Blue Connect pool measurements

[saveNAT]

@sh-guy

Looks like Shelly Gen 2 devices can be Bluetooth proxies in HA.

I have also a Shelly Plug S near the pool.
So could I use this as Bluetooth gatway for Home Assistant?
If yes, then I have to use your option 1 in the listing, right?

[saveNAT]

@sh-guy

I don‘t have any Gen 2 or 3 Shelly devices. So I can‘t say whether it works. I suspect it would.
If you decide to go with the Shelly as a BLE proxy, then you have to use the BlueConnect customer integration mentioned in this thread.

Your way to read out the data from the blue connect is not working, because shelly is not esp32 or what is the difference if a shelly is used instead of esp32?

@Lich22

ok…with this integration you can’t change the update intervall?
I thnik in this case i will try your methode but than i try to flash ESP Home on the shelly with this:

Is it working with shelly in your case?

[sh-guy]

Actually, some Shelly devices are esp based and could be flashed with an esp image. Considering the gen 2 and 3 devices also have Bluetooth, if they are esp based then they could very well be esp32. But I have not personally looked into it.
The video I posted though describes using a Shelly gen 2 as a BLE proxy without flashing it with an esp image. So, Shelly gen 2 (and probably 3) can be a BLE proxy in HA and relay BLE messages which the BlueConnect integration can pick up. So, all the talk about esp solutions are not relevant for a Shelly setup. You will just need the BlueConnect HACS Integration to get the BlueConnect sensor data.

[saveNAT]

@sh-guy

You will just need the BlueConnect HACS Integration to get the BlueConnect sensor data.

Thanks for the explanation.
Then I’ll have to reconsider. Your solution with the ESP32 seems “simpler” to me.
And, above all, I’m not dependent on an integration.
If the integration is no longer maintained and there are changes, the functionality may no longer be available.

[saveNAT]

@sh-guy

Here are a few pictures of the WT32-SC01 Plus as a BlueConnect Display and Controller for my Hottub.

What temperatur sensors do you use?
Are the made of PVC or spaecial material for pool?

[sh-guy]

DS18B20 Sensors. They are waterproof and support a wide temperature range.
For outdoor temperature it is simple by just letting the end hang out in a shaded area. For the pool water temperature you either hang the end in the pool or get a pipe fitting.

This is the temperature sensor from Amazon Germany:
https://amzn.eu/d/eWtDklg

And this is a thermal pocket for use with a 1/2“ tapping clamp:
https://amzn.eu/d/4fUO0I3

[Lich22 (Christopher)]

it doesnt work. ich found with the shelly gen3 ble proxy: Adresse : 00:A0:50:87:93:E7
Name : B201FF0CCD
Quelle : E4:65:B8:FA:52:62

i think this is the Blue Connect., but with the integration it says:

Blue Connect Go

Keine Geräte im Netzwerk gefunden

[Lich22 (Christopher)]

I’ve now done it with an ESP32 following your instructions. It’s working really well now.
Do you have a nice dashboard card that looks good and is easy to use? Maybe something where you can directly see if the value is within the set limits—kind of like in the Blue Connect app.

[sh-guy]

I use gauge cards. You will have to modify the ranges for your colors. I have them set for my hottub. In particular the temperature coloring will be different for a normal pool. My temperature coloring differentiates between “too cold for the Mrs.” (blue), “OK for refreshing in summer” (green), “perfect for hottub bathing” (orange) and “too hot for the Mrs.” (red)

Here’s my dashboard YAML:

type: horizontal-stack
cards:
  - type: gauge
    entity: sensor.esp_ble_proxy_blueconnect_temperature
    needle: true
    segments:
      - from: 0
        color: "#0000FF"
      - from: 29
        color: "#008000"
      - from: 38
        color: "#FFA500"
      - from: 41
        color: "#FF0000"
    name: Temperatur
    max: 45
    min: 0
  - type: gauge
    entity: sensor.esp_ble_proxy_blueconnect_ph
    needle: true
    segments:
      - from: 6
        color: "#FF0000"
      - from: 6.6
        color: "#FFA500"
      - from: 7.2
        color: "#008000"
      - from: 7.6
        color: "#FFA500"
      - from: 8.4
        color: "#FF0000"
    max: 8.8
    min: 6
    name: pH
  - type: gauge
    entity: sensor.esp_ble_proxy_blueconnect_orp
    name: ORP
    needle: true
    segments:
      - from: 0
        color: "#FF0000"
      - from: 400
        color: "#FFA500"
      - from: 650
        color: "#008000"
      - from: 750
        color: "#FFA500"
      - from: 900
        color: "#FF0000"
    max: 1050
    min: 300
visibility:
  - condition: state
    entity: sensor.esp_ble_proxy_blueconnect_temperature
    state_not: unknown
  - condition: state
    entity: sensor.esp_ble_proxy_blueconnect_ph
    state_not: unknown
  - condition: state
    entity: sensor.esp_ble_proxy_blueconnect_orp
    state_not: unknown

This is what it looks like on my dashboard:

But you can use the values from the BlueRiiot App. I do think those values vary depending on how you set it up in your app. IIRC you can determine whether it is in a pool or whirlpool. That may change the values.

