Hello PowerForum

Thank you for the warm welcome. We are very happy to be here and assist with any questions you may have about Sonoff.

We will draw from all our experiences, across all our customers and everything we have learnt in the past years and we will communicate effectively and efficiently on this platform by having open truthful discussions. 

Please feel free to use the coupon code"PowerForum5%" it will give you 5% discount all items.

Sonoff Africa

Commercial Post

 

 

Welcome Sonoff,

Great seeing you on PF.

I use various of your the Sonoff products and work seamlessly. Looking into new innovative solutions like the loadshedder sensor.

https://www.sonoffafrica.co.za/product/loadsedder/ 

Looks promising. Keep innovating.

 

 

Yeah!! A topic that was discussed with sonoff a few times that will help with loadshedding is the ability to trigger if something goes offline or stays offline for say 5min or a selectable time(to prevent connectivity triggers) . This can already be done if another device switches on or off. I can then dedicate a sonoff for loadshedding monitoring

Edited October 12, 20223 yr by booysenc
Mistake

17 minutes ago, booysenc said:

Yeah!! A topic that was discussed with sonoff a few times that will help with loadshedding is the ability to trigger if something goes offline or stays offline for say 5min or a selectable time(to prevent connectivity triggers) . This can already be done if another device switches on or off. I can then dedicate a sonoff for loadshedding monitoring

Even the cheap Sonoff basic sends a push msg to the phone when it is off line. I just saw it on my units the other night. Once power is restored the push msg goes away. See off line alert.

Edited October 12, 20223 yr by Scorp007

3 minutes ago, Scorp007 said:

Even the cheap Sonoff basic sends a push msg to the phone when it is off line. I just saw it on my units the other night. Once power is restored the push msg goes away.

So the info and ability is there... Just need to add it as a trigger. Doubt they would because now they have a loadshedder device to sell

6 minutes ago, booysenc said:

So the info and ability is there... Just need to add it as a trigger. Doubt they would because now they have a loadshedder device to sell

I wondered about the who ha of the loadshedder now that one knows it was available even on the non latest Ewelink APP. Blue icon next to my mail icon.

Edited October 12, 20223 yr by Scorp007

Actually now that I think of it, probably just a mini that's powered by the inverter supply and a relay that's held in by eskom supply, when it drops out you trigger the switch input on the mini, when it switches on again you toggle the switch input on the mini. Ai was hopeful our request could be heard... 

Hi How are you ?

That is 100% correct, we really did not invent anything new, we just connected the dots for the South African market. We are really trying to make it as safe as possible so the electrician and installer on site does not get hurt.  The separation between Solar power and Eskom is the reason for the Relay.

As you can understand what would happen if the installer took a Sonoff Mini and plugged the S1 and S2 port in to Eskom (Please don’t).

Aleks

 

3 hours ago, Scorp007 said:

I wondered about the who ha of the loadshedder now that one knows it was available even on the non latest Ewelink APP. Blue icon next to my mail icon.

Hi How are you ?

We have logged it with eWelink/coolkit (Sonoff software provider) a few months ago and it is already possible through IFFTT and I can promise you it’s not about selling devices but about really reducing load so the load shedding can stop and product like the Loadsedder will have no need to exist.

I can gladly post the instruction manual for IFTTT which makes the Loadshedder redundant. I am also fairly sure we did have this discussion a few nights ago through the inbox about the offline devices and I completely agree. I also recall making you a video for the POW to try and help with the delay. I think I also recall having a conversation about the delay on the POW power reading and I quote you “More damage than the cost of 1 party failed unit can be done if one had to share one’s experience” which almost sounded threatening and even though your units where not bought through us but from our competition we recommended claiming warranty then we still offered you a free unit.

Please don’t take us in the wrong tone when we are trying to help.

 

Aleks

6 hours ago, Sonoff Africa said:

Hi How are you ?

We have logged it with eWelink/coolkit (Sonoff software provider) a few months ago and it is already possible through IFFTT and I can promise you it’s not about selling devices but about really reducing load so the load shedding can stop and product like the Loadsedder will have no need to exist.

I can gladly post the instruction manual for IFTTT which makes the Loadshedder redundant. I am also fairly sure we did have this discussion a few nights ago through the inbox about the offline devices and I completely agree. I also recall making you a video for the POW to try and help with the delay. I think I also recall having a conversation about the delay on the POW power reading and I quote you “More damage than the cost of 1 party failed unit can be done if one had to share one’s experience” which almost sounded threatening and even though your units where not bought through us but from our competition we recommended claiming warranty then we still offered you a free unit.

Please don’t take us in the wrong tone when we are trying to help.

 

Aleks

Calm down... Not sure if your s1 and s2 are mixed, I made the comment about possibly not going to assist with native offline trigger support and needing to buy other devices, I do however appreciate that you logged it with ewelink, would appreciate some push as not all have paid IFTTT. 

regarding inbox chats about POW and offline support, wasn't me but glad there's others in need of this feature. 

Breath in... Breath out...

15 hours ago, booysenc said:

Yeah!! A topic that was discussed with sonoff a few times that will help with loadshedding is the ability to trigger if something goes offline or stays offline for say 5min or a selectable time(to prevent connectivity triggers) . This can already be done if another device switches on or off. I can then dedicate a sonoff for loadshedding monitoring

Hi

Good morning, yes sonoff have built in a feature on some of the device to gives you an alert after 5 minutes that the device is gone offline it works really well. It will be awesome when this can be used as a trigger. Not sure how long it will take them to get that feature finalized and going.

Aleks

17 hours ago, Sonoff Africa said:

Hello PowerForum

Thank you for the warm welcome. We are very happy to be here and assist with any questions you may have about Sonoff.

We will draw from all our experiences, across all our customers and everything we have learnt in the past years and we will communicate effectively and efficiently on this platform by having open truthful discussions. 

Please feel free to use the coupon code"PowerForum5%" it will give you 5% discount all items.

Sonoff Africa

Commercial Post

 

 

Hi, complete newbie to Sonoff here.

Couple of questions.

My current setup consists of Alexa devices, a HomeAssistant installation and a couple of Shelley light switches. I would like to integrate my sliding gate (ET Drive 500) into my home network so that it can be opened and closed via Alexa Voice command. HomeAssistant integration would be a bonus.

1. Do I need a special hub for the Sonoff sensors to accomplish integration

2. Do you have a sensor that I can install in the ET Drive 500 to accomplish this

3. Do you have detailed, step by step instructions on how to set it up?

Thanks

7 hours ago, booysenc said:

Calm down... Not sure if your s1 and s2 are mixed, I made the comment about possibly not going to assist with native offline trigger support and needing to buy other devices, I do however appreciate that you logged it with ewelink, would appreciate some push as not all have paid IFTTT. 

regarding inbox chats about POW and offline support, wasn't me but glad there's others in need of this feature. 

Breath in... Breath out...

Appolagies for that it was for @Scorp007 which we are still try to help with network issues.

Aleks

15 minutes ago, Sonoff Africa said:

Appolagies for that it was for @Scorp007 which we are still try to help with network issues.

Aleks

Thanks. Having a full time job there is no way I can get to you do do any checks. You will just have to accept screen shots and my time over 2 evenings to re-configure the unit to another network did not yield any improvement and that was clear in my PMs to you.

Also the fact that my Pow2 is now redundant compounds the problem.

My main problem as I explained in the PM that the delay of 30sec + to refresh came directly after firmware updates. They were always used on the same network and if the network is good enough for all my streaming then I can't understand why the Sonoff takes so long to refresh.

For some reason I never saw your PM with address and will get in touch if ever I can get to you.

Thanks Aleks.

2 hours ago, AfricanTech said:

Hi, complete newbie to Sonoff here.

Couple of questions.

My current setup consists of Alexa devices, a HomeAssistant installation and a couple of Shelley light switches. I would like to integrate my sliding gate (ET Drive 500) into my home network so that it can be opened and closed via Alexa Voice command. HomeAssistant integration would be a bonus.

1. Do I need a special hub for the Sonoff sensors to accomplish integration

2. Do you have a sensor that I can install in the ET Drive 500 to accomplish this

3. Do you have detailed, step by step instructions on how to set it up?

Thanks

Hi, How are you? 

1. 80% off the Sonoff devices are Wifi direct and just requier internet. Sonoff does have and RF range which requiers a RF bridge. They also have Zigbee range which require a Zigbee bridge the main diffrence is the Zigbee has status on the sensors  and the RF doesn't.

I personally belive that batteries in a permanent installation are a bad solution unless its invertor battery's and Sonoff sensors are not great on battery usage yet. 

2. Unfortunately not. Sonoff mini is probably the only device with a Low voltage input on the S1 and S2. But I dont belive it would work unless you gate is on inverter power.

3. We have very little skill when comes to HA and our current focuse is on eWelink and Google. Its becomes very costly to support HA and I do believe next year our focus will start shifting.

Aleks

21 minutes ago, Scorp007 said:

Thanks. Having a full time job there is no way I can get to you do do any checks. You will just have to accept screen shots and my time over 2 evenings to re-configure the unit to another network did not yield any improvement and that was clear in my PMs to you.

Also the fact that my Pow2 is now redundant compounds the problem.

My main problem as I explained in the PM that the delay of 30sec + to refresh came directly after firmware updates. They were always used on the same network and if the network is good enough for all my streaming then I can't understand why the Sonoff takes so long to refresh.

For some reason I never saw your PM with address and will get in touch if ever I can get to you.

Thanks Aleks.

Just inbox me you address and give me a few days and I will send a test rig to you. All you will have to do is plug it in. I will make it up with plug top and a extension. It will be fairly quick and we will have results with in 24 hours of pluging it in from the log files.

18 minutes ago, Sonoff Africa said:

Hi, How are you? 

1. 80% off the Sonoff devices are Wifi direct and just requier internet. Sonoff does have and RF range which requiers a RF bridge. They also have Zigbee range which require a Zigbee bridge the main diffrence is the Zigbee has status on the sensors  and the RF doesn't.

Thanks - good to know

18 minutes ago, Sonoff Africa said:

I personally belive that batteries in a permanent installation are a bad solution unless its invertor battery's and Sonoff sensors are not great on battery usage yet. 

2. Unfortunately not. Sonoff mini is probably the only device with a Low voltage input on the S1 and S2. But I dont belive it would work unless you gate is on inverter power.

The application I'm thinking of I'm not worried if it doesn't work while Loadshedding since my Alexa's are down during LS in any event. Could you tell me more about how I would use the Sonoff mini to trigger the gate motor opening and closing?

 

18 minutes ago, Sonoff Africa said:

3. We have very little skill when comes to HA and our current focuse is on eWelink and Google. Its becomes very costly to support HA and I do believe next year our focus will start shifting.

Aleks

Not to worried about HA, would be able to muddle my way through and it's not the primary motivation.

6 minutes ago, AfricanTech said:

Thanks - good to know

The application I'm thinking of I'm not worried if it doesn't work while Loadshedding since my Alexa's are down during LS in any event. Could you tell me more about how I would use the Sonoff mini to trigger the gate motor opening and closing?

 

Not to worried about HA, would be able to muddle my way through and it's not the primary motivation.

There is quite a large community on MyBB that has good insights and experience with HomeAssistant. The application itself has also matured and made a lot of things easier. The main benefit of HA is local control AND ability to work across manufacturers - So your Sonoff device can influence what happens with the Tuya and Aqara devices based on these conditions. The Sonoff integration to HomeAssistant is pretty stable and easy to implement

14 minutes ago, AfricanTech said:

Thanks - good to know

The application I'm thinking of I'm not worried if it doesn't work while Loadshedding since my Alexa's are down during LS in any event. Could you tell me more about how I would use the Sonoff mini to trigger the gate motor opening and closing?

 

Not to worried about HA, would be able to muddle my way through and it's not the primary motivation.

Hi, If you are just looking to open the gate with a pulse the gate controler would be most cost effactive but it will not give you a status. Its not a Sonoff products but it work with eWelink which would then be connected to you Alexa.

https://www.sonoffafrica.co.za/product/ewelink-1ch-wifi-switch-inching-self-locking/

Coupon code Powerforum5%

Aleks

11 minutes ago, mzezman said:

There is quite a large community on MyBB that has good insights and experience with HomeAssistant. The application itself has also matured and made a lot of things easier. The main benefit of HA is local control AND ability to work across manufacturers - So your Sonoff device can influence what happens with the Tuya and Aqara devices based on these conditions. The Sonoff integration to HomeAssistant is pretty stable and easy to implement

Yep, that's why I'm not worried about the HA integration.

What I am struggling with is:

1. What device to use to connect to the ET 500

2. How to connect the device to the ET 500

3. How to trigger the the device to open and close the ET 500

5 minutes ago, Sonoff Africa said:

Hi, If you are just looking to open the gate with a pulse the gate controler would be most cost effactive but it will not give you a status. Its not a Sonoff products but it work with eWelink which would then be connected to you Alexa.

https://www.sonoffafrica.co.za/product/ewelink-1ch-wifi-switch-inching-self-locking/

Coupon code Powerforum5%

Aleks

Thanks - I'll have a look at this. I'm not worried about the status since I can see whether the gate is open or closed from various vantage points including a camera feed to various monitors in the house.

27 minutes ago, AfricanTech said:

Thanks - good to know

The application I'm thinking of I'm not worried if it doesn't work while Loadshedding since my Alexa's are down during LS in any event. Could you tell me more about how I would use the Sonoff mini to trigger the gate motor opening and closing?

 

Not to worried about HA, would be able to muddle my way through and it's not the primary motivation.

Hi, which sonoff do you have? if you are comfortable with some hardware modifications I'll assist where you make some changes on the PCB so the output of the sonoff is not a live connection but you can use it as a dry contact (regardless the warranty will be void), sonoff has some 4ch modules that offer dry contacts out but reckon it's a bit of an overkill, unless you want to wire up additional things like lights etc.

once that is done, you can set the device to itching and give the gate a short trigger to the controller and open the gate. I personally don't like this because if there's a glitch on the sonoff my gates might open and currently there's no way to view that feedback remotely.

Another feature I asked for waaaaay back when is if there's any way to use a sonoff to show the status of an external device, like a gate, if the external signal comes in the sonoff shows on/off whatever, just some feedback

23 minutes ago, AfricanTech said:

Yep, that's why I'm not worried about the HA integration.

What I am struggling with is:

1. What device to use to connect to the ET 500

2. How to connect the device to the ET 500

3. How to trigger the the device to open and close the ET 500

Hi 

1. The Gate controller on our site, I would configure it first at your desk and just make sure you have it working in the eWeLink app and Alex and that you can hear the click noise as you push the button in the app. 

2. Because there is so many different gate motors out there I honestly don’t know, generally it would go on to the Triger port. The controller has NC/NO and inching.(Which is a timer how long the pulse needs to be.)

3. Not sure if Alexa has custom commands because the device is seen as a switch so the command Gate ON would defiantly trigger it if the device was called Gate in ewelink then linked to Alex. Getting a gate installer in once you have the device configured would be recommended.

Aleks

This is not a Sonoff device but works in eWelink app and we have only had one return in 2 years

8 hours ago, booysenc said:

Hi, which sonoff do you have? if you are comfortable with some hardware modifications I'll assist where you make some changes on the PCB so the output of the sonoff is not a live connection but you can use it as a dry contact (regardless the warranty will be void), sonoff has some 4ch modules that offer dry contacts out but reckon it's a bit of an overkill, unless you want to wire up additional things like lights etc.

once that is done, you can set the device to itching and give the gate a short trigger to the controller and open the gate. I personally don't like this because if there's a glitch on the sonoff my gates might open and currently there's no way to view that feedback remotely.

Another feature I asked for waaaaay back when is if there's any way to use a sonoff to show the status of an external device, like a gate, if the external signal comes in the sonoff shows on/off whatever, just some feedback

Thanks. Don't have any Sonoff yet. Unfortunately not comfortable with h/w mods (don't have the skills or equipment) but thank you for the kind offer.

 

6 hours ago, AfricanTech said:

Thanks. Don't have any Sonoff yet. Unfortunately not comfortable with h/w mods (don't have the skills or equipment) but thank you for the kind offer.

 

I would go for the gate controller with an old cellphone charger on mains, therefore it doesn't drain your battery, else buy a cheap Sonoff and I'll guide you through the hardware mode, not too hectic. Drop me a pm which Town you stay, if same I'll help you or drop it off