Salt sentry: Water softener monitoring device

No problem, I’ve added them to the github repository here: SaltSentryManuals/3d print files at main · Lemcke-solutions/SaltSentryManuals · GitHub

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I just received my Salt Sentry. I’ve flashed the ESPHome version onto it, but I see the following in the logs:

[16:50:49][I][app:100]: ESPHome version 2024.12.2 compiled on Jan 15 2025, 16:46:19
[16:50:49][I][app:102]: Project lemcke-solutions.salt-sentry version v2.1
[16:50:49][I][i2c.arduino:096]: Results from i2c bus scan:
[16:50:49][I][i2c.arduino:098]: Found no i2c devices!
[16:50:49][E][component:082]:   Component vl53l0x.sensor is marked FAILED

Is there a work-around for this? The distance and percentage sensors are returning nan as a result.

Did you use the configuration from SaltSentryManuals/ESPHome.yaml at 77b2a7bde41c42e2e6e429f3192dc026dad9ab91 · Lemcke-solutions/SaltSentryManuals · GitHub ?

The important part is:

i2c:
  sda: 2
  scl: 14
  scan: true

I test all devices before I send them out, so the vl53l0x should be ok. I didn’t test the ESPHome configuration for a while, maybe changes in ESPHome might be causing problems. If you did use the above configuration, please let me know, then I will do some testing myself.

Thanks for responding so quickly.

I’m embarrassed to say that power cycling the device fixed this immediately. It’s been perfectly fine since.

Great to hear it’s now working.

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Hi @ErikNL

I have used mine for a year without issues now. This morning it stopped reporting data.

Changing the power supply/cable didn’t seem to make a difference. Neither did reflashing.

I checked out the logs, and I think these are the relevant bits:

[11:57:44][I][i2c.arduino:069]: Results from i2c bus scan:
[11:57:44][I][i2c.arduino:075]: Found i2c device at address 0x29
[11:58:20][D][sensor:093]: 'percentage': Sending state -nan % with 1 decimals of accuracy

It seems to still find the sensor, but it doesn’t get any useful data from it. I’ve obviously done this with items at multiple distances from the sensor, yet it always seems to come back with a nan value.

Do you have any idea what this could be?

I’ve never seen this issue before. It’s interesting that the sensor is still detected on the I2C bus but isn’t returning valid data.

Could you check if the distance in centimeters is also not reported?

Feel free to send me a PM—I can exchange your device for another one so I can investigate the issue further.

(post deleted by author)

I’ve setup the salt sentry and its reading a percentage level, although I can’t get the distance sensor to work, just shows as unknown?

This is the yaml code.

Hi Ed,

That’s odd, your configuration seems to be ok. The Saltsentry should report the distance in cm on the configured topic, postfixed with"_distance", so it does seem like you’ve configured it the right way.

Does te reported percentage change when you point it to a object closer by or further away?

Yes the distance reading changes, I’ve tested it on the bench and place an object underneath and the distance changed from 100% to 68%

Hi Ed,

Thanks for testing that! It’s interesting that the level reading changes but distance still shows as unknown. This isn’t an issue I’ve encountered before, but one thing you could try is using ESPHome to see if that gives a more consistent result.

I have a configuration available here: ESPHome Configuration. If you’re familiar with ESPHome, you could try flashing this and checking if the sensor reports correctly. You can always revert to the original firmware afterward if needed.

Hi Erik!
I am long due to fix this as I became a father in between things. But I have tried resetting it and reconfigured it.

But it does not update any longer. Not sure how to continue the troubleshooting. It sends values every 5 minutes but it is always the same independent of the tank level.

I am expecting hardware issue unfortunately.

I’m not familiar with ESPHome, I’ve added the device builder add on and will try and figure out all the steps to get it setup etc.
I’ll try and flash the config you’ve linked to and let you know how I get on.

Any tips appreciated.