Issue with a Zigbee Watering Timer

Forums › Gadgets, robotics, home automation, electronics (including wearables) › Issue with a Zigbee Watering Timer

peejayw

1841 posts

Uber Geek

#303208 24-Jan-2023 16:36

I have a problem with a watering switch from Aliexpress so its quite possible its just a faulty product. The switch connected to my Conbee II without issue and I can turn it on and off in Home Assistant. The problem is that the timer turns itself off after one minute, exactly one minute, down to the second.

In the logbook I can see the following....

Watering Switch turned on triggered by service switch.turn_on

4:25:25 PM

and then a minute later.....

Watering Switch turned off

4:26:27 PM

As you can see, there is no indication of what turned it off.

Any suggestions apart from binning it?

Thanks.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

richms

28173 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3026523 24-Jan-2023 17:03

Sounds like a sensible failsafe mode for something like that incase it loses connection with the controller device.

Richard rich.ms

peejayw

1841 posts

Uber Geek

#3026524 24-Jan-2023 17:10

That sounds very likely. The ad says it needs a hub but I decided to try it connected with the Conbee which works fine to turn it on and off. I guess I can either buy the hub or send a "turn on" to the Conbee every 59secs to keep it awake for the 3minutes I need.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

PANiCnz

990 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3026533 24-Jan-2023 17:45

What valve/timer did you buy out of curiosity? There looks to be a few on Ali that have review comments that indicate it works with Zigbee2MQTT etc.

peejayw

1841 posts

Uber Geek

#3026541 24-Jan-2023 18:30

I got this one.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

markymarknz

10 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3026666 24-Jan-2023 20:33

I use the same watering valve with home assistant fine.

I believe your issue is that you need to use Zigbee2MQTT instead of the native ZHA. This exposes a few extra settings which controls the interval times, number of cycles and length of time each interval runs for (yours set to 1 min).

Mine is configured below with 30 sec intervals, 2 cycles (zero numbered) and runs for 1 minute each cycle.

skewt

750 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3026684 24-Jan-2023 21:53

markymarknz:
I use the same watering valve with home assistant fine.

I believe your issue is that you need to use Zigbee2MQTT instead of the native ZHA. This exposes a few extra settings which controls the interval times, number of cycles and length of time each interval runs for (yours set to 1 min).

Mine is configured below with 30 sec intervals, 2 cycles (zero numbered) and runs for 1 minute each cycle.

Second this, I have the same unit and it has some defaults in the settings you will need to change

peejayw

1841 posts

Uber Geek

#3026909 25-Jan-2023 10:47

Pretty heavily invested in ZHA, not sure if I want to go through the process of changing. Because setting up automations is so easy in HA these days, I am just re-iterating the turn-on call for the number of 1 minute intervals I need.

Thanks for the help everyone.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

Lenovo

Shop now for Lenovo laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

BryanG

45 posts

Geek

#3027561 26-Jan-2023 15:53

I too am running ZHA and am considering the same watering system. Have you tried the humidity sensor? Does that just work like a regular temperature/humidity sensor - and you just create an automation to trigger the watering once the humidity goes below a certain level?

I'm currently using a device from Bunnings (or was it Mitre10...?) which has a wifi hub doubling as a smart plug connected to the water valve via BT (I think). It doesn't play nicely with HA.

mattenz

190 posts

Master Geek

#3027562 26-Jan-2023 15:55

fwiw, I migrated from ZHA to Zigbee2MQTT, and it has been a bit of a headache. It's definitely not as mature as Zwave2MQTT.

peejayw

1841 posts

Uber Geek

#3027648 26-Jan-2023 18:58

@BryanG I dont see a humidity sensor. With ZHA it just appears as a switch. Its pretty simple to set up an automation for it, I just have it turning on, wait 65 sec because it turns itself off after 60secs, then turn it on again, rinse and repeat for the number of minutes you need. It turns itself off after the last cycle, I guess thats the "fail-safe" kicking in.

The unit seems to be quite well made and so far ts doing what I need, watering the plants in my glasshouse.

With HA its very easy to set up and change automations for start time and duration, all I need.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

peejayw

1841 posts

Uber Geek

#3027650 26-Jan-2023 19:00

@mattenz Yeh thanks, think I will stick with ZHA, working well for me. I am slowly swapping out wifi devices for zigbee ones.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.

BryanG

45 posts

Geek

#3027662 26-Jan-2023 19:39

@peejayw - I was meaning the device that AliExpress sell - to report on the 'dryness' of the soil. Sounds like you just got the water valve though..?

peejayw

1841 posts

Uber Geek

#3027663 26-Jan-2023 19:44

Oh sorry, yep, just the timer. Using it for my glasshouse so things like rainfall and humidity don't matter. Plants need watering every day so it's a question of how often and for how long.

I'm supposed to respect my elders, but it's getting harder and harder for me to find one now.