The painful inclusion of the "Universal Binary Sensor"

[pflugj 13]

I am using the "Universal Binary Sensors" as connector for up to 4x Temperature Sensors.

So I developed a small PCB that holds the 
1. UBS connector 
2. push-connectors for the sensors and some Resistors to avoid ringing
3. A tiny MeanWell 12V 2W PSU
I also printed some enclosures for this.
This fits well into a standard British 4x4 wall-box

 

When I started the system I only had a few devices and a few tries of inclusion and the Sensors where working.
Now there are about~135 devices and more are coming!

 

Usually at every door in the house there are the least
1x Sensor in the floor and a 
1x Sensor at door handle height
usually the same on the opposite site of the door.
So up to 4 Sensors per door

Currently I have ~15 of them installed but the final installation will have at least 30 or more of these devices.
Meaning I currently have about 60 Temperature sensors apart from the from ~22 Multi-sensors (Ceiling).

 

In case you wonder:

I am using the concrete slabs/floors as "Thermal Stores" (AKA: concrete core cooling)
And I am heating the floor with "SELF regulating heater cables"
Always 2 circuits per room and a total combined wattage of ~75W per square meter (@10 degrees).
This is only happening during day times and with SOLAR Power ONLY!!   

To Include the device you simply have to
1. Put the HC in learning mode - of course
2. Apply power and the usual triple click on the B-Button.
3. once you found the right rhythm for the 3x clicks you might get the message: Added device complete .. or so. 

 

Eventually the UBS show as fully configured!
Unfortunately that does NOT mean that everything is working!
The UBS should show up with at least:
1x Master
3x Motion Sensors
1x Scene controller
PLUS
1-4 temperature Sensors

Usually I ended up with a device that was either:
NOT Configured
or
Showing only a part of the inputs and no temperature sensors
or 
All inputs and Temperature Sensors showing "O"
or
NOT updating the temperatures
etc!

 

When the temperature sensors do NOT show up,
then there is also the possibility of some wiring problems:
So please check the wiring 1st! 

 

The usual advice then is:
Exclusion and Inclusion again and again - UNTIL it shows up as expected!!
and bring the device closer to the controller!

 

Great - I can not move the controllers any closer 
because at the time of the inclusion:
"The temperature Sensors have to be connected!!!
(Temperature Sensors are wired into the floor and to the doors)

 

I also do "FULL DEVICE RESET" in between.
Unless you are 2 people, you have to place a switch into the supply lines of the UBS to do a reset!
So I also prepared a switch to be temporarily installed.

 

After weeks of inclusion and exclusions I was sick of this time wasting process as it almost NEVER seems to work.

But I think I found a way.

As usually, when the UBS shows up with NO Sensors I:
1. Try to configure the device for Temperature sensors: report 0.5 degree temperature changes ( I used all the defaults except for the un-used IN1 and IN2 , I configured them as NO)

2. The association MUST be set from Endpoint 0 > Group 3 > Controller (Single Channel)
If this is not set, the temperatures will not update!!
Sometimes I found the association set after inclusion most of the times it was not set!!  

If the home Center does not allow you to do any of the above ( for whatever reason) ALWAYS do a
3. SOFT - reconfiguration next!

 

Usually more and more devices appeared or sometimes even disappeared!
I had UBS where I needed to do that 2x times but I also had some where I had to do that 20x times!! if I remember correctly

So do NOT give up eventually I got them all configured and Temperatures are reported as expected.

I hope this helps anyone who might have similar troubles with UBS
Best regards
Jürgen

[rvelthoen 12]

Your PSU seems to be to small.

The Binary sensor works perfect on a 2 Ampere PSU.

So 2A x 12V = 24Watt.

 

Corect me if i am wrong, i am not an expert  

[pflugj 13]

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Hi
Thanks for your reply but:
The max current according to the DS18B20 spec sheet is:
1.5mA at 5V which results in: max 7.5mW
If all 4 connected sensors would use the max power at the same time,
then the total would be ~30mW max.

According to petergebruers

Quote

"The UBS needs 60 mA to start (at around 6 V), but uses less than 30 mA @ 12 V when it is running"

 

Meaning the max startup power = ~360mW
To be on the save side:  lets say ~400mW + the 30mW for the sensors = 0.43W

 

A 12V/2A power supply provides 12V x 2A = 24W
This will surly be enough to power the UBS - but a total overkill

 

Correct me if I am wrong 

Best regards 

Jürgen

 

[WRYCHEL 0]

Hello.
I have a Universal Sensor FGBS connected to the HC3 control panel and dallas 18b20 temperature sensors are connected to it, which showed me the temperature in the rooms. These sensors showed up in the control panel as a temperature sensor after the FGBS reconfiguration, these sensors showed up in the HC3 control panel as a multi-level sensor and cannot be assigned as the main temperature sensor in a given room. Please help me, what should I do to have these sensors detected by the control panels as temperature sensors, which will allow me to use the Heating Schedule.

[Alex V 1]

I solved this problem as follows:

Go to Swagger and choose rooms

Click on get rooms and then on Try it out

Find your room and make a print screen of it or download everything

Now go to Put and fill in all the values manually and make sure you fill in the device ID of your new temperature sensor ?

Then press Execute
 

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