Water Tank Temperature?

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Hi,

I am kind of new to this home automation thing, but i got the basic things covered i guess.

I am buying the SmartThings Samsung hub to control lights and power outlets. Thats fine and its very straight forward.

I am having trouble finding a zigbee / zwave water temperature sensor that i can connect to my SmartThings Hub and monitor the temprature.

I found this:

which i assume connects to a ZigBee device (DS18B20) that can communicate the temprature to my Hub.

Can you please confirm if my understanding is correct? If so, any details on how this can be done? If not, appreciate your input on how i can read the water tank temperature on my SmartThings hub.

Thanks
JS

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Robin is right : the DS18B20 sensor chip you found on alibaba.com is NOT capable as such of connecting to your SmartThings hub, neither using Z-Wave nor Zigbee.
But it can be connected to the “Fibaro FGK-101 Door/Window & Temperature Sensor”, which in turn connects to the SmartThings hub using Z-Wave.

Beware however that the current version of the custom handler I developed for the FGK-101 is currently NOT compatible with the latest version of the FGK-101 (Z-Wave Plus, Firmware >= 3.2).
I should receive this latest version of the FGK-101 soon for tests purpose, and hopefully publish on github an updated compatible version by the end of the month.

In the meantime, if you can locate a supplier with the previous version of the FGK-101 (Z-Wave, Firmware <=2.5), you could use the current version of my custom handler immediately.
In case you buy a FGK-101 on Internet, remember also that contrary to Zigbee, Z-Wave frequencies depend on location (908,4 MHz in the US), so make sure you buy a US version if you have a SmartThings US hub.

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Several different aspects to this, so I just want to clear up a couple…

You gotten very good advice about using the Fibaro Z wave sensor with a temperature probe, and the various selection issues involved with that.

Choosing zigbee devices for use with SmartThings

I did want to mention first that the zigbee standard allows for multiple different profiles, including manufacturer proprietary. The different profiles cannot work with each other, They don’t even use the same addressing standard.

SmartThings uses the “zigbee home automation” profile (ZHA 1.2). Devices that use that exact profile can probably be made to work with SmartThings, although they may require a custom device type handler.

Devices using other zigbee profiles may not work with SmartThings at all, or may be able to be paired but then keep disconnecting from the network.

So just being “zigbee” isn’t enough.

Shopping at Alibaba

Next, the product descriptions on Alibaba are often incorrect, commonly because they copied the English from a different similar looking product without understanding all the differences. A lot of things are marked as “Wi-Fi” which are actually zigbee or Z wave, some things are marked “US Z wave” when in fact they are on the Asian frequency and would not work with the SmartThings hub. And some are marked “zigbee” when they’re actually accessories without any radio at all. I can’t be sure on this one, but that’s what it looks like – – that this is just the probe sensor, not the networked piece.

Many times if you ask if a device is certified for the “zigbee home automation profile” as long as it is a zigbee device intended for automation, they will tell you that it is. Because they don’t understand the difference.

Anyway, if you are going to buy from AliBaba it’s a good idea to write and ask them for a copy of their certification before purchasing.

The DS18B20

In this particular case, you can find the same probe from very reliable sources, including Amazon, so you might want to just consider sourcing there. :sunglasses:

Again, this particular piece doesn’t have a radio – – that’s what you’re going to use the Fibaro sensor for.

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Thanks Geeji… You cleared up alot of the confusions that i had AND gave me some insight to be aware of (versions and frequencies)… I will check the Fibaro FGK 101 Door/Window & Temperature Sensor…

Will check ur github on a regular basis for the update!

THanks!
JS

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Thanks JDRoberts… I agree with you around Alibaba and sourcing good equipment… It was the first thing that popped into my search and i thought i’d check my understanding and feasibility before buying anything

I will definitely have a go on the Amazon one you sent when i get a handle on everything! thanks!!

JS

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Just wondering if your custom handler is compatible with the latest firmware?

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Hi Roman,

AFAIK, my custom handler works with the latest firmware…
…BUT the latest HARDWARE version of the FGK-10x (aka FGDW-002) does NOT have the 3 internal connectors which were used in the FGK-10x to connect a local OR REMOTE DS18B20 chip.
Check the latest posts in this thread.

You may be able to find “old stock”, but in that case make sure you get the older "FGK-10x’ WITHOUT the built-in temperature sensor.

Sorry about that.

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That’s great! Thanks for referencing the other thread regarding v2, looks like I’m good on that front as Amazon still has plenty of v1’s stocked.