Anova BLE control via BLE Proxy

ESPHome
1

I have successfully setup BLE proxy via 3 EP1 sensors in my home. I confirmed that each EP1 was proxying BLE traffic via the logs.

One device I really wanted to integrate into HA is my Anova sous vide cooker.

I added the correct YAML code to my EP1 sensor closest to my kitchen:

esp32_ble_tracker:
  scan_parameters:
    active: true

bluetooth_proxy:
  active: true

ble_client:
- mac_address: 34:03:DE:20:04:49
  id: my_anova

climate:
- platform: anova
  name: "My Anova stick"
  ble_client_id: my_anova
  unit_of_measurement: c
  update_interval: 10s

The ā€œMy Anova Stickā€ device was created and added to HA successfully. However I cant control it at all.

image

Any inputs to this device will just revert back to ā€œOffā€ and 32Ā°
When I try to issue a command nothing happens.

Iā€™ve restarted HA, turned the Anova off and on again, added the same YAML code to the other EP1s I have in the house. I uninstalled the Anova app off my phone, because the ESPhome docs say you cant use both at once, restarted the nearest EP1 and created a switch inside ESPhome to toggle the connection to see if that would work:

switch:
  - platform: restart
    name: "Anova ESP Restart"
  - platform: ble_client
    ble_client_id: my_anova
    name: "Anova ESP Bluetooth Connection"

I pulled up a laptop and turned on debug logs for the EP1 device near the cooker and every command I sent, off, increase or decrease temperature, resulted in the error copied from the logs:

[14:36:31][D][climate:010]: 'My Anova stick' - Setting
[14:36:31][D][climate:014]:   Mode: HEAT
[14:36:31][W][anova:041]: [34:03:DE:20:04:49] esp_ble_gattc_write_char failed, status=259

I searched esp_ble_gattc_write_char failed and wasnā€™t able to find anything useful to resolve my issue.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

1 Like
2

FWIW, I had a similar problem with adding the anova to a bluetooth proxy in my house. I could get it to connect and show up, but that was about it. Iā€™m curious what the solve is, though itā€™s no longer critical to me. Iā€™ve locally integrated a wifi inkbird sous vide and that works for me atm.

3

Thanks for info, Iā€™ll keep Inkbird in mind if decide to move away from Anova.

Doesnā€™t appear that Joule has been integrated into HA either.

4

Which devices from ANOVA are actually supported via BLE? I donā€™t want to spend time building my own sous vide machine.

5

Hi @iebooker sorry to drag up an old thread but I was wondering how you found your MAC address. I am not currently seeing it when I use the scanner but maybe it doesnā€™t have a name?

6

Iā€™m not totally sure to be honest. Its been a while since I was messing around with this. It might have either popped up in the BLE logs of the EP1 or via my espresence sensors. If it wasnā€™t those 2 options it was probably my phone (maybe the Anova app), or some other BLE scanning app. I donā€™t have it handy currently to test out. Sorry, I couldnā€™t be more helpful.

7

Iā€™m having the same issue with my Anova as well. Did you ever get it working? According to the Anova component on the ESPHome page, it says itā€™s not compatible with the Nano models, as they use a different protocol. My model is the " Anova Culinary Sous Vide Precision Cooker Mini Lite". Iā€™m guessing it probably has the same known issue as the nanoā€¦

8

I was not able to get it working. Itā€™s been a while since I tested but it might be a worth pulling back out and trying again.

9

Good luck, please share your results! It would be neat getting this going.

10

I was able to get it to work! I think the trick was to include ā€˜esp32_ble_tracker:ā€™ and removing everything else. Hereā€™s my esp config:

esphome:
  name: esp-ble
  friendly_name: esp-ble

esp32:
  board: esp32dev
  framework:
    type: esp-idf

# Enable logging
logger:

# Enable Home Assistant API
api:
  encryption:
    key: !secret api_encryption_key

ota:
  - platform: esphome
    password: !secret web_server_password

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password
  manual_ip:
    static_ip: 192.168.xxx.xxx
    gateway: 192.168.xxx.1
    subnet: 255.255.255.0
  fast_connect: True

esp32_ble_tracker:

ble_client:
  - mac_address: 01:02:03:04:61:F9
    id: anova_ble

climate:
  - platform: anova
    name: "Anova Sous Vide"
    ble_client_id: anova_ble
    unit_of_measurement: f
11

I was able to get it to working as well!

I setup my EP1 again to control the Anova, but was running into the same issue.

[19:40:49.814][D][climate:011]: 'My Anova stick' - Setting
[19:40:49.819][D][climate:015]:   Mode: HEAT
[19:40:49.826][W][anova:045]: [34:03:DE:20:04:49] esp_ble_gattc_write_char failed, status=259

So because ChatGPT wasnā€™t really that great of an option in 2023 when I started this thread, compared to now, Iā€™d figure Iā€™d give it a shot.

I provided ChatGPT my EP1ā€™s config, the error message and a link to the esphome anova documentation. One of the options ChatGPT provided was this:

2) Trim your node (at least for testing)
The EP1 ā€œeverything-presence-one-ble.yamlā€ package is pretty heavy on BLE. The BLE stack on ESP32 is RAM-tight and multiple BLE features can clash. For initial bring-up, flash a lean config on a spare ESP32 close to the cooker:
---It provided some boiler plate code here ---
Why: the BLE client component is happier when it isnā€™t competing with other BLE features and memory-hungry components. ESPHome docs also call out BLE stack limits and the requirement to include. Link to docs

So I backed up my config and flashed the basic BLE proxy, added the necessary BLE stuff for my Anova and it worked!

So it couldā€™ve been my EP1 not playing well which was causing issues. I pulled out a spare Atom ESP32, flashed it with the basic BLE proxy firmware and its currently handling the connection to the Anova just fine.

Thanks @Albeesure for bringing this thread back to life and solving this problem for me! Cheers!