Plugin to monitor Z-Wave battery device Health - CLOSED

[ralnet]

Thought I would chime in about this plugin. I have several new devices, "Sensitive Strips" for access notification. See attached image.

This plugin works very well.

[SteveMSJ]

The lock I mentioned also jumped UP just after I posted about it - to 86% then settled back a while later to 84%

Thanks, that explains the high reported discharge rate when it dropped back to 84%.

Steve

[cheeryfool]

Further information on reported battery discharge rates.
I have an Everspring Siren whose battery has been at 80% for a number of months now. The battery life on the Everspring devices is generally really good. Anyway, it is now occasionally reporting 70% and then back to 80%. The discharge rate therefore keeps jumping up and then going back to zero. The battery level will probably settle at 70% after a few days and then stay like that for another few months.

I think I might default to turning off alerts on high discharge rate.

Perhaps the average discharge rate since batteries were replaced would be a better value to report. This would be less affected by fluctuations although an increase in discharge rate would be less obvious. It would also require saving the starting level (not necessarily 100%) which I don't currently do.

Steve

The lock I mentioned also jumped UP just after I posted about it - to 86% then settled back a while later to 84%

[SteveMSJ]

Further information on reported battery discharge rates.
I have an Everspring Siren whose battery has been at 80% for a number of months now. The battery life on the Everspring devices is generally really good. Anyway, it is now occasionally reporting 70% and then back to 80%. The discharge rate therefore keeps jumping up and then going back to zero. The battery level will probably settle at 70% after a few days and then stay like that for another few months.

I think I might default to turning off alerts on high discharge rate.

Perhaps the average discharge rate since batteries were replaced would be a better value to report. This would be less affected by fluctuations although an increase in discharge rate would be less obvious. It would also require saving the starting level (not necessarily 100%) which I don't currently do.

Steve

[SteveMSJ]

Hard to say... I've disabled discharge warning yesterday and after re-enabling and upgrading to the latest version the sensors show all green. Looks I have to wait til one of my sensors changes battery value. I'll definitely keep you updated.

Ok, feedback is welcomed.

Steve

[akurz]

I've updated the version attached to message #192. Now 3.0.4.3.

What are the VisionSec motion detectors doing?

Steve

Hard to say... I've disabled discharge warning yesterday and after re-enabling and upgrading to the latest version the sensors show all green. Looks I have to wait til one of my sensors changes battery value. I'll definitely keep you updated.

Cheers,
Alex

[racerfern]

Thanks for the explanation, I think. I say that because one day I was seeing heartbeats and my event worked correctly. The next day, no more heartbeats in the log and the event stopped firing.

I would still see the time of the last heartbeat update in the Device Management view, every 67 minutes but that's the only place it was obvious that heartbeats were still ongoing.

[SteveMSJ]

Thanks for an awesome plugin! Interestingly, I used to have an event to monitor the smoke alarm heartbeat but it stopped "seeing" the heartbeat and there was nothing in the log. I could see it on device view, though.

Since I installed the plugin, the heartbeat notification now shows up again in the log. Go figure.

I can probably explain that, if the device is a Zsmoke anyway. The device sends the Heartbeat value but doesn't reset it so It is set but not changed. HS3 only logs device changes so the heartbeats don't show in the log unless a smoke or other event happens in between. It still should trigger an event if you use the correct trigger.
HS also doesn't send callbacks to plugins if the value doesn't change so to be able to monitor the heartbeats the plugin sets the device value to Heartbeat Acknowledged after each Heartbeat so the next heartbeat will be a change in value and it will receive a callback. A side effect of that is that HS will also log the Heartbeat.

Steve

[racerfern]

Thanks for an awesome plugin! Interestingly, I used to have an event to monitor the smoke alarm heartbeat but it stopped "seeing" the heartbeat and there was nothing in the log. I could see it on device view, though.

Since I installed the plugin, the heartbeat notification now shows up again in the log. Go figure.

[SteveMSJ]

Thanks Steve. I was able to reset the battery discharge %, but the device still says: "Status: High Battery Discharge" and the root device still shows there's a device with a high rate. Will that clear the next time it updates those devices?

Thanks
Al

EDIT: The devices updated after a few minutes. All good now.

Yes, it doesn't update until the end of the refresh interval. However, there is a 'Refresh' button on the root device if you want to force a refresh.

Steve

[sparkman]

I've updated the version attached to message #192.

That's probably the reason. If you reset the rate it should show a more accurate value next time the battery level changes.

Steve

Thanks Steve. I was able to reset the battery discharge %, but the device still says: "Status: High Battery Discharge" and the root device still shows there's a device with a high rate. Will that clear the next time it updates those devices?

Thanks
Al

EDIT: The devices updated after a few minutes. All good now.

[SteveMSJ]

I don't have a reset button on my version so if you could post that one, that would be great.

I've updated the version attached to message #192.

It looks like it dropped from 100% to 90% the same day that I installed the new version.

That's probably the reason. If you reset the rate it should show a more accurate value next time the battery level changes.

Steve

[SteveMSJ]

I have one lock that is showing a bizarre percentage change value of 1434.4%!

This is a BE369 Schlage with a current battery level of 84% Of all my battery devices, this is probably the most accurate reporter of all. I installed the PI on Saturday and I imagine the value then was 84 or possibly 85%. I'll see what happens later / tomorrow and post back whether it corrects itself or not

It might be that the lock is reporting battery levels close together at short intervals which could generate rather bizarre discharge rates. You might be able to see this from your log if the battery level changes are being logged. I suggest turning off alerts on discharge rate either for the particular device or for all devices. I might need to refine the discharge rate reporting a bit to cope with the way some devices are reporting. I will let things settle down for a while though before making any changes. You can turn off the discharge rate alerts and it will still display the rates it calculates for interest.

Steve

[SteveMSJ]

I don't know where I can see the version number, but mine (the advanced version that was posted later in the thread) doesn't have the reset button and I also have two devices going a bit crazy on me (VisionSec motion detectors).x

I've updated the version attached to message #192. Now 3.0.4.3.

What are the VisionSec motion detectors doing?

Steve

[sparkman]

Hi Al,

You have a number of options for this.

Thanks Steve!

1. You can reset the discharge rate for the particular monitoring device from the SDJ-Health tab opened by clicking on the name of the monitoring child. There should be the 'Last battery discharge rate' shown with a 'Reset' button, see attached screen shot. If this isn't there I added it in 3.0.4.3. which I can post. Click 'Save' after resetting it.

I don't have a reset button on my version so if you could post that one, that would be great.

Ok, will look at these options if it continues to be an issue.

It looks like it dropped from 100% to 90% the same day that I installed the new version.

Thanks
Al