One Flash Problem - Relay Energisation Defaults

[Timmy_G]

Hello,

First off - thanks for a great plugin!

I'm using NodeMcu boards with this plugin (standard not API due to lack of my skill) and they work very well. Generally speaking, I control relay's on non-critical stuff.

I have an electric sliding gate that enables me to use two voltage free contacts to control open/close and pedestrian open/close. I would like to use "One Flash" as the gate input needs to see a pulsed input, ideally, the relay is energised for a moment when i send a "One Flash" command (failsafe pros/cons have been considered)

My problem, wondering if there is a bug with "One Flash":

*"One Flash" only works when the relays are energised then it will pulse when "One Flash" is pressed (irrespective of HS on/off status using "Invert Output").

*If the relay is not energised "One Flash" energises the relay with the first press, and then will pulse on the next press of "One Flash". Maybe a bug?

* My relays (on each node deployed) are all set Output High by default (relay coils energised by default)? What I would like, is the opposite, Output set Low (relay coils de-energised by default).

*Please note - using "Invert Output" on the outputs configuration tab only adjusts the HS3 graphics so does not help me here.

*"Blink" works as expected, the function works from coil energised or de-energised state (irrespective of HS on/off status using "invert Output").

*On/Off work as expected (irrespective of HS on/off status using "invert Output").

The relay boards I have do not allow me to invert ontput(s) high/low, I mention this because Randy noted that he has the feature available to him on his particular relay modules.

Thanks!
Tim

[petez69]

OK, here is how I did it....

You need to create an event to turn the relay on and then turn it off 1 sec later, dont use the flash/blink function.

My relay boards (Aliexpress 4-8 relays) all turned their outputs on when first installed, you need to go into the output setup for each device and invert them...

I pulse the complex gate controller and my garage door controller this way...

CHeers..Pete

[Timmy_G]

Thanks for the response Pete - that approach will work for me.

[petez69]

Thanks for the response Pete - that approach will work for me.

If you need more help or something specific, dont hesitate to ask ! I have 3 MEGA units deployed here with lots of relay boards, I went through this whole exercise ages ago. At least with Arduino and H/S you can invert the outputs. With the raspberryPI you have to add optos to use the same boards, its a pain....

Cheers..Pete

p.s I jsut couldnt get the blink thing to work for me hence the on and off with a 1sec delay :-)

[Conrad_Turbo]

If you need more help or something specific, dont hesitate to ask ! I have 3 MEGA units deployed here with lots of relay boards, I went through this whole exercise ages ago. At least with Arduino and H/S you can invert the outputs. With the raspberryPI you have to add optos to use the same boards, its a pain....

Cheers..Pete

p.s I jsut couldnt get the blink thing to work for me hence the on and off with a 1sec delay :-)

I found this thread and I'll be doing the same thing too. It's nice from the status screen to be able to hit "one flash" and have it trigger a relay on and then off, instead of having to do this process through an event. Just a bit convoluted when triggering it manually, but for automation an event will be no problem at all. I've got a few garage doors to control (5 in total)! Also can finally tie in all the garage door, man door, window and motion sensors to the Mega in the shop!

[randy]

Hmm. I use One Flash on a number of outputs used to reset Raspberry Pi boards and to power cycle several items. I also use the same function to trigger my garage door opener by simulating a button press using a relay to short the wall controller button. The output goes to an opto-coupled relay whose contacts either connect the pins on a Raspberry Pi reset header, or interrupt the power to power cycle other items. I use active high for the output pins. When One Flash is selected the pin goes high for the duration set with the Output Time (0-5 seconds). Here is a quick video. I connected the output pin to an input pin for verification of the pin state. Understand that inputs are polled and I use 100ms debounce so there is a little delay in the input pin response. I tested twice at 3 seconds and twice at 5 seconds. This demo was on a NodeMCU test board, but I use the function on Megas in production.

[Conrad_Turbo]

I'll do more testing of this shortly. For now I created a new output device and the one flash works just fine, but when you invert it, it stops working how it's intended in my case. It seems by default the delay refers to how long it is on, but when you invert the output then it applies to how long it is off...which isn't what I need for the garage door opener.