Lights flashing

[Colorado Y]

Last night I was sitting with some friends on their deck as it got dark, and I noticed some flashes. At first I thought they had a light inside that was acting up, but after a few more flashes we realized it was coming through the front door -- from my car, parked out front.

Every 5-10 minutes or so (wild guess), something flashed. It didn't look bright enough to be the headlights, so I assume it was running lights. What would cause that?

Possible cause: my phone was dead -- the battery had drained earlier in the evening. Does the car get "lonely" if it can't talk to the phone ??

I watched the car for over 30 minutes tonight, with the phone charged up, and no flashes.

 

[jmaddr]

Potentially sentry mode detecting outside movement.

 

[Colorado Y]

Hm, does Sentry Mode flash when it detects an intruder?? It's "caught" me a few times and I never noticed a flash. But that could explain why I didn't see anything when I watched it last night -- I have Sentry Mode turned off at home.

The user manual says it will flash its lights when View Live Camera is in use, but I see no mention of flashing in Sentry Mode.

 

[Benito1283]

Hm, does Sentry Mode flash when it detects an intruder?? It's "caught" me a few times and I never noticed a flash. But that could explain why I didn't see anything when I watched it last night -- I have Sentry Mode turned off at home.

Yes it flashes the lights. From the manual:

"If Sentry Mode detects a possible threat, such as someone very close to, or leaning on, Model Y, Sentry Mode switches to the Alert state, where: Headlights briefly flicker, etc etc."

I guess it's possible the lights don't flash if it's bright out, or maybe you just didn't notice them. But yes, it sounds like Sentry Mode headlights flicker is what you observed.

 

[Colorado Y]

Hm, ok thanks Benito. I was searching for "flash" and didn't find "flicker!" Seems unlikely that it would have detected a "possible threat" though. It was sitting in a private driveway, with no people walking anywhere near. A bunny hopping by is about the most likely "threat." I suppose a deer is possible too, but it seems unlikely a deer would have walked that close to the car every 5 minutes or so. Hm.

 

[MIM1]

It also picks up if cars drive by

 

[Colorado Y]

No, the car was parked in a private driveway. Nearest cars driving by were around a corner and about 100' up a hill. That's a fairly major street with lots of traffic, so the "deer" theory seems pretty unlikely too.

 

[Colorado Y]

Strangely enough, I’ve turned on the “no sentry at home” setting, but it keeps making candid home movies of me puttering around in the garage. I’ll have to figure out how to check where it thinks ”home” is.

 

[Colorado Y]

I reviewed some of the videos from the time in question, and it looks like moving shadows from headlights on the nearby highway are what triggered sentry mode.

Still getting home movies in my garage. Still trying to figure out how to turn off sentry mode at home.

 

[Quagmire2]

I reviewed some of the videos from the time in question, and it looks like moving shadows from headlights on the nearby highway are what triggered sentry mode.

Still getting home movies in my garage. Still trying to figure out how to turn off sentry mode at home.

Have to set your home address as, "home" in the nav.

 

[Colorado Y]

Yes, I did. Not clear it “took.”

 

[EVer Hopeful]

You're in Colorado ... how big is your place? If you give it an address, that might convert into lat/long for say the front door, but your garage is considered too far away to still be "home"

I'm guessing here obviously, but I have an Android phone and set the no-lock-when-at-home feature and it seems to work/not work at different places arounds the house. As if the circle called "home" should be a bit bigger"

 

[Colorado Y]

Interesting idea! But my lot is only 1/3 acre, and it’s pie shaped, narrow end toward the street. So the front door and the garage are right next to each other.

 

[Vicj]

I love in garden condos, with attached garages. In my driveway, the Tesla thinks I'm at home. In my garage, it thinks I'm next door.

 

[EVer Hopeful]

Interesting idea! But my lot is only 1/3 acre,

"only" ??????!!!?!!!???

 

[Colorado Y]

I love in garden condos, with attached garages. In my driveway, the Tesla thinks I'm at home. In my garage, it thinks I'm next door.

Hm. So a single car length is enough to confuse it??

How did you test the coverage in your driveway? Is there any way to tweak the “home” setting so it includes my garage? Right now it just has my address, and I have no idea what it considers to be included at that address.

"only" ??????!!!?!!!???

Well you noticed I’m in Colorado. We have larger lots than you might find in a city, or on the coasts. I live on the outskirts of the nearby town, and my lot is actually one of the smaller ones in this semi-rural area. Compare it to the 1–10 acre horse properties, or the minimum-35-acre lots in mountain developments and… Yes, “only.”

 

[shingles]

"only" ??????!!!?!!!???

I mean, not sure what part of Texas you are in, but I thought all of us Texans have horses and a 200 acre ranch, no?

 

[Colorado Y]

I think you dropped at least one zero from your ranch size…

 

[EVer Hopeful]

lol - I worked in Colorado once and one of the peeps on our team said that there had been a hailstorm up in Monument and that there were drifts six foot deep. I of course said "Why in Texas we have individual hailstones six feet across"

She said "What, really?" but The look on her face was priceless

 

[Vicj]

Hm. So a single car length is enough to confuse it??

How did you test the coverage in your driveway? Is there any way to tweak the “home” setting so it includes my garage? Right now it just has my address, and I have no idea what it considers to be included at that address.

Well you noticed I’m in Colorado. We have larger lots than you might find in a city, or on the coasts. I live on the outskirts of the nearby town, and my lot is actually one of the smaller ones in this semi-rural area. Compare it to the 1–10 acre horse properties, or the minimum-35-acre lots in mountain developments and… Yes, “only.”

Yep. One car length is enough to change the location, at least in my crowded community. I have not been able to find a way to "widen" the home location. So, I made my driveway "home", and my garage "work", then gave them both the same settings