Dave, thanks for posting the opened Kogan smart Plug back in December.
I recently accidentally bricked the last unit of eight units I reflashed to ESPhome (because of a self inflicted power removal while the last one was being Tuya-converted), so I had to open that one up for wired flashing.
Based on what I saw in your pics, I dripped acetone with an eye dropper along the case join line and left it to soak it for 5 minutes. After that one end of it popped with just a bit of leverage, so I repeated the acetone again and the 5 minute wait. Then the whole case popped apart at the bond and join with just a moderate amount of leverage and no case damage
I had no issue with a wired reflash, no timing issues. I tied GPIO0 to GND for the whole process though, only removed the link after the flash got to 100%. (I removed the module to reflash it, to get at GPIO0)
I finally found the time to flash my old Arlec panel heater with Tasmota and also bought a new one this year - both neatly integrated into Home Assistant for local control. Here is my write-up in case anyone is interested:
I’m only just starting to look into the home automation side of things, researching what components to use to achieve the result. It’s been quite the rabbit warren. Given I’m not a fan of touch switches, or IoT devices talking to the cloud I’ve ended up here.
I’ve had a sales rep give me a couple of free SAL Pixie switches. They look to fit the bill of what I’m after, being reasonably priced, don’t require a neutral, aren’t a touch switch etc. Problem is the only mention of them here I could find was from October 2019, stating there isn’t a way to integrate them into HA. I don’t suppose anything has changed on that front?
Ewww, bluetooth. In all my HA experiences, BT is one of the biggest PITA to do anything with outside of the device’s own ecosystem.
You might be able to shoehorn them into HA using bt-mqtt-gateway if they’re supported. Usually this will mean they need to be a ‘rebranded’ chip like Tuya devices, or generic enough to work with default settings.
I do similar with my Weber iGrill, and plan to do the same with some Xiaomi Flora sensors.
Surely the sales rep can answer your questions. He should be able to, or he should sick them where it hurts…
Honestly I had to google Sal Pixie. If their biggest selling point is a scantily clad blonde woman, how serious do you think they are about technology.
That is a bummer. Where would I start to look to find out if they’re a Tuya device, pull one apart I suppose?
They’re about $50 for the digital mech and $75 for the Trailing edge Dimmer mech. Which is half the cost of the Clipsal ‘Wiser’ mech’s which I assume would have the same Bluetooth integration issue and also require a neutral.
Running a neutral isn’t the end of the world, if anyone has any cost effective non-touch switch recommendations that are ‘easy’ to integrate into HA.
Pretty much. Most of the Tuya based ones are the all-in-one with a wallplate style so don’t think these are - but may be something else that’s just rebranded and retooled to fit a Clipsal mech.
I have just installed 14 SAL Pixie light switches - I have no neutral and adding neutral would have been very hard as many of the existing wires run in the render. It works very well with Google Home and in fact much more responsive that Bunnings’ Grid Connect switches I used in a previous house. Given the lack of HA integration I use Assistant Relay to control the lights, which works okay (there is probably a 1-2 seconds delay which is acceptable). Would be nice to have HA integration though. I doubt those can run on Tuya although I don’t have much experience with this.
Could anyone recommend a smart thermostat to control a simple 2-wire gas central heater. Wifi or zigbee would be preferred. I’ve been considering the entry level Google Nest, but can’t easily find any other options
Today I bought this Mirabella Genio Wi-Fi Double Power Plug with USB Ports for $29 ($25 actually, since the box had been opened and I asked for a discount). tuya-convert says “Your device’s firmware is too new.”
Since the box had been opened, it’s possible a previous ‘owner’ updated the firmware, but so far it looks like this device is not flashable.
I’ve set it up with LocalTuya now.
When I connected it with the app, I was prompted to install new firmware. I wonder if this would be good to do, since it seems I can’t flash Tasmota onto it anyway.
Bought 3 of the Antsig Grid Connect Smart IR Universal Remote Controller from Bunnings.
Flashed Tasmota IR on all 3, configured the same. Irhvac works perfectly. However when I point the same remote at all three, one correctly picks up TOSHIBA_AC, the other two come back with UNKNOWN PROTOCOL. I can’t for the life of me work out what I’ve done differently.
I know this is pretty old but do not trust Chinese products with the CE mark. They can make it look similar to the CE mark but have small differences in dimensions and it does not mean the product is certified. Some will even claim it is just a “China Export” mark. I’ve seen a few fake CE marks and it can be very difficult to tell the difference between genuine and fake at a quick glance.
Australian products need to be certified by the Australian regulator. Even genuine CE certification is to allow the product to be sold in European Economic Area.
As a note: CE documentation is not recognised at all by Australian law, so cannot be used as a basis for compliance. A product must be certified by the Australian process.
Not quite a necroposter. The thread is still alive lol.
That said, I did reread and see the post I had missed, but I won’t delete my post. I’ll just accept what was done
The “China Export” is also a questionable thing. In 2008 the European Commission advised it was unaware of any China Export mark and that the misunderstanding had arisen from a Chinese manufacturer using the incorrect dimensions for the CE mark.
That said, I still believe it is a way they use to fake CE things
Once you go flashing firmware you’re kind of on your own. Could be any one of … well virtually infinite things that can go wrong during a flash process.
Unfortunately I am not helpful I know.
I would suggest flash the original firmware back to the device if you kept a copy of it, see if it works and if it doesn’t maybe try to send it back as a warranty return.
(sorry I’ve been waiting to use this)