I have seen the contact sensor under multiple different names. Is this device compatible with Hubitat? If so, is there a preferred supplier?
If not, I am looking for a 4 channel dry contact switch. Recommendations?
Thanks in advance!
Smart Life
MHCOZY
DieseRC
Huacaoe
Smart Switch
Welcome to the Hubitat Community!
I use several of these, they pair as a Parent device with individual Child devices for the relays. They work great and they have been very dependable for me.
I use them for irrigation pumps, speeds on my stove hood fan, and for controlling my heating zone valves.
Edit: If you can wait two weeks, they are really cheap on AliExpress
Thanks for your quick response! I also saw these on AliExpress.
I have 2 water sensors and 2 motion sensors which are currently connected to an old Sensaphone 1104. I am looking to connect these sensors to a contact sensor, then send push notifications via Hubitat. Do you think this will work?
I think for what you want to do you need something that will trigger when power is applied. This is just a dry contact relay board, but not a dry contact sensor.
A water leak sensor is usually used for this purpose, as is discussed in other posts on here.
If you have an existing alarm system and are looking to re-purpose the old sensors for use with your Hubitat Elevation hub, have a look at the Konnected products.
@djh_wolf has some very helpful posts/threads to reference.
Funny coincidence, my water leak sensors I ordered just arrived today from AliExpress.
I'm actually going to use these for water sensing, but if your old devices just close a circuit a water leak sensor is all you need. If I put a wire across the probes it opens the sensor, so it would be perfect to sense something closing the circuit.
Cut off the probe from the leak sensor, then attach the wires from the water sensor to the NO terminals. When it closes, it will cause the water sensor to read "open". Name the water sensor in Hubitat to be called what it is sensing, since it is not sensing water.
If you want the contact sensor to read "closed" when the relay is engaged, connect the sensor to the NC contacts instead to reverse how it reads in Hubitat.
I think that I understand the water sensor. My question is how to get the NO or NC information to the Hubitat?
When the water leak sensor wires are attached to COM and NC on your relay device, it will change its state in Hubitat when the relay opens and closes. The water leak sensor as a device in Hubitat will change between open and closed when your relay changes.
So you can do whatever you want with the Water Leak Sensor in Hubitat, use it in automations or whatever, as it will always reflect the state of the relay it is wired to.
Since what you are attaching it to is actually water leak sensor relay, I guess you can just call the sensor a water leak sensor in Hubitat. Sounds like you need four of these sensors from the original post, but they would all be set the same way. That is just over $20 on AliExpress for four of these sensors.
How you want it to read in Hubitat will be based on if you attach it to NO or NC. When NO closes, it will set the sensor from closed to open. When NC opens, it will change the state in the sensor from open to closed.
Sorry I must not be asking my questing correctly.
Let me try again. I have a water sensor, when water reaches level x, the water sensor trips from NO to NC, the water sensor then produces 5volts across 2 wires.
Now I need to convert the 5 volts to a device (yet to be purchased) which sends a status change to the Hubitat.
I am looking to purchase a device which would communicate the status change to the Hubitat. Maybe I need to purchase something like the "Konnected" device as suggested by another user?
What is the point of the relay with NO and NC? Are you saying that is already being used to send 5v to something else? On the picture the relay is empty, and it looked like a spot to attach something based on it activating.
Nothing in the picture shows 5v anywhere, so hard for me to imagine what isn't in the picture.
Edit: I found your water sensor on Amazon.
" * NC/NO Relay Output, Max. Load 260V 10A. Free for big siren or other devices, such as shut off valve.
That relay is all you need, with the Zigbee water sensor attached to it. That relay is there for you to attach something to. Whatever your 5v is, you do not need to tap into that when you are given a relay to control other devices based on it sensing water.
Though I question why you wouldn't just dump that device totally and use the Zigbee water leak sensor to actually sense the water. Making a dumb water sensor smart with a smart water sensor is a bit redundant.
@korridor MHCozy works great (you can also get a case if needed)
Currently the relay is connected to my almost obsolete Sensaphone 1104. The Sensaphone is going to be retired. So I need a device to replace the Sensaphone, This device needs to understand a status change from NO to NC (not sure if it is really 5 volts). Then the device needs to transmit the change in status to the Hubitat. I "think" the device suggested by [rlithgow1] will do the trick.
Check Shelly I4 low voltage version.
You are really missing the point here, I am afraid.
Yes, the Zigbee water leak sensor IS the replacement for the Sensaphone. It is just a relay on your old water sensor, there is no 5v to be sensed, only open and closed.
Yes, that is what it does. It senses either NO (normally open) Closing, or if you want, it can sense NC (normally closed) Opening. The sensor, that is replacing the Sensphone, is a device connected to Hubitat.
Yes, that is what a sensor does, it sends the status to Hubitat like any other device.
Still, I think you are missing my point that you can buy a Zigbee Water sensor for $5 and throw out your old water sensor totally and just use the Zigbee sensor to sense your water. It is more direct than using ANOTHER water sensor to trip what is already a water sensor that there is water.
So you can attach it like in the diagram below, but there is no point. Just buy a Zigbee water sensor and use the water sensor as a water sensor.
Have you managed to get these working?
Aaa batteries?
Yeah, they take two AAA batteries. I got four of them for around $18.
The paired very quickly with me just running Zigbee pairing, and they were sensed as a Generic Zigbee Contact Sensor. All four paired quickly and with no issues.
Close is Dry, and open is Wet. Anything crossing the prongs changes it to open. It doesn't take much, if your hand is wet it will trigger, and of course, being connected with a wire or a relay triggers them. These are actually the first water sensors I have owned in all my years of home automation, so it has been fun checking them out.
I think price was why I never bothered buying any leak sensors, but I only recently realized that AliExpress is now somewhat like a real e-commerce site so I got a few cheap to play with.
Note: The picture makes it look like a 4" probe cable, but it is actually about 3 feet long. I was surprised.
I put one in my humidifier already, it is a floor model that has a tall tank, and you add water to the top, but stupidly they have no indicator for how full it is and you can't see the water. So at just near top level I mounted a sensor probe inside the tank. An automation now has Alexa tell me to stop adding water when I am just near the top. Tested working!
The only Zigbee device with multiple (4) contact inputs I could find is the frient IO module, there's even an inbuilt driver for it. They're a Dutch company, not sure how easy is to source it in the US.
Z-Wave alternative is the Zooz Zen17, not sure if 2 or 4 inputs.
Wi-Fi alternative is the 6 inputs Konnected Alarm Panel.
All these devices can sense when one of the inputs is shorted (do not apply voltage on the inputs, just short them), and send a notification to the Hubitat hub (via Zigbee, Z-Wave, or Wi-Fi).
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