[stefan1983 (Stefan)]

Thanks @sh-guy
It works fantastic- great work

[saveNAT]

@sh-guy

In particular I put the BlueConnect MAC address in the secrets file. The name and id can be whatever you want and don‘t need to be in the secrets file.

Thank you for your good instruction.

Getting started and the first flash with esp32 was not so easy for me, but now my ble scanner is running.

In your script is:
blueriiot_mac: !secret blueriiot_mac
blueriiot_name_prefix: !secret blueriiot_nameprefix
blueriiot_id_prefix: !secret blueriiot_idprefix

So:
blueriiot_mac = mac adress that I get from the ble scanner

But:
“blueriiot_name_prefix” and “blueriiot_id_prefix” I don’t understand.

Could they for example 1234 and 6789 or must I use values form the ble scanner or something else?

[sh-guy]

Yeah, those last two are just an ID and Name you can choose. For me they are just „blueconnect“ for the ID and „BlueConnect“ for the name. I should have just put them in the YAML as substitutions instead of using the secrets file. So feel free to just change the YAML to reference a substitution instead of the secret and define the two substitutions in your YAML.

[saveNAT]

@sh-guy

So feel free to just change the YAML to reference a substitution instead of the secret and define the two substitutions in your YAML.

Thank you.

"
web_server:
port: 80
version: 2
auth:
username: admin
password: !secret web_server_password
"
This part with the web_server is not necessary?

And for my understanding.
Can you tell me what this part do:
std::string rawhex = format_hex_pretty((uint8_t *) x.c_str(), x.size()).c_str(); ESP_LOGD(“raw_hex”, “%s”, rawhex.c_str());

[sh-guy]

Yeah, both are strictly not necessary. The web server is an internal web server on the ESP, allowing you to connect directly to in a web browser and see logs and control sensors etc. The last part you mention basically just logs the full hex response.
Technically, both are unnecessary if everything works fine and no troubleshooting is necessary. But, I haven’t noticed that either really do any harm.

[saveNAT]

@sh-guy

Yeah, both are strictly not necessary. The web server is an internal web server on the ESP, allowing you to connect directly to in a web browser and see logs and control sensors etc. The last part you mention basically just logs the full hex response.

Tank you for your help and thank you for the great work. It works really perfect.

Only I get the following failed messages:
[11:37:56][D][esp-idf:000][BTU_TASK]: E (244452) BT_BTM: BTM_BleScan scan not active

[11:37:56][D][esp-idf:000][BTU_TASK]: W (244461) BT_APPL: bta_dm_ble_scan stop scan failed, status=0x6

But everything works so I think it is OK.

Has anyone tested yet, if meassurements every 15 minutes stress the battery a lot?

And has anyone tried yet to plug the Blue Riot on an power supply to measure for example every 5 minutes?
I think the battery voltage should be 3,6 V …

[saveNAT]

@JosePortillo

We need some more samples to try to calculate an accurate value for this constant. I wonder if some of the BLE characteristics of the device may provide the values for these constants (calibration data), but that would be another decoding nightmare.

Hello,

I’ve been testing with the BLE proxy since today.

When comparing measurements between the ESP32 and the app, I noticed significant deviations in the ORP.

APP: 816 mV
ESP: 798 mV

Difference: 18 mV

Then I remembered that I had recalibrated the ORP electrode using the app last year.
I reset the calibration in the app to factory calibration and now get the following values.

APP: 790 mV
ESP: 798 mV

Difference: 8 mV

The script uses the following formula:
float orp = (float)( (int16_t) (x[6]<< 8) + x[5]) / 3.86 - 21.57826;

Is the solution simply to add the 18 mV to the float value as an offset?
For example:
float orp = (float)( (int16_t) (x[6]<< 8) + x[5]) / 3.86 - 21.57826 + 18.00;

Or will this be incorrect for other ORP values ​​because the calibration factor is no longer 18 mV?

Or is there a way to incorporate the app’s calibration data here? Is this included in the Blu Connect’s raw value?

[SebastianM]

is it also possible to integrate a OSPA pool control via this integration to Home Assistant?

[eisbahnen_flops]

Hey @sh-guy! Thank you for your great explanations. I have one question about that: do you use the official app for calibration?

[sh-guy]

Yes I did use the app to calibrate. But I didn‘t compare values between the app and the integration like @saveNAT mentions above. So, maybe after calibration there is a value that needs to be added or subtracted from the value returned by the integration (ESP).
If what @saveNAT says is correct, then the value retrieved via BLE is always the factory default and calibrated values are always corrected in the app.

[Ben82cgn]

Works the Blue Connect over cloud? I am not in the same wifi Network.