "Disarmed".
- What to do: If it says "Disarmed", simply tap "Armed". The system will now actively monitor for motion. You can also set up a schedule for arming and disarming your system automatically.
### 2. Verify Individual Camera Settings
Even if the main system is armed, motion detection can be disabled for individual cameras.
- How to check: On the app's home screen, each camera has a "running man" icon. If this icon has a slash through it and is greyed out, motion detection is disabled for that specific camera.
- What to do: Tap the running man icon to enable motion detection. It should turn blue.
### 3. Adjust Motion Sensitivity
If the sensitivity is set too low, your camera may not pick up on smaller or more distant movements.
- How to check: Tap the settings icon (sliders) next to your camera's name. Go to "Motion Settings".
- What to do: You'll see a "Sensitivity" slider. If it's set very low, try increasing it to a mid-range level (e.g., 5 or 6). You may need to experiment to find the perfect setting for your environment to avoid false alarms from pets or swaying trees.
## Hardware and Connectivity Troubleshooting
If your app settings are all correct, the problem might lie with the camera's hardware or its connection to your network.
### 1. Check Your Camera's Batteries
Blink cameras are designed for long battery life, but they don't last forever. When the batteries are critically low, features like motion detection and video recording may be disabled to conserve power.
- How to check: In the camera settings within the app, you can view the current battery level.
- What to do: If the batteries are low, replace them with a fresh pair of AA 1.5-volt lithium non-rechargeable batteries. It is critical to use this specific type of battery; alkaline or rechargeable batteries can cause performance issues.
### 2. Test Your Wi-Fi Connection
A poor connection between your camera, the Sync Module, and your Wi-Fi router is a frequent cause of problems.
- How to check: In the camera settings, check the "Camera to Sync Module" and "Sync Module to Wi-Fi" signal strengths. One or two bars indicate a weak signal.
- What to do:
- Try moving your Sync Module closer to your Wi-Fi router.
- If the camera has a weak signal, try moving it closer to the Sync Module.
- Restart your router by unplugging it for 60 seconds and plugging it back in. This can often resolve temporary network glitches.
### 3. Reposition Your Camera
The placement of your camera is crucial for effective motion detection.
- Avoid Obstructions: Ensure there are no plants, walls, or decorations blocking the camera's view or its PIR sensor.
- Don't Point Through Glass: Blink's PIR sensor detects heat signatures, which cannot pass through glass. Your camera will not detect motion on the other side of a window.
- Optimise for Sideways Movement: The sensor is best at detecting movement that crosses its field of view, not movement that comes directly towards it. Position your camera so that people will walk across its view.
By systematically working through these checks, you can identify and solve the vast majority of issues affecting your Blink camera's motion detection. Regular checks of your settings and battery levels will help ensure your system is always ready to protect your home.