Ecolink Contact Sensor

[chavezluisplus]

Hi, has anybody try to use Ecolink WST-212 in Hubitat, I can not find a driver for it. Thanks

[djgutheinz]

Just bought (off amazon) the Ecolink Zigbee Contact Sensor(model: 4655BC0-R). It is detected by Zigbee discovery

• Installs a a motion sensor vice contact sensor
• Changed device-type to Generic Zigbee Contact Sensor.
• Appears to work great in this mode (three days).

Dave

[Rxich]

Hey Dave, does this sensor report temperature?
I see a 10 pack on eBay for ~45 bucks

[djgutheinz]

Yes, it reports battery, contact, and temperature using the Generic Zigbee Motion Sensor drier.

[cohoman]

I have two Ecolink Zigbee Contact Sensors (model: 4655BC0-R) on my Hubitat C5 Hub and they are working great for open/close event notifications, but the battery level is always reporting 100%. I'm using the Generic Zigbee Contact Sensor driver. Is there a better driver available that will report an accurate battery level reading?

Thanks.

[kellross]

I just received a set of these off Ebay.
Testing one after pairing it set up as a Generic Zigbee Contact Sensor. Fast pairing and quick response.
Shows Battery, Contact and Temperature.
I did notice the tamper sensor is not doing anything on my test device. I can pull the device out of the cover (with magnet close and showing Closed) and is has no effect on the Open/Close Status.

Is there a better driver that will show tamper switch state?

[M6TTL]

I have a number of these also. Two are outside on gates. One sensor, which is on a metal gate, for some reason dies after about 20 days. I have no idea why. I tried using a different ecolink sensor, and that too will die after about 20 days. I've tried adding closer zigbee repeaters (even put one outside) and rebuild the zigbee mesh, but it still dies.

My last troubleshooting step is to disable the temperature sensor. Maybe because it's outside and the temperature range is so great, it's killing the battery. Though the other sensor I have outside lasts a lot longer.

[kahn-hubitat]

@M6TTL

I have a number of these also. Two are outside on gates. One sensor, which is on a metal gate, for some reason dies after about 20 days. I have no idea why. I tried using a different ecolink sensor, and that too will die after about 20 days. I've tried adding closer zigbee repeaters (even put one outside) and rebuild the zigbee mesh, but it still dies.

My last troubleshooting step is to disable the temperatur

i am using their 2.5 zwave plus version of the ecolink on metal gate .. no issues.. only thing i did was put a bigger neodenium magnet on the gate, and mount it inside an upside down ziploc bag.

battery lasts about 6 months.

[Eric.C.Miller]

Is it possible the metal gate is interfering with the radio communications forcing it to "work harder" to get the message through?

[M6TTL]

@Eric.C.Miller

Is it possible the metal gate is interfering with the radio communications forcing it to "work harder" to get the message through?

That's actually what I was suspecting.

I know that it is difficult for zigbee to communicate through metal structures, but this sensor is on the inside of the gate where it faces the hub and an outside zigbee repeater. I kind of think the zigbee repeater made it worse. This time the battery lasted about 10 days.

[M6TTL]

@kahn-hubitat

battery lasts about 6 months.

Is the battery life what you normally get for contact sensors? Or is it because it's outside?

The one sensor I have on my vinyl gate died two weeks ago (didn't even realize until today!), so it lasted about 5-6 months.

[kahn-hubitat]

outside .. they last over a year indoors. the cold and alternating heat i think do a number on the batteries..

[Eric.C.Miller]

I use old fashioned reed switches on the outside gates and run hidden (mostly) wires back to the house where they attach to the screw terminals on the Ecolink sensors. The batteries last well over a year in that configuration.

[M6TTL]

@Eric.C.Miller

I use old fashioned reed switches on the outside gates and run hidden (mostly) wires back to the house where they attach to the screw terminals on the Ecolink sensors. The batteries last well over a year in that configuration.

That sounds like an interesting option. I didn't even know the ecolinks had screw terminals.

@kahn-hubitat

outside .. they last over a year indoors. the cold and alternating heat i think do a number on the batteries..

The metal gate does happen to face east so the sun will hit it and cause wider temperature ranges compared to the other gate that faces south. Weather is mild here and never reaches freezing though.

[Eric.C.Miller]

And some other suggestions (in response to a thread I started) -

Sensor with screw terminals for external contacts/switch

Is the Ecolink DWZWAVE2.5-ECO still the best bet for a sensor with screw terminals that can be used for an external contact or switch? I have several and they work fine - just wondering if I am missing something new, better, etc. (Feeling lazy - not interested in cutting and soldering) Thanks!

The Ecolink DWZWAVE2.5-ECO -

[Rxich]

I suspect some of these sensors do not initialize properly when pairing. I have some last over a year, some die in months. To test my garage sensor I paired an identical sensor and put it next to the one that keeps dying. The one I added lasted longer. Try swapping it with 1 known to last long, to see if it's the location or that particular sensor

[M6TTL]

When I first ran into this issue, I actually did try a different contact sensor, and the battery died quickly with that one also.

Coincidentally, I have a Blink camera that I place on the overhang above this gate and that battery also dies quickly relative to my other blink Cameras. 5-6 months vs 2 years.

[njanda]

Hi,
Just wondering if you ever found a better Zigbee driver for the Ecolink Contact sensor so that battery level is not always 100% ??
Otherwise these sensors are one of my favourites

[cohoman]

No, I haven't found a better driver that will allow these sensors to report battery level. Still shows 100% regardless.