Looking to replace my Zigbee irrigation valve

Hardware
1

I’m currently using the Tuya Irrigation Valve that looks like this (the green model):
https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DE5wvGV

I’m having a lot of trouble with it. First, it’s not natively supported in ZHA and the quirk I’m using may not be perfect. The main issue is that sometimes it reports as being On when it is not (water is not flowing, despite the switch being on “on” mode). So the device incorrectly reports back its status. I’ve resorted to putting a vibration sensor on top of it, which gives me an excellent indication for when it gets turned on, since there’s a subtle vibration in the irrigation valve when it starts.

This is far from perfect, since sometimes I need about 20-30 attempts if turning it on and off again until it finally really turns on. Sometimes not even that. I’ve placed an extender 30cm from it, and I’m 100% convinced this is not a matter of connectivity issues. I have two of those irrigation valves and I’m seeing the same behavior in both.

Can someone recommend an irrigation valve, that works on Zigbee, and is fully compatible with ZHA? I’m looking for personal experience here, since I see a lot of models on Aliexpress etc., but many are most likely a repackaging of the same electronics inside, I don’t want to end up with the exact same device.

If anyone can recommend something, It’ll be great…

2

I haven’t used it personally, but if you have a Lidl close to you, these show up in stock periodically and are supported by both ZHA & Z2M.

Do bear in mind, though, that these irrigation controllers are battery-powered devices and that the issues you’re seeing is because the device is being particularly “sleepy” to conserve battery.

If that doesn’t work, then your only alternative would be a wired valve controller like this, though you’d lose the inbuilt scheduling functionality and would have to program everything via automations.

3

I looked and failed to find a good direct Zigbee device that worked with Zigbee2MQTT, so I went with products from LinkTap, link below. Spendy and requires a ‘jump’ to it’s API (which is local however) even though their devices are Zigbee. I have been very happy with using their product for about 6 months now. Good hunting!