On the smart home market, there are some devices that don’t stand out at first glance, but are in fact very interesting and original.
This is the case with the Frankever Zigbee sensor, which can be used as a Zigbee water level sensor or a Zigbee domestic rain sensor.
How does the Frankever Zigbee flood sensor work?
By default, this sensor can detect a water leak like any other intelligent flood sensor, so you can use it in strategic places in your home to be alerted to any