No idea if this would work but here goes. I am looking to add zigbee contact sensor in my car. What i am trying to detect is if I leave my sunroof open. My question is since it is in the car it will be leaving the area where it can access the hub. So my question will it reconnect when I arrive home?
Thanks
Mike
Possibly. However, you can anticipate that battery life will be pretty short because that device will be going into "panic" mode all the time, when it cannot reach the coordinator.
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Doesn't the sunroof retract and wouldn't that make it tough to mount. It's their too much steel for that magnet to work?
Maybe a cheap camera at home pointed at the spot you park would be easier.
I have a routine that runs at night and would want to have it alert me if i leave it open. I have access to the car via nodered but when i pull status back it doesnt have status for the sunroof. Has it for all the windows thought ugh
If nothing else use third reality contact sensor, it uses AA or AAA batteries at least, can't remember which, but certainly better than a button battery.
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If you can get a sensor to mount and work, yone with standard AA or AAA batteries could be converted over to rechargeable batteries. You could then connect it to the 12 volt power or USB outlet to recharge the batteries while you drive. It would take some work and creativity, but it might work.
+1 to topic - love to see a zigbee sensor adapted to 12v power from the car - could potentially use as presence sensor as well...
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Check out @iharyadi’s work with zigbee devices for a car. I don’t think contact sensor is one of his use cases, but if anyone could figure out a solution, it’s probably him. 12V power is already a part of his project, IIRC.
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This would not be hard to hardwire to the car. Just get a dc to dc coveter. Done
I am more concerned about if the sensor would reconnect when it’s been away for a day.
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That's a good question. I think it depends on the stack in the end-device. @iharyadi gave a really good explanation on the Home Assistant community:
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People are using Xbees for this. Apparently works down the block. Not sure how it would connect to the sunroof tho. A simple reed switch/magnet rigged on the sunroof connected to the Xbee input pins?
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I just happen to make an Arrival Sensor to replace ST arrival sensor. I built it specifically for use in a car. It will reconnect to the hub once arrived at home.
One thing that I did was to add additional capabilities. It is not just an Arrival Sensor. One of the capability that can be added is the motion sensor.
In your case, if you are willing to replace the motion sensor with a switch. There may be a path to use this capability with a reed switch for Sun roof open/close detection.
I do not want to hijack this thread. I have a thread in the community about my Arrival Sensor. If you need more information that may help you, feel free to DM or visit the Arrival Sensor thread.
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