AC Voltage Sensor?

#1

Hello world. I have been getting into WebCore - what an amazingly flexible app!

Today I am looking for a hardware suggestion. I have an old electric clothes dryer (North America) with a very loud 110V AC intermittent buzzer/notifier that the drying is finished. The idea is to disconnect this buzzer and connect an inexpensive AC Voltage sensor or switch to trigger a more gentle notification through Alexa or similar.

In a nutshell, if voltage goes from 0 to 120V, trigger a notification. Can I just wire a plug or switch and use a piston to monitor its online/offline status? Any examples?

#2

The https://www.fortrezz.com/shop/mimo-lite might do the trick as well. The MIMOlite Module is an interface / bridge module, capable of converting a digital or analog voltage input and/or a Z-WaveTM RF message input to a dry contact relay output and/or a Z-WaveTM RF message output. The MIMOlite module provides one input and one relay output (isolated dry contacts, NO-COM-NC) and is capable of Z-WaveTM input/output/control. The system includes a program switch for Z-WaveTM inclusion/exclusion and an LED for various status indications.

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#3

Exactly what need, thanks! It’s not cheap though!

#4

I know you are looking for a hardware suggestion but just in case IF you can’t find anything, I’d recommend using a vibration sensor.
Disconnect the buzzer, and write a piston that detects if vibration of the sensor stops and sends what ever notification you want…

#5

My initial worry was that the vibration sensor would pick up spin cycle vibration from the washing machine next to the dryer. Now that I think about it more, I could probably use a variable that will ensure that at least 10-15 minutes of vibration had passed before it stopped. I ordered the sensor and will revert back. Thanks for the suggestion.

#6

That’s a great idea.

#7

So the solution that ultimately worked for me involved the the vibration feature of the door sensor. However, when I attempted to integrate it with Alexa, I realized that Alexa would not allow a virtual switch to trigger any actions.

Instead, I used an old Android tablet and Tasker + SharpTools in order to trigger the announcement (mp3 chime plays when triggered). I used a variable in Webcore to only toggle the ST virtual switch when vibration was present for 15+ minutes.

As a consequence, the tablet+Tasker+Sharptools is now my central notification tool for all future automations. This removes Alexa as a dependency (frankly, I wasn’t thrilled about using yet another cloud service in the chain anyway).

Thanks for the ideas.

#8

That is weird???

I have atleast 30 pistons that are triggered by Alexa is turning on or off simulated switches…

  • “Alexa sleep time” voice command turns ON “Sleeping switch” and that executes night time piston…

IF sleeping switch changes to ON
then
Do this do that…

#9

I believe Alexa can trigger anything, but it appears that I cannot trigger Alexa to perform actions based on a ST virtual switch. A cursory search suggests that this also depends on the country. Regardless, this made me look closer at and start using Tasker, which I don’t regret doing.