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A heads up to all of you pool and computer geeks, this is a HA pool tool for anybody.

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    A heads up to all of you pool and computer geeks, this is a HA pool tool for anybody.

    This thing looks like a beautiful idea and the price isn't too scary, either. It should fit virtually ANY pool in or above ground. Installation is a snap. The man behind this apurtenance is "Chem Geek" and is conversant at an advanced level in pools, chemistry, and computers. I believe there may be a REST API in the makings. Anybody think a PI would sell? I'd buy!
    HomeSeer Version: HS4 Pro Edition 4.2.19.0 (Windows - Running as a Service)
    Home Assistant 2024.3
    Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro - Desktop
    Z-Wave Devices via two Z-Net G3s
    Zigbee Devices via RaspBee on RPi 3b+
    WiFi Devices via Internal Router.

    Enabled Plug-Ins
    AK GoogleCalendar 4.0.4.16,AK HomeAssistant 4.0.1.23,AK SmartDevice 4.0.5.1,AK Weather 4.0.5.181,AmbientWeather 3.0.1.9,Big6 3.44.0.0,BLBackup 2.0.64.0,BLGData 3.0.55.0,BLLock 3.0.39.0,BLUPS 2.0.26.0,Device History 4.5.1.1,EasyTrigger 3.0.0.76,Harmony Hub 4.0.14.0,HSBuddy 4.51.303.0,JowiHue 4.1.4.0,LG ThinQ 4.0.26.0,ONVIF Events 1.0.0.5,SDJ-Health 3.1.1.9,TPLinkSmartHome4 2022.12.30.0,UltraCID3 3.0.6681.34300,Z-Wave 4.1.3.0

    #2
    Thanks! Nice to know. From a Canadian's perspective, it's up there. I'd probably have to escalate to the CFO to be safe... lol. If there's a Restful API, one could likely use Big5 for homeseer integration.

    I'm about due for a new pool liner and will certainly keep my eye on this.
    HS3PRO 3.0.0.500 as a Fire Daemon service, Windows 2016 Server Std Intel Core i5 PC HTPC Slim SFF 4GB, 120GB SSD drive, WLG800, RFXCom, TI103,NetCam, UltraNetcam3, BLBackup, CurrentCost 3P Rain8Net, MCsSprinker, HSTouch, Ademco Security plugin/AD2USB, JowiHue, various Oregon Scientific temp/humidity sensors, Z-Net, Zsmoke, Aeron Labs micro switches, Amazon Echo Dots, WS+, WD+ ... on and on.

    Comment


      #3
      There are dialogs about this device on many pool forums, including troublefreepool.com which I personally use. Keep in mind the cartridge replacement cost when factoring in the overall cost, the cartridge is only good for 2 months or 60 tests/cartridge as I understand it. There are several products like this on the market.

      Comment


        #4
        Kind of costly just to monitor Ph, Chlorine, and Temp (since I still have other indicators I need to manually test anyway). However, if it could update HS with the data then it would be well worth the money.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by mterry63 View Post
          There are dialogs about this device on many pool forums, including troublefreepool.com which I personally use. <snip>
          If you are using TF Test Kits, you can't be too concerned with the cost per test. They have some of the highest-priced test chemicals on the market. For example a 2 oz. bottle of R-0871 Taylor Factory reagent can be bought for $8.75, the TFT repackaged Taylor reagent is $14.00 per 2 oz. You could buy 32 oz. of that Taylor Factory Reagent for $31.00, throw 2/3 of it away and still have over 5 bottles of reagent left. You could use two and sell the other 3 at a discount of $11.00 each and make a profit of a free bottle of reagent and $2.00!

          Have you ever checked the calibration on the bottles you are using?
          HomeSeer Version: HS4 Pro Edition 4.2.19.0 (Windows - Running as a Service)
          Home Assistant 2024.3
          Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro - Desktop
          Z-Wave Devices via two Z-Net G3s
          Zigbee Devices via RaspBee on RPi 3b+
          WiFi Devices via Internal Router.

          Enabled Plug-Ins
          AK GoogleCalendar 4.0.4.16,AK HomeAssistant 4.0.1.23,AK SmartDevice 4.0.5.1,AK Weather 4.0.5.181,AmbientWeather 3.0.1.9,Big6 3.44.0.0,BLBackup 2.0.64.0,BLGData 3.0.55.0,BLLock 3.0.39.0,BLUPS 2.0.26.0,Device History 4.5.1.1,EasyTrigger 3.0.0.76,Harmony Hub 4.0.14.0,HSBuddy 4.51.303.0,JowiHue 4.1.4.0,LG ThinQ 4.0.26.0,ONVIF Events 1.0.0.5,SDJ-Health 3.1.1.9,TPLinkSmartHome4 2022.12.30.0,UltraCID3 3.0.6681.34300,Z-Wave 4.1.3.0

          Comment


            #6
            I only mentioned the price because you did. Price, accuracy, ease-of-use are all factors. The Taylor K-2006 I'm using was $58 from Amazon. If I bought one a year I'd still come out cheaper than the Waterguru Sense and it's cartridges. Reading the reviews on troublefreepool.com gives me the impression these optical testers will eventually get there, but may not be ready for prime time yet. They don't appear to expose an API, so you'd be scraping the web interface to integrate.

