I wanted to ask if others have seen a similar issue. Over the last 18 months, every Samsung SmartThings Plug (2019) that I have purchased, they last a few months or less, to the point where eventually the physical power button or the power button on SmartThings app is rendered useless, as the plug remains permanently on. I have tried things like resetting etc but that has never helped. Once it stops working, it stays in a permanent on state.
I have now gone through at least 9 in the last 18 months.
My most recent incident - Just over a week ago, my 8th stopped working after a few months, so I ordered my 9th. The 9th has lasted the shortest time so far - 6 days - which led me to creating this post, if others have had similar issues.
It’s not under a heavy load either - just a laptop used during the working hours for work along with an external monitor. This last plug, lasting less than a week, I found shocking.
Now I ‘love’ these plugs when they work, but wondering if others have any guidance on where I am going wrong, that they fail so quick (or if that’s normal) and secondly, if there is any alternative which others have switched to, that they can recommend and are reliable.
I should highlight, I am in the UK (so it’s a UK SmartThings Plug), so we do have some choice, but not as much as our US community.
I’ve had six of these over the years and my experience is that they don’t like light loads. The only two I have left working are one that controls my car charger (up to 2.2 kW) and my solar power diverter (up to 2kW) All the others controlled low power devices such as lamps and TVs, and have slowly failed, like yours, to always on.
That’s interesting - I wonder what would be considered a ‘light load’? The live ‘power meter’ within the SmartThings will usually hover around 135w.
My theory was that the power being pulled was more than what the plug could handle, but it seems that is flawed, based on your findings @7andy of using devices requiring much more power.
Another thing I found, was that the overall ‘Energy Consumption’ over time, once it hits circa 30kWh-35kWh, that’s when it would stop working for me.
I had another SmartPlug die on me - power passes through, but cannot control the smart capabilities of turning it on and off.
It’s the end of the road for me now with the Samsung SmartThings Plug, and looking at alternatives. (Completely escaped my mind to check yesterday during the Prime Day deals!)
I’ve come across a brand ‘Meross’ on Amazon, but need to now do some research to see how capable and reliable they are.
Just the price alone has surprised me - a pack of 4 Meross plugs costs less than 1 of the very unreliable SmartThings plug!
I should add, the last plug that died two days ago, happened once the overall Energy Consumption hit circa 11 kWh - significantly less than when they have died for me in the past. So my theory of only stopping working once it goes above 30kWh is no longer true. The plug prior to this died at 3kWh total Energy Consumption. Yes, just 3kWh!
I’ve stuck out with the ST Plug purely as it connects directly to the hub, as opposed to going through the WiFi, and adding yet another IoT device on the wifi network.