I’ve just got myself an Aqara vibration sensor after seeing people use vibration sensor for detecting a knock on a surface (e.g.instead of a switch)
I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong or if it’s just not good but is the Aqara vibration sensor sensitive? I’ve just got one and set it up with Zigbee2MQTT - I’ve set sensitivity to high but it only seems to pick anything up if I shake it… and even then not always
I have the same device connected via z2m and have noticed the same.
I was hoping to use it to determine when my washing machine was running and it only picks up when the door is slammed shut.
Mine picks up the washing machine running without any issues. Originally I had some issues getting the sensitivity to stick, is your sensitivity setting box highlighted with the current setting?
Yeah, I’ve got it set high (and have changed it off and on again with a button press to ensure it is)
Wondering if it’s faulty at this point, or if there’s some setting I’m missing
It’s definitely not very sensitive. A hard bang on the table right next to it registers as 15 strength
My cat shaking herself on the same table (which I felt the vibrations for) didn’t even get picked up
Definitely wouldn’t pick up the washing machine
I also think there is quite a long retrigger time which is odd.
I did note there was an error adding the temperature value (got a string rather than a number) but otherwise device seems connected fine, think it’s just not good at it’s job
That’s weird, mine triggers at small background vibrations. I would try changing the battery, remove it completely from Z2M and re-pair it. For comparison this is mine, mounted to the back of the washine machine and there was no washing being done last night.
Wow - definitely nothing like that - esp if that was with no washing!!
I think i’m going to give up and return it, maybe try a different brand (odd tho, I’ve found Aqara to be excellent in everything else)
Try re-pairing and a new battery first. I have had the sensor report it is online but not reporting vibration before.
I have a top load-washing machine, and I stick the Aqara vibration sensor on the lid of the washer.
With this setup, the vibration sensor could pick up vibration events when the wash cycle moves to spinning stage, and when someone open/close the lid.
(So, mine is not very sensitive either.)
But that’s OK! The vibration sensor could also report x-y-z orientation to HA, and based on that, I can also build a template sensor to tell me whether the lid being open or closed.
Now, with the lid open / close sensor, plus the vibration event from the vibration sensor, combined, one could build a “is the washing machine running?” template sensor fairly easily - all from one single vibration sensor… I call this a win.
And if you want to go extra, you could also add some power monitoring setup (like a properly rated smart plug), to make the “washing or not” sensor even more robust.
Not for everyone, sure, but an idea. 
Same issue here. I’m trying to detect my dryer running and with the sensitivity set to 1 (high in my case), nothing is detected with the sensor sitting on top of the dryer. If I do a slight tap on the sensor, it detects. I’m thinking of mounting it on a spring like a little bobble head as it seems that shaking may be a best way to detect vibration.
I actually think this might just be a con with all these devices. I got a Tuya one for cheaper in the hope that it would detect vibration but nothing unless you shake it
Ha. Nice idea, not sure the wife would be a fan of that tho!!
