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    Generator notifcation

    Bought a new house. It came with a 14kw Generac. I have it scheduled weekly to run for 12 mins. I have no way of knowing if it had ran unless i am home to here. I am trying to come up with something that it will notfiy me when it runs. It runs for about 12mins. My wife though maybe a vibration sensor. There are outlets on the machine that become hot when it fires up. I would like to know when it has started and finished.
    Thoughts?

    #2
    Do you use z-wave? If not, what?

    Using the outlets that energize on the genset, plug in a device that communicates with HS. It should have some sort of last changed timestamp. You could use that in an event to send you a notification. If you want to get fancier, you would add the device history plugin and see it over time. The actual device usage will be unimportant since it will be off most of the time. I'd just be looking for something cheap like a temp sensor.

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      #3
      What about something like this?
      It has NC and NO for dry contacts.

      https://www.surveillance-video.com/s...caAunJEALw_wcB

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by Meapilot View Post
        What about something like this?
        It has NC and NO for dry contacts.

        https://www.surveillance-video.com/s...caAunJEALw_wcB
        I'm puzzled by this device. How would you use it in conjunction with HS and the genset?

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          #5
          Plug it into outlet on genset. Connect leads to a dry contact sensor. ie: if using z-wave, connect it to the dry contacts on an Everspring door sensor or a mini mote.

          It comes with NO/NC, so should be able to configure for on and off.
          **I am not certain if it will signal both though. But I do not see why that would not work to indicate open/closed circuit.(?)

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            #6
            OK, gotcha. Seems like it should work.

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              #7
              Originally posted by themlruts View Post
              Bought a new house. It came with a 14kw Generac. I have it scheduled weekly to run for 12 mins. I have no way of knowing if it had ran unless i am home to here. I am trying to come up with something that it will notfiy me when it runs. It runs for about 12mins. My wife though maybe a vibration sensor. There are outlets on the machine that become hot when it fires up. I would like to know when it has started and finished.
              Thoughts?
              I have a generator self test verifier installed on transfer switch. Think it does exactly what you are looking for plus a few other features. I’m having problem posting links but Google GSV300 you will find it.

              Comment


                #8
                Look at Jay Gate's Genmon project at GitHub. It uses a raspberry pi with a little extra hardware and his python code. It connects either by Ethernet or Wifi, whichever your Pi has and gives you the same control and information that you get via the front panel. I am in the process of putting one together for my 22kW Generac. His wiki page contain very detailed instructions on putting this thing together and there is a pretty good community forum from the "Issues" page of the GitHub page with lots of questions and answers.

                There is no HS plugin for this but the genmon project includes MQTT. I am planning on using mcsMQTT to interface mine to HS.
                Last edited by feman; November 28, 2019, 09:32 AM. Reason: Forgot a detail. The raspberry connects to the generator controller via the controller's serial port and the entire assembly resides in the generator enclosure. The Pi gets its power from the batter

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                  #9
                  There is no way to monitor the exercise cycle of a generator from the circuitry of the house. The power is being supplied by the power company at those times and the transfer switch is not engaged.

                  AFAIK, the only ways to check involve tapping off the output of the generator itself. Most generator installers offer a (ridiculously expensive) monitoring device, but it is also possible to connect a 110V relay that will change state whenever the generator starts and stops, then use the relay state as an HS input. The relays are cheap, but the wiring of it isn't for the faint of heart.
                  Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
                  HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

                  HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Uncle Michael View Post
                    There is no way to monitor the exercise cycle of a generator from the circuitry of the house. The power is being supplied by the power company at those times and the transfer switch is not engaged.

                    AFAIK, the only ways to check involve tapping off the output of the generator itself. Most generator installers offer a (ridiculously expensive) monitoring device, but it is also possible to connect a 110V relay that will change state whenever the generator starts and stops, then use the relay state as an HS input. The relays are cheap, but the wiring of it isn't for the faint of heart.
                    That GSV300 unit I have does monitor weekly exercise cycle. It has 4 maybe 5 relay outputs, each corresponding to a condition it monitors(exercise fail, run away, gen on or off etc. ). It’s listed for $349 on their website. Previous house owner installed it, I looked at wiring briefly, doesn’t seem too involved.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by cjin View Post
                      That GSV300 unit I have does monitor weekly exercise cycle. It has 4 maybe 5 relay outputs, each corresponding to a condition it monitors(exercise fail, run away, gen on or off etc. ). It’s listed for $349 on their website. Previous house owner installed it, I looked at wiring briefly, doesn’t seem too involved.
                      If you've got that installed, you are all set. If not, it's $350 plus installation.

                      Relays are available on Ebay for a few bucks.
                      Mike____________________________________________________________ __________________
                      HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.548, NUC i3

                      HW: Stargate | NX8e | CAV6.6 | Squeezebox | PCS | WGL 800RF | RFXCOM | Vantage Pro | Green-Eye | Edgeport/8 | Way2Call | Ecobee3 | EtherRain | Ubiquiti

                      Comment


                        #12
                        My generator makes quite a bit of noise when it runs so sensing sound is a decoupled way to tell if the generator is running or not. There are lots of circuits that can do it such as https://www.banggood.com/AC-220V-Sou...r_warehouse=CN

                        You then need whatever your favorite technology is to get it into HS. X10 window-door sensor, Zigbee water sensor, WiFi Sonoff, etc.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Just adding another thought. Wifi embedded Arduino's are very cheap (<5 USD). If you do have an internal plug insides the generator, the coding the Arduino to issue either a JSON or MQTT call on boot up would be another option.

                          However, as someone already mentioned, an AC to NO/NC relay connected to a door/window sensor is trivial to set up. Here is another example product.

                          Enclosed AC/DC Power Relay with Protection & De-Bounce. Screw Terminals. 120V Trigger Input
                          https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017743I7S..._kga4DbDFBW4DR
                          .
                          Len


                          HomeSeer Version: HS3 Pro Edition 3.0.0.435
                          Linux version: Linux homeseer Ubuntu 16.04 x86_64
                          Number of Devices: 633
                          Number of Events: 773

                          Enabled Plug-Ins
                          2.0.54.0: BLBackup
                          2.0.40.0: BLLAN
                          3.0.0.48: EasyTrigger
                          30.0.0.36: RFXCOM
                          3.0.6.2: SDJ-Health
                          3.0.0.87: weatherXML
                          3.0.1.190: Z-Wave

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                            #14
                            Lots of good ideas here. My goal - over ten years ago - was to know when the generator had kicked on when we are away. Back then this was a weekend home. I tapped in the the gen subpanel and wired an outlet that would be hot whenever the genset started. Plugged a wallwart (12v) into that. I have that attached to an X-10 module which is plugged into my server UPS. Since there are several seconds between the time the power goes out and the gen starts, I needed the UPS (HS computer, X-10 interface, X-10 module, cable modem, router) carryover so I didn't miss the event. I fire off an email on startup and again on power restored (gen stopped). This has been a flawless setup all these years.

                            One winter, I called the utility company from USVI to report an outage. They were impressed.

                            Barry

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                              #15
                              Here is a link to a utility that runs on a Raspberry Pi and communicates with Generac generators. It apparently has an MQTT publisher, which would integrate with HomeSeer.

                              https://github.com/jgyates/genmon

                              It will provide you with a ton of info and notifications. I have not used it though; I discovered it last year while researching a generator for the cabin.

                              Below is a link to someone who integarted it with Home Assistant.

                              https://community.home-assistant.io/...ssistant/62701

                              Click image for larger version

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