I recently wrote about the Sonoff RF-Bridge – a great device for transferring RF signals from various gadgets to WIFI – well, first things first, I put Tasmota on the RF-Bridge so now, using the free Tasmota Device Manager on it, I can receive information from devices and that gets turned into MQTT by the RF-Bridge.
But which devices? Well, as well as getting to test, I somehow I ended up with with two rather nice from Banggood. No brand name that I can see, but they look nice and appear to work perfectly (Itead?). Each puts out a unique code when tested (i.e. the central button held for a second until the green light on the detector illuminates).
These devices run on a standard 9v battery – the manufacturer claims one year battery life from a decent alkaline with audible alarm if the battery voltage dips below 6.8v.
So, the smoke detectors come with a twistable base and by removing that base (no screws) you can change the battery. There is only the briefest green flash in normal operation. When testing or in the case of smoke/fire, there is a full-on green light, the usual audio alarm and telemetry data including a unique code for that device is sent back to RF-Bridge – as far as I can see however, no regular telemetry is sent during normal operation of the smoke alarm.
If there is no-one in the building it would be nice to know that the smoke alarm is actually working – but there it is. The of course does send regular telemetry but that does not include status for the smoke alarms.
I also received an and a from Banggood – unlike the smoke alarms each of which use a 9v battery, these other sensors use inexpensive ” 23A” 12v miniature batteries – both come complete with adhesive pads and instructions. I bought 5 batteries for under £3 from Amazon on order – the sensors work a treat – but again I question the wisdom of detecting only a door opening – it might be nice to know when the door closes as well – I’ve ordered another sensor type which whould take a couple of weeks or so to arrive..
The WATER SENSOR turned out to be essential – we just had some flooding and it became essential to know water levels before opening outside doors. The sensor has already saved one carpet soaking and will now be left in operation permanently.
Looks like the perfect addition to monitor my 3D printer and switch it off in the event of a fire.
you should have proper shutdown procedures on the printer and firmware themselves, for both hotend and hot plate, if present…
Not if it’s on Fire!!!! I would just cut the power!
Otherwise Octoprint sorts it out.
The Sonoff RF Magnetic Contacts are good but use the same RF code for both opening and shutting. The GS-WDS07 Wireless Door Magnetic Strip 433MHz for Security Alarm Home System option from Banggood gives separate RF codes for opening and shutting. Might be useful for some projects.
Hi Brian, do you know if those GS-WDS07 works with Sonoff RF bridge as is?
I understand the bridge is picky with non Sonoff devices unless you flash Portish firmware on the rf chip.
I have 3 of them working with my Sonoff Bridge flashed with tasmota (that might make a difference) without any difficulties. I have one in my postbox and I get a Blynk notification when opened and one on a window sash that gives a message when opened and a different rf code when closed (good to have separate codes). Tasmota might be the important factor.
Cool. Exactly what I wanted to know. Gotta got some.
I’m using Tasmota too and there is a option to flash another firmware on the rf chip called Portish which expend the capabilities. Not yet went that route.
Many thanks
I have no experience of Portish. Tasmota has been great and I can both receive and send RF codes.
B
Hi Pete Thought many many years ago these should be fitted to all washing machines .
Most water leaks start from a small amount of water leaking
Absolutely Dave. This one is s simple set of contacts – wireless – and dirt cheap – I have others which are capacitive and utterly waterproof but they need a wire. I wish I could find a way to fit one to the bath without Maureen noticing.
This one if it will handle the weather could end up just outside the back door in the UK and the main door in Spain, sending back alarms to my phone. In my case they talk to the RF-LINK unit which is very cheap and that in turn sends a WIFI command back to the Raspberry Pi which alerts me by email… but there are much simpler ways.