Connected Smoke Alarms

Might be better to hook the relay into something like this:

http://www.vesternet.com/z-wave-fibaro-universal-sensor

Would that work?

I was planning to use:
http://www.vesternet.com/z-wave-fibaro-universal-door-window-sensor

Looks to be a simpler solution.

Yep, simpler to setup. However the Universal Sensor can be DC powered and so no need for batteries (as with the door sensor).

Just waiting for confirmation from Vesternet (or wider confirmation on this thread!) that it will all work together and integrate into SmartThings with a little config.

@Nathan

I specifically bought a Fibaro binary sensor to integrate with my Aico smoke alarms. I have three alarms in the house. Building Regulations stipulate that they must be wired together in a signal sense, and power must be mains+battery. Aico are good in that you can daisy chain an additional unit that provides a volt free relay. I have one of these with the though of putting the tiny Fibaro binary sensor in. The Aico relay module (Aico Ei428) takes mains (240v) but does not present any easily accessible DC voltages inside. The fibaro sensor needs 9v and up (36v?). However, when I probe all the pads in the Aico relay box I can easily find 5v and 6v, but this is not enough. I’ve stalled on the project at the moment, but will get back to trying to find a DC supply in the Aico relay board I can tap into. Then I will have a totally enclosed smoke alarm relay board with ZWave enablement.

Again, building regulations (UK) say “Smoke alarms in all areas”, but “Heat alarms in kitchens”, so I have two of these:

AICO Ei Mains Lithium Ei166RC Optical Smoke Fire Alarm + Ei168RC Radiolink Base

and one of these:

AICO Ei Mains Lithium Ei164RC HEAT Fire Alarm Detector + Ei168RC Radiolink Base

I also have used the tiny Fibaro Binary sensors as temperature sensors and strap the heat transistor (DS18B20) to the inlet and outlet of my underfloor heating manifold.

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@DaveStoneHub sounds like you’ve done the hard work for us. Thanks for posting!

I’ve got a heat detector in the garage so I might have the relay in there where I can locate the z-wave sensor near a socket (or just use the battery).

Any easier way may be to use Leeo Smart Alert that listens for your connected smoke alarms, then triggers a virtual smoke alarm in ST via IFTTT instantly. I have this setup and works great.

I’ll be trying again to reverse engineer the circuit board in the Aico this weekend looking for that elusive 9 (or more) volts. I’ll keep the thread posted on results. I just can’t bring myself to wire in another power source into the box, just for the binary sensor. Sadly, the current (approx 10mA) demands of the sensor put it outside the scope of a battery.

Update …

Have probed/traced the Aico relay module (Aico Ei428) circuit board. It looks as though the output from the mains (240v) regulator is 5V so that’s not very helpful for the Fibaro Binary Sensor that wants 9v-30v. Have identified the tapping in points and now ordered a Pololu 9V Step-Up/Step-Down Voltage Regulator S10V3F9 (£3.60) to get the 5V up to 9V.

Getting closer…

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I think Leeo only works in the US? It’s listening for the standardized sound that smoke and co alarms make (in the US). The last several posts have been about a solution in the UK. Not sure if Leeo has a comparable product in the UK.

Success… after a false start. The step-up converter seemed to be presenting too much of a load on the board and was dropping the voltage too much. In desperation, started probing the board again and found either side of a capacitor presenting almost 12v DC. Hooked the Fibaro Universal Binary Sensor straight to this and wham, it fired up. I can now short GND to IN1 and the SmartThings Hub sees it. I’ll wire IN1 to the Normally Open (NO) contact on the relay and GND to Common ©. I’ll use heat-shrink wrap sleeving round the Fibaro UBS when I’m done just to protect it as it’s a bit naked. I’m using Stuart Buchanan’s (fuzzysb) device handler. Here’s another photo of the underside with the wiring. I’ll clean it up at some point.

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Does it HAVE TO be a Schlage door sensor, or could I use an Iris door sensor?

Any open/close sensor that has terminal inputs (screws to accept another wire) will likely work. The Iris sensor does not have terminal inputs.

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Thanks. Found it! The Ecolink DMZWAVE2-ECO is the same exact device as the Schlage. The Schlage seems either hard to find, or ridiculously overpriced when you can find it. I saw it for $70. The Ecolink, which really is the same one, is $26.75.

If you look at the first review on Amazon for it, the person posted a picture with the cover off.

Here I go! Wish me luck!

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What’s the cup for :wink:

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Screws, lol. It’s a habit. Most of this will use 2s tape.

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lol… My wife gave me this last year because I kept loosing screws…

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Got a permit beer? LOL

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I use these guys, but mine are all filled with oily hex bits. Plus I try to avoid magnets near electronics after a bad experience in the 90’s. :smiley:

http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=magnetic+tray

There it is. Next trip to Lowe’s I’ll buy a cover for the box. Now I have to go play on the ladder in the basement. I’m also not sure of NO and common, but I think I figure it out. I called Linear/GoControl and they couldn’t even tell me. So I’ll post after I test it.

Are you referring to this?