I want to measure weight of our water tank and report via Zigbee or Zwave to Hubitat.
When the level is below a predefined threshold, I want to trigger an alarm.
Is there such weight sensor ?
Not a pressure sensor but a weight sensor which will measure actual weight.
Or any other way to detect weight is below some threshold ?
I know you said weight, but a Sinope tank level monitor might work. I have one on my propane tank, and I've ordered one for my fuel oil tank, which also needs a special float gauge. Maybe it'd work for you. I know i have an extra fitting on my oil tank, but that's something to think about.
thank you. It is a good idea but it is too expensive for my purpose.
Actually I can create my own weight sensor with a esp32-c6 module, but I don't know if it would work with Hubitat.
If you’re just looking for a low weight indicator, make your own weight sensor that trips a small relay and connect it to one of the several zigbee contact sensors with wireable (or solderable) contacts.
ok but that wouldn't report weight to hub. So the control should be done on a separate control card. An esp32 module ? then the esp will close the relay on contact sensor. Instead of using 3 devices (weight sensor, control card and contact sensor) , I'd prefer to do it on a esp32 zigbee module. But for that I need to learn zigbee and be able to test it on Hubitat.
If DYI is OK you might look at:
- PTVO firmware
- CC2530 ZigBee Mudule E18-MS1
- Load sensor of your choice.
I have 2 (soon to be 3) of the CC2530 modules working with Hubitat. One I've had for almost 2 years and it been solid. No dropouts and they are / can be routers so my Zigbee mesh has never given me any issues.
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great ! How do you program this ? What language and which IDE ?
is there an example code you can provide for Hubitat communication ?
You should read through the PTVO options to get a sense of what the board does / can do. This board can emulate a lot of things. I have one on test with the PTVO board and a SH21 Temp / humidity sensor. It sends the same/similar communications to your Hubitat hub as any temp sensor would. It can also send text from an Arduino or similar board, read DC voltage etc.
You might be able to get away with:
- Load sensor
- HX711
- CC2530 board (reading voltage)
The CC2530 board is programmed using an ESP-32 (or similar) and some software on your PC.
I have done this with a very simple indicator made by this company --> https://www.mtrdesigns-usa.com/product-page/low-media-level-indicator
They since have incorporated the magnets in the center cores and so my "V2 setups" don't require the magnet piece on the indicator anymore.
And from there I just put an open/close sensor with it and automated from there
ok I see.
But this requires a programmer to either upload your own code to the device or PTVO firmware as you suggest.
The programmer is more expensive than the device itself.
Another zigbee solution would be using ESP32-C6-DEVKIT
This one has native Arduino support and in Arduino there is HX711 (weight sensor) library.
This is much more cheaper and efficient.
Just one gap; it is pretty new and not much information on how to code for zigbee.
Not the case, I use an esp32 to program the cc2530. I could use an UNO but the UNO is 5v, the cc2530 is 3.3 v.
Not sure but I might be able to program with a 3.3v Pro mini.
That ESP32 with zigbee looks cool! If we could get that in Hubduino the possibilities are endless. In the meantime, if the OP could go with local wifi instead of zwave/zigbee, hubduino works with HX711 and and a cheap nodemcu8266. I have set up under my water softener tank.
Actually I already have esp32 and esp8266 boards and I will use one of them with HX711 to start with.
I don't need Hubduino. It is too complicated for me. I write my own endpoint on Arduino and then a custom device driver in Hubitat. Fast and efficient enough.
But I prefer zigbee in the long term.
I have esp32 boards at hand.
Can you explain me how you program cc2530 with esp32 ?
And an example to start with would be great...
Perhaps an easier approach might be:
There is a board being sold on ebay Haas Thingshield replacement board
This board is pre programmed and on a carrier board (so you don't have to solder to the small leads of a cc2530 board). It can be configured from the Hubitat driver that can be found in this post from @ogiewon
no , that's not a good solution for me.
I can't get that board from Ebay.
But I can get a cc2530 board if you tell me how to program it.
I made a wifi sensor using a HX711 and a esp32-s board
Now I need to write a Hubitat driver for this.
But I see there is no weight measurement capability.
So what capability would be best to use for this purpose ? (measuring the level of water remaining in tank using a weight sensor)
I thought of using a battery measurement capability, but is there a better option ?
And if battery measurement is good, is there a template code for this type of device ?
