Not massively impressed with the new SmartThings water sensor. I had this one in my shower with the following automation.
if (sensor = wet + time = 06.00hrs - 10.00hrs) then
{
play Sonos radio news
turn on coffee maker
}
It wasn’t immersed just sat at the back of the shower waiting to get wet yet still after ~ 30 days corroded and unusable. I can’t help thinking this could have been prevented with just a simple rubber gasket…
The fact its not waterproof seriously limits the utility of the device and turns it into rather a ‘one trick pony’
If you wanted to turn one into a two trick pony, simply modify it by soldering 2 wires, or a water probe to it, thereby leaving the module itself out of waters way.
I’m impressed it lasted that long in those conditions. I have a few of those (and a few generations of them) working great, but I also use them as intended - as leak sensors under sinks, toilets, overflow trays, etc; but not in showers I’m afraid.
Edit: actually all I would need is a layer of silicon gel around the base. That’s the ingress point for the water. I was surprised water had gotten inside as it was a tight fit and a total bitch to get open.
Who is immersing it? Or submerging it? I just need the thing to trigger when the external contacts get wet and not crap out. My mp3 player isn’t waterproof or IP (pick a number) rated but its splash proof and 4 years od dude sweat hasn’t killed it yet.
It lasted a month with the battery in the 90th percentile and worked like a charm. All they would have needed to do is put a two cent gasket on there and it would have lasted forever and a day.
Also, I disagree on the triggering piece. The device constantly poles the temperature. So as long as its in range of a repeater triggering the contacts on the top or bottom won’t make a much of a difference to battery life in the longterm.
However, I must ask if a quick shower kills these devices how then would you know if they are still working? How do test them? Can you reuse them after a leak? I’m thinking no. It’s a little like having a soluble life guard surely.
You bet, and I have in at least three cases where a toilet started leaking on the floor, clothes washer hose issue (triggered a valve to shut off), and our attic HVAC unit’s tray filled with water when the drain was clogged.
In each case, the sensor was easily cleaned and put back into service. The HVAC leak sensor was actually partially submerged, but some cleaning, drying, and a new battery put that unit back into service as well.
In use cases like yours, or very wet scenarios like sump pumps, Everspring (and other companies) have a sensor on a long cord that can be subjected to being under/in water. I have one of those too. I have the device mounted on the wall next to the drain in the wall where the clothes washer drains. The sensor itself is down the drain tube in the wall a few inches above the water level and clothes washer drain hose by the p-trap. If the water reaches that sensor when the water drains from the washer, I have a clog. If that happens, the outlet the washer is plugged in to turns off stopping the pump from draining any more water.
I have (7) of these throughout my house for sensing any leaks. When any of them senses a leak, a webCoRE piston then turns off the main water valve. I also have a weekly reminder set to test one of them on a rotating basis. I wet a finger and touch the sensor probes to test.
Does his work even without internet? I am setting up a system form my parents that will close their valve when water is detected. I have local processing enabled and have set up the home monitoring, but it only works with internet. I want the valve to close regardless if there is internet or not. All of the devices say Local Execution in the IDE.
I am new to SmartThings. I use Home Assistant at my house, but I wanted some simpler and more reliable for my parents.
My setup does not work when the internet is down because although each of the devices and (I think) the DTH’s (Device Type Handlers) are set up to run locally, I use webCoRE to handle the automation and it cannot be set to run locally on ST. I have my LAN infrastructure and hub on battery backups AND the whole home on a backup generator so those are solid. If my service provider (extremely rare) or ST servers die (less stable), then it wont function. In my mind, I’m 99.99999999% better off with this setup than those who are without it .
Great. Thanks for the update. For this setup, it will (should) be pretty simple. I agree that the internet is usually pretty reliable. It would just be nice if the Home Monitor function run cloud-less. Coming from Home Assistant and HomeSeer environments, it baffles me that a simple leak sensor closing a water valve requires an active internet connection; and this is without custom handlers and local execution enabled.
However, perhaps I am missing something. The help docs indicate the Home Monitor features can run cloud-less, so maybe I am just doing something wrong
