Aqara TRV just failed in my home after one year of usage.
I wanted to give you a heads up information, but also ask of you have ever seen such scenario yourself… Or maybe there are newer hardware decisions that mitigates the flaw?
The motor that operates the valve is held by 3 tiny screws and small plastic screw sockets. At this moment 2 points failed entirely, 3rd is already broken, see the photo:
I’ve just realised I have this problem with (I think) 3 of my 8 Aqara TRVs.
I started having this weird issue where 1 (then 2, now 3) of TRV’s would seemingly randomly disconnect from my Zigbee network. Not drop off due to signal issues - they would forget the network they were on.
I eventually realised this is because they’ve developed a fault where, under certain circumstances, their “button” become pressed all the time. This triggers the 10 second re-repairing process. The problem goes away if I take the battery housing off. It also doesn’t occur when the valve isn’t attached to the radiator.
Inspired by your post, I had a look under the control board and can see through the clear housing that I have fractures in at least one of the posts, like yours.
So, my guess would be that, with these mounting points compromised, the motor is able to move slightly, pushing the control board upwards so one or more of the buttons (there appear to be three on the board) becomes pressed.
I had a pretty decent experience in the past with Aqara’s UK support when replacing a faulty roller blind motor, so I’m hoping I’ll have similar luck here. However, it seems likely that all 8 are going to eventually fail in this way and, unless there’s a design change, this is going to keep happening.
I’ve contacted Aqara support and they’ve asked me to provide some photos. On further inspection, I can clearly see, on one of the valves, that the clear part of the housing is crooked, so I’m fairly sure the mount has broken on one side and the motor is pushing the upper housing away.
Out of curiosity, have you had this fault occur on any other of your Aqara TRVs? Do you use an adaptor with this broken one or any other?
The reason I ask is that I’ve realised all three of valves that show this fault are upstairs and all my upstairs radiators have Danfoss valves that require the “RA” adaptor. My other radiators have standard M30*1.5mm valves so the TRV screws on without an adaptor. That may not be related at all, but it’s a curious correlation.
Well, in PL we have a “distributor” that makes up their life by denying warranty claims, it seems. I had to use another form of guarantee, directly with seller. Got my money back and I am testing Danfoss
I already seen some other folks having similar issues as well.
I think it’s easier to prevent it (add glue around the sockets) than fix it.
