MQTT Switch & Regular switch

Configuration
1

Hi all!

I’m using a Sonoff basic with ESPurna, the switch is also connected to a dumb switch.

I’m trying to accomplish the following behavior (without success):

  • Sonoff is fully managed from HA :white_check_mark:
  • Sonoff turns on when powered on by the dumb switch :white_check_mark:
  • HA Sonoff status is changed to ON when the Sonoff is powered on by the dumb switch :white_check_mark:
  • HA Sonoff status is changed to OFF when the Sonoff is powered off by the dumb switch :x:

I’m not able to update the status in HA when the Sonoff is powered off by the dumb switch, which actually means that that the Sonoff is disconnected from the network.

This is my configuration:

switch:     
 - platform: mqtt
        name: "ESPurna switch"
        state_topic: "camera/switch/sonoff4/relay/0"
        command_topic: "camera/switch/sonoff4/relay/0/set"
        payload_on: 1
        payload_off: 0
        optimistic: false
        qos: 0
        retain: false

I believe that this should be an easy task, but I was not able to make it working :frowning:

1 Like
2

If the dumb switch kills the sonoff then the only way HA will know about it is if you have set a will message, as that will be propagated to HA when the sonoff is killed by the dumb switch. I know nothing about Espurna so maybe someone else can enlighten you about setting up will messages in the software, but it should come as part of the package.

3

If I’m not mistaken, Espurna publishes LWT messages on topic sonoff/{identifier}/status

Use that topic to get the status is the sonoff.

4

thanks for your replies!
@j.assuncao , you mean to change my state_topic
from
state_topic: "camera/switch/sonoff4/relay/0"
to
state_topic: "camera/switch/sonoff4/status" ?

I tried that, but it is not working.

5

@asp that’s not it. I use Espurna on all my Sonoff but don’t use the LWT messages.

I think you need to create a sensor that reads the sonoff/{identifier}/status topic. When the switch disconnects the Sonoff the topic will change and that will tell HA that the Sonoff is powered off. This last part needs to be made with an automation.

Make a search in the forum and I’m Shure you’ll find someone that already made something like this.

6

Thanks for the hints @j.assuncao! I made some progress, I discovered that since version 0.50, MQTT Switch has “availability_topic” variable for online/offline status. So it should be sufficient to add:

availability_topic: "camera/switch/sonoff4/status"

to my switch, but… it’s not working. The switch now is permanently unavailable, even when it’s on.

I’ve checked with mosquitto_sub -v -h 192.168.1.41 -u myuser -P mypass -t '#' and the message:

camera/switch/sonoff4/status 1

is caught.
Any ideas?

7

For this you need to add

payload_available: "1"
payload_not_available: "0"

to your switch definition to match the values received.

8

@gpbenton is right. Add the payload available and not available to your configuration and reboot.

9

Thanks @gpbenton and @j.assuncao! Now it’s working! It takes around 35 seconds to switch its status to “unavailable” when disconnected, but I can live with that :slight_smile:

10

You may be able to reduce this if you have access to the ‘keep-alive’ parameter in the firmware on your sonoff. The availability message is sent when the broker determines the sonoff is not there, which is normally when the keepalive messages is not returned. If the keepalive message is sent more frequently, the response time will be quicker.

11

Glad you got it working!

12

Brilliant! I lowered down the keep alive parameter to 10 seconds and now I have circa 15 sec delay :slight_smile:

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