Perhaps even simpler than this almost identical project from Sotonguy: Zigbee conversion of Air Wick Freshmatic Autospray
I believe my conversion is even easier, retains the manual push button operation and allows a reset without disassembly. It even uses the original batteries in their original location.
I wanted to create a smart air freshener dispenser, meeting exactly the same criteria, and I’m going to shamelessly copy and paste here, and add my own:
- To remove the built in time schedule and instead use smart triggers to prolong the life of the canister
- Visually, the external appearance of the unit should remain unchanged
- The unit should remain battery powered
- The unit should integrate using Zigbee (as I felt using wifi would conflict with the previous requirement of using battery power)
- Manual operation via the push button should be retained
I’m so pleased with the end result. Here it is in action:
To complete this build you’ll need the following bill of materials:
- Air Wick Freshmatic unit
- Zigbee Fingerbot device
- Spare single core copper wire (10cm, yellow ideally)
And tools:
- Precision crosshead screwdriver
- Soldering Iron
- Hot Glue Gun
- Heat shrink
- Lighter (for heat shrinkage)
Process:
Open the door on the front and remove the canister. Then, remove the large push button that covers the entire top surface so that you can get to the screw holes underneath.
Then you can start to prize the case apart starting at the bottom.
Remove the white plastic part that actuates the push button:
Disconnect and remove the PCB:
Bend and break off the negative battery terminal:
Using hot glue, secure the negative battery terminal back in the battery bay as shown:
Remove the cover from the back of the fingerbot:
Gently prize out the PCB (it’s just held in with glue and foam pads) and disconnect the motor and battery connectors:
Slide the positive and negative battery terminals up and out of the fingerbot case:
Using a soldering iron, heat the copper pad from inside the fingerbot case, this will unstick it and allow you to remove it easily:
Heat the solder in order to disconnect the yellow wire from the copper pad:
Snip the connector off of the motor wires (close to the connector end):
Prepare some small pieces of thin heat shrink:
Desolder the negative battery terminal from the black wire of the Fingerbot battery connector (leaving only the positive still connected. Slide the positive terminal into the battery bay in the AirWick device:
Solder together the red wire from the fingerbot motor connector (the two pin connector) to the AirWick motor, repeat for the black wires. Don’t forget some heat shrink!:
Solder some extra wire to the yellow connector from the fingerbot’s three pin battery connector, and poke the wire through the hole in the top of the AirWick as shown (see yellow wire):
Re-solder the copper pad to the newly-extended wire. Scratch/score the underside of the AirWick push button, and glue the copper pad to the bottom of the push button as shown.
Using hot glue, position the fingerbot PCB so that the LED/reset button can be pushed using the hole left behind by the original AirWick switch:
I glued a piece of plastic cut off the original push button to put behind the PCB for stability:
Begin reassembly - don’t replace the push button just yet:
Don’t forget to reinstall the hinge:
Screw back together, and then reinstall the push button:
Then the door goes back on:
Reassembly complete, the reset button and LED can be seen/accessed through the original switch hole.
Now it’s time to install the batteries (even the two originally supplied AA batteries will work just fine!) and join to Z2M (or ZHA if it supports the Fingerbot). In terms of configuration, I didn’t have to change anything… I created two button helpers and two automations that are triggered by the button helpers. Pressing the button performs the ‘switch.toggle’ action, and this will actuate the pump just fine - your mileage may vary.
Then I added some nodes to my existing bathroom flows in NodeRED. Note that I only wanted the spray to be enabled if the bathroom was occupied for more than three minutes, and not if my wife or I are just brushing our teeth. I’m using presence sensors in the bathrooms as well as motion, so no chance of getting sprayed on if I’m sat there playing on my phone - ha!
