Finally close up the case cover, connect the raindrop module to the case and apply some hot glue on the exposed parts to protect them from the weather.
Cool! Using it as a light switch is something I can make use of. But considering the price of the door sensor and the button is the same, it’s hard to justify the hack unless I have some spares around.
Perfect timing to see this. (and sorry to necro this thread).
I just received in the mail today a aqara door sensor and a rain sensor (same as yours).
I was planning to extend the wire to have the aqara device inside and the sensor outside, but I love your solution.
BTW regarding the other switch project, a benefit is that the door sensor is an on/off switch as opposed to (the also great and very flexible) aqara push momentary switches.
May I ask about your long term experiences with these kind of sensors? Do they still work reliably after some month? I assume, this sensor uses permanent dc power to monitor the original (reed) switch, thus I’d expect them to corrode quite fast because of electrolysis, when replacing the switch with the raindrop module.
And even without any electricity involved, I wouldn’t expect copper tracks on a standard pcb exposed 24/7 to sun, wind and weather to last more than some month either.
Does waterproofing the cable bushing with hot glue really work? Doesn’t the glue get brittle over time because of the permanent exposure to uv radiation?
Don’t get me wrong, I’d really appreciate if such a cheap design is working reliably in the long term, but I do have my doubts if this is really worth the effort.
Many years ago as a teenager I DIY’d some moisture sensors for indoor plants from prototype pcb boards. They were gone in days because of the corrosion and I had to replace them by graphite probes.
Thanks for the project. I just made mine and it worked on my desk. The funny thing is that after a period of a lot of rain the forecast shows no rain for the next 10 days(!) so I will have to wait to really test it. How do you deal with the “inverted” values of this sensor? If you change the sensor device class to moisture it will show “wet” (open) instead of dry.
Reading this, I wonder if you could use the Xiaomi water leak sensor as a rain detector (obviously not how much rain but good enough to know if it’s raining somewhat or not)
probably not, because when it stops raining, the contact may still be wet for a long time, showing its raining, when its not (have same problem with the proposed DiY, but I think that with the water leak the problem is bigger
I have both.
The water leak sensor is not as “hackable” as the door sensor if you want to maintain its water resistance.
There are two metal contacts on the base of the water leak detector, but its not trivial to connect to them. They look like hex screws, but you cannot remove them.
Also I dont think that the water leak sensor is designed for extended exposure to moisture that will be suffered by a rain sensor. This is why @masterkenobi and I are using sealed outdoor enclosured for our electronics.
This is so simple and cool. I used the Aqara variant door sensor and it’s working very well.
I had some pichers handy so I just snipped off the reed switch (rather than desoldering) , which left something easier to solder on to for me (my soldering sucks).
I’m keen to find a slimline housing for it. Haven’t found one I like yet.
nice
Actually when I made mine I left the reed switch in place. As long as you are not expecting magnets to be moved near your sensor it should remain in a stable state.