            I have a Taylor optical tester I use occasionally for fast chlorine tests and compare. Ease of use is obviously better than chemical testing. I'm no expert, for sure, in fact I'd consider myself a novice pool owner.

            Personally I'm keeping an eye on the automated pool testing gadgets, but I'm not ready to pull the trigger yet. I believe they do offer 45 days money back if not happy, so anyone interested can try.

            Comment


              #7
              That's interesting for sure ... I have Hayward Phin in my hot tub and pool. The unit in the hot tub I've had to replace three times now because of failures. The unit in the pool is new this summer so early on. The one thing that Phin doesn't measure, and looks like this device doesn't neither, is the alkalinity in the pool ... measures PH and Chlorine. When I had a water test done at the pool store late this summer, there were a number of things out of whack in my pool water that Phin couldn't measure (and possibly this new device mentioned here). For that reason I'm considering doing Sense & Dispense from Hayward in the spring ... not cheap solution at all but neither was the Omnilogic system

              Comment


                #8
                ​pH is something that is really difficult to measure with equipment because the sensors must be recalibrated every so often. I'm guessing the replaceable cartridges contain a new pH sensor.

                During the off-season, I am working on pool monitoring: Temperature, Pump Pressure, and my salt cell - all using a Raspberry Pi. I'm using photocells to detect the different LEDs on the salt cell and put them on our indoor wall-mounted tablet:


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                Everything works on my test bench (of course) so I'll be installing during the winter season. I'll do a full writeup after it's installed.
                HS4Pro on a Raspberry Pi4
                54 Z-Wave Nodes / 21 Zigbee Devices / 108 Events / 767 Devices
                Plugins: Z-Wave / Zigbee Plus / EasyTrigger / AK Weather / OMNI

                HSTouch Clients: 1 Android

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by pstewart View Post
                  When I had a water test done at the pool store late this summer.... <snips>
                  Pool stores have historically done an incredibly poor job accurately testing customers' water, often by incompetence and poor training, sometimes on purpose. Therefore, I highly recommend the Taylor K2006-C test kit and self-testing. Additionally, I absolutely do NOT recommend Taylor chemicals bottled by 3rd parties, as the bottle fitment is as important as the accurate formulation of the testing reagent(s). Taylor uses proprietary fitments that I have sought on the open market for years and I have even offered a finders fee, all to no avail.

                  I believe some of these automatic reporting units can be VERY helpful, but none of them (that are even remotely affordable) are extremely accurate and many omit testing things we pool owners need to know (like TA). In commercial practice, these automated systems must be checked often and calibrated and the only way to do that is by accurate chemical testing like titration. As a home pool owner, chemical testing needs to be part of the routine testing of the pool and through that the verification of accuracy and calibration of any of those automatic sensors we have installed.

                  FWIW, the appurtenance in the original post is not getting good reviews and I haven't even gotten a solid answer as to the connectivity with mainstream HA programs, even from Richard. So, I can't really recommend that unit, given the currently available information.
                  HomeSeer Version: HS4 Pro Edition 4.2.19.0 (Windows - Running as a Service)
                  Home Assistant 2024.3
                  Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro - Desktop
                  Z-Wave Devices via two Z-Net G3s
                  Zigbee Devices via RaspBee on RPi 3b+
                  WiFi Devices via Internal Router.

                  Enabled Plug-Ins
                  AK GoogleCalendar 4.0.4.16,AK HomeAssistant 4.0.1.23,AK SmartDevice 4.0.5.1,AK Weather 4.0.5.181,AmbientWeather 3.0.1.9,Big6 3.44.0.0,BLBackup 2.0.64.0,BLGData 3.0.55.0,BLLock 3.0.39.0,BLUPS 2.0.26.0,Device History 4.5.1.1,EasyTrigger 3.0.0.76,Harmony Hub 4.0.14.0,HSBuddy 4.51.303.0,JowiHue 4.1.4.0,LG ThinQ 4.0.26.0,ONVIF Events 1.0.0.5,SDJ-Health 3.1.1.9,TPLinkSmartHome4 2022.12.30.0,UltraCID3 3.0.6681.34300,Z-Wave 4.1.3.0

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by ewkearns View Post

                    Pool stores have historically done an incredibly poor job accurately testing customers' water, often by incompetence and poor training, sometimes on purpose. Therefore, I highly recommend the Taylor K2006-C test kit and self-testing. Additionally, I absolutely do NOT recommend Taylor chemicals bottled by 3rd parties, as the bottle fitment is as important as the accurate formulation of the testing reagent(s). Taylor uses proprietary fitments that I have sought on the open market for years and I have even offered a finders fee, all to no avail.
                    .
                    I totally understand what you are saying .. the irony in your response is that they use a Taylor test kit weekly to calibrate the store testing system. I can't recall the specific model of test kit but I do know it's Taylor and they test weekly to ensure it's accurate (or reasonably accurate). I also know what they spent on the pair of test systems in the store because of a friend there who is the owner and it was significant.... I wanted to know if a system like there's would be worthwhile for home use until I heard the price tag (well into 5 figures) haha

                    But I'm sure there are many stores out there that have things (possibly intentionally) off somewhat .. it's a big business selling those chemicals

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by pstewart View Post

                      <snip>
                      the irony in your response is that they use a Taylor test kit weekly to calibrate the store testing system.<snip>
                      If they are using a reagent test kit to calibrate the machines, I would call that inept, at best, and certainly "not best practice." The net result, in any case, is that their electronic gee-whiz test equipment will never be as accurate as the process they used to calibrate it.

                      Best practice would call for the use of factory-supplied calibration solutions, unless they have the Xpress Flex machine, which calibrates the machine through lot code input and software.
                      HomeSeer Version: HS4 Pro Edition 4.2.19.0 (Windows - Running as a Service)
                      Home Assistant 2024.3
                      Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro - Desktop
                      Z-Wave Devices via two Z-Net G3s
                      Zigbee Devices via RaspBee on RPi 3b+
                      WiFi Devices via Internal Router.

                      Enabled Plug-Ins
                      AK GoogleCalendar 4.0.4.16,AK HomeAssistant 4.0.1.23,AK SmartDevice 4.0.5.1,AK Weather 4.0.5.181,AmbientWeather 3.0.1.9,Big6 3.44.0.0,BLBackup 2.0.64.0,BLGData 3.0.55.0,BLLock 3.0.39.0,BLUPS 2.0.26.0,Device History 4.5.1.1,EasyTrigger 3.0.0.76,Harmony Hub 4.0.14.0,HSBuddy 4.51.303.0,JowiHue 4.1.4.0,LG ThinQ 4.0.26.0,ONVIF Events 1.0.0.5,SDJ-Health 3.1.1.9,TPLinkSmartHome4 2022.12.30.0,UltraCID3 3.0.6681.34300,Z-Wave 4.1.3.0

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by rmasonjr View Post
                        ​pH is something that is really difficult to measure with equipment because the sensors must be recalibrated every so often. I'm guessing the replaceable cartridges contain a new pH sensor.

                        During the off-season, I am working on pool monitoring: Temperature, Pump Pressure, and my salt cell - all using a Raspberry Pi. I'm using photocells to detect the different LEDs on the salt cell and put them on our indoor wall-mounted tablet:


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                        Everything works on my test bench (of course) so I'll be installing during the winter season. I'll do a full writeup after it's installed.
                        If you're willing to do a bit of tinkering (from the looks of it, you're already on your way!), this is an awesome little project to run on an RPi for full pool automation and integration: https://github.com/tagyoureit/nodejs-poolController . I've been using it for a few years and the project is really taking off in the last year with more standalone support (doesn't require a Pentair control panel). Really helpful and responsive forum too: https://gitter.im/nodejs-poolController/Lobby . Easy integration with MQTT for full monitoring and control within HS. Also, totally free

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by baudfather View Post

                          If you're willing to do a bit of tinkering ...
                          I am and I eagerly await your write-up. Awesome project.

                          HomeSeer Version: HS4 Pro Edition 4.2.19.0 (Windows - Running as a Service)
                          Home Assistant 2024.3
                          Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro - Desktop
                          Z-Wave Devices via two Z-Net G3s
                          Zigbee Devices via RaspBee on RPi 3b+
                          WiFi Devices via Internal Router.

                          Enabled Plug-Ins
                          AK GoogleCalendar 4.0.4.16,AK HomeAssistant 4.0.1.23,AK SmartDevice 4.0.5.1,AK Weather 4.0.5.181,AmbientWeather 3.0.1.9,Big6 3.44.0.0,BLBackup 2.0.64.0,BLGData 3.0.55.0,BLLock 3.0.39.0,BLUPS 2.0.26.0,Device History 4.5.1.1,EasyTrigger 3.0.0.76,Harmony Hub 4.0.14.0,HSBuddy 4.51.303.0,JowiHue 4.1.4.0,LG ThinQ 4.0.26.0,ONVIF Events 1.0.0.5,SDJ-Health 3.1.1.9,TPLinkSmartHome4 2022.12.30.0,UltraCID3 3.0.6681.34300,Z-Wave 4.1.3.0

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by ewkearns View Post

                            I am and I eagerly await your write-up. Awesome project.
                            I had started a writeup last year, but lost track of where it was... This thread really goes into a lot of detail on getting it setup: https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/li...e-with-mcsmqtt

                            The current poolController version also includes support to essentially create your own control panel (something I haven't done as I've got an EasyTouch panel).

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