Are vibration sensors good at detecting end of wash cycles?

Keen to know if this is a reliable method.

I'm thinking that if vibration for longer than 30 seconds and then none for 5 minutes, wash has finished...?

I've been looking into this as well.

I have some xiaomi sensors I was playing with. At this point I'm unable to set the sensitivity so it wasn't picking up the vibration of the washer. Once that is fixed up I'm going to try again. The weird part is that I had it taped to the side of my washer and it wouldn't pick up my washer vibrating, but picked up the garage door when it slammed.

But others have put an energy monitor on the washers outlet and a temperature monitor on the dryers exhaust and used those readings to determine when things have started/stopped and it sounds like it works pretty well. This is my next step when I get a moment.

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I have a Zooz for my washer. Works quite nicely...tied into cast-web and GH "HEYYY...you're wash is done! Put in the dryer now...OR ELSE" (I have teenagers and all have Google Mini's in their rooms so GH gets the point across for me...Haaaa)

I've not been able to find one. You would have to know how many spin cycles the wash was going to go through since when it stops to fill, it's not really done yet. What i did with mine was mount a light sensor right over the "done" LED on the front of the washer. It's just a Photoresistor that i've put electrical tape over to keep the background light from setting it off. Works perfectly. That is of course, if you have a "done" led. :slight_smile:

This just came in @bf1 :

I ended up using power monitoring. I never found vibration to work for laundry. Either missed start or stop or false during the cycle. Not saying it won’t work, but on ST, I never even got close. Power measuring has not failed me in almost 2 years.

I think that if I set the no vibration for enough minutes then it would prevent false triggering when it’s refilling and not spinning.

The SmartThings multi sensors have vibration, is there a driver for them too?

I had thought that there wasn’t a power measuring device that would work in Australia?

That's going to be a VERY delayed delay then. Plus, my washer fills up faster for luke warm than for cold or hot. I can see the architecture for this getting really complicated fast.

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Sorry, my poor comprehension skills failed to notice Australia. There must be something that would work.

http://www.smarthome.com.au/z-wave/z-wave-appliance-control.html

The bit that makes it tricky is that I’m in Australia but use the US zwave frequency because of device availability.

That rules out a few power related devices but I’ll investigate using adapters and have ordered some aqara vibration sensors to play with too.

That link I posted is for Aus devices AFAIK.

I tried this approach.. Two major flaws in it to be aware of. The Multipurpose sensors literally chew through batteries when the accelerometer is active. And the second. probably because our washer is stainless steel, the dan things would fall off every few days.

Wound up using a combination of power monitoring to kick off the start of the automation, and IFTTT & THinQ to trigger the end.

The new SmartThings sensors are really small, you could just use double sided tape to attach them to the side

The back probably isn't stainless and 3M Command strips would stick? Also, hot glue a string to the sensor, and secure the end so when it does fall off, it dangles conveniently, and it isn't an hours log rescue mission. :slight_smile:

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I can’t see any vibration attributes to the new SmartThings contact sensors, they just get added as Generic Zigbee contact sensors. Doesn’t seem to be a multipurpose driver?

I'm still using the now deprecated ST Washer Monitor app along with a couple of the prior gen ST multisensors . Along with ActionTiles and the Logitech integration it is the only remaining use for my SmartThings hub. Aside from the 6 month battery life this works well (every time I change the batteries in these things I'm reminded of what pieces of junk they are, with their retention tabs seemingly designed to break off with the next battery change). And they have a convenient low battery alert feature; thoughtfully triggering the "laundry cycle has completed" gong and speech track on my Aeotec Doorbell in the middle of the night when the battery gets low.

Heavy-duty ("Extremely Strong") plastic velcro style 3M strips stick to the sides; that's the only part of my washer/dryer that vibrates enough-- the back is too rigid). The app uses settings for 'fill time' and minimum cycle time; these allow fine tuning so the app won't trigger during a cycle pause or when you slam the door after emptying..

So I was having a problem getting my Xiaomi vibration sensor to pickup on the running dryer. Quick modification with an old spiral notebook and a couple of suction cups and BAZINGA. My rendition of a Xiaomi Vibration Sideways BobbleHead! Works like a CHARM! :sunglasses:

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Hmmm ... you would think that the spring would act as a damper, but, as you said, it works.

At first glance at the pic, I thought your dryer was broken, LOL ...

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As long as it passes the WAF test... :smiley:

I just upped my WAF points and am detecting the dryer being on so that in addition to a washing machine done alert, my wife wants a reminder 20 minutes later if the dryer isn't on. Easy implementation and so far, so good.

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