There are a couple topics in the community already about this device, but since this is a new DTH that supports the new mobile app UI and platform, I thought it was appropriate to have a new topic.
Screenshots:
Dashboard tile examples showing current state of flow in gpm:
Detailed view with some new attributes that were not included in FortrezZ’s version of the Classic DTH (but were in mine):
This DTH supports the new mobile app UI and platform. That means some capabilities from Classic, like image captures/toggling for daily, weekly, or monthly chart images pulled from FortrezZ server are not here, nor supported. Also, some custom attributes and commands that were available in Classic are also not in this DTH.
DTH still supports the power source capability, which means you can monitor and be alerted if your power source changes, or you lose power. It works the same as it did with the Classic version of this DTH.
This DTH does NOT include the ability to post data to the FortrezZ externally hosted server. While it is possible to still access their server on your own, and potentially pull charts directly off their server, I did not include sending data because I have no idea what their support model is for that long term, plus every year they let the cert expire and things break.
This DTH still includes FortrezZ’s old custom attributes that are needed if you use any of their legacy SmartApps. Please note however that support for their SmartApps is non-existent. It also still uses the Energy and Power capabilities for other SmartApps capable of including “metering” devices in their app.
This DTH (as did my older one for Classic) includes the settings “Reporting Rate Threshhold” for how often the meter reports while water is flowing, and “High Flow Rate Threshhold”. Make sure to set those up in this version of the DTH after installing. I will clean up that code in the next release.
The ability to reset the meter still exists. This can be done with any SmartApp or webCore that can send reset() to the device. I can practically ensure you’ll want to do this if you never have. You’ll see why when you use this the first time.
You don’t need to delete/exclude the meter from SmartThings first. You can replace your existing DTH with this one, but just make sure to go into Settings and clean things up and set things up.
And lastly, I’ve got some more work to do in terms of cleaning up the code, so please excuse the mess. I’ll post updates to this topic as changes are made, as well as logging them in the DTH.
Attribute Notes:
Water Flow Rate. Current state of water flow through your meter.
Gallons Last Used. Self explanatory.
Total Gallons Used. This value is since your last reset. If you’ve never done a reset, this will be large.
Highest Water Flow Rate. This value clears when you reset.
Highest Gallons Used. This value clears when you reset.
Water Sensor. Used for legacy FortrezZ SmartApps.
Temperature, Battery, Power Source. Self explanatory and same as before.
*** Because of the new app and UI, you MAY need to force close the app and clear the app’s data cache ***
Also, here are some updates to FortrezZ’s SmartApps if you decide to use those:
Unfortunately I am still not able to use the fortrezz water meter as before with the new smartthings app.
Any help would be appreciated. Or step by step guide. I tried to update my handler with the link but not sure what else needs to be done. It did not help. Only thing I am getting is wattage used and temperature.
That means you need to force close the app and clear out the ST app’s cache. I would highly recommend switching back to the old DTH, then doing the force close clear cache step, and then switch to the new DTH. You may need to do this more than once.
I’m replying to your question here vs the other thread so I can keep questions and feedback consolidated as best I can in this topic.
Please go into Settings for the device and enable debug logging, set reporting threshold to 1 (my recommendation), and then set high flow rate to whatever value you want. That should get you going.
If not, perform live logging in the IDE and see what errors the device throws out.
Hi,
I’m pretty new to smartthings and would like to set up a vacation property to alert me if there is any water flow while the house is in Away mode and came across this Fortrezz water meter and this DTH. I’m assuming that I would be able to set up an automation based on the flow rate > 0 while away and then either alert me or turn off a connected valve, etc., correct?
Honestly, I’m not terribly familiar with the details of how DTH interact with the hub, but I get the general idea. In a former life, I was a software engineer and am still in the tech field, so I get the engineering side of it, but just not sure about what will happen to DTH if smartthings depreciates the IDE. Since I’m near the beginning of building out my home automations, I don’t want to buy some hardware that is completely reliant on a DTH that won’t work if Samsung decides to remove the IDE in 6 months. So, am I correct that this water flow meter won’t work at all with Smartthings if/when they do depreciate the IDE an our ability to assign this DTH to the device? Or does it have some functionality “out of the box” without this DTH?
Thanks for your help and sorry for the noob questions! I just want to be sure I don’t spend several hundred dollars on something that will brick in a few months.
Hi @NEB032018 , there’s no easy answer, but like “it depends”. Fortrezz wrote the original DTH and SmartApp that do what you want, and then I’ve been modifying them over the years. It’s unlikely that they’ll continue to support their code. My DTH works right now with Fortrezz’s apps and apps that can monitor energy (gals are watts with those apps), and I may create an Edge driver once I see what ST is planning on doing with DTH’s that have not moved to Edge. There is no assurance that I’ll be able to create an Edge driver, but since this device is important to me, I’ll eventually figure something out.
There’s no ST capability for “flow” yet, but these are considered energy meters, so the DTH uses both a custom flow capability (gpm) and ST’s power capability (watts), and that means any SmartApp (yes, still groovy) that can monitor meters and take action based upon a value and turn something off, will work. Fortrezz’s SmartApps still work. This is where a fair amount of work will need to done.
I completely agree with you, and I wish we all knew more about what’s going to happen. Unfortunately ST hasn’t been too forthcoming with information, and the Edge drivers program still seems to be in a perpetual beta state. I will admit that I’ve not followed this much because I’ve move to out of the box device handlers from ST, with the exception of the meter and a couple Aqara devices.
It’s highly unlikely that will happen. If you try to use this meter without a custom DTH, I believe it gets discovered as an energy meter, which still is somewhat usable compared to what my DTH does.
No worries, but I don’t think it will be a brick (for too long)… This is not a popular device, but someone may come around and create an Edge driver, or ST may end up with other options for things like this.
Hi John, I have a Fortrezz FTS05 Flood Sensor. I followed the installation steps (circa 2015), created DTH, etc and the sensor now works. My only complaint is that the app shows four outputs including Temp, Moisture, Battery and Motion. Do you know how to get rid of the motion sensor output as it just displays a cloud with line through it. I don’t think this sensor has a motion sensor. Thanks in Advance. Mark.
Hi @mmthorn I believe that sensor should be using ST’s standard handler called “Z-Wave Water Sensor”. That will show the right capabilities, otherwise you’ll have to edit the DTH code you used to remove those capabilities. You should know that Groovy code is being phased out on ST’s platform, so you’ll eventually need to use ST’s drivers or find a developer who has written an Edge driver for that device.
Thanks John, I didn’t think to test different ST handlers. The “Z-Wave Water Sensor” did not show temperature but the “SmartSense Moisture Sensor” had all the correct capabilities. Thanks for your quick response. Mark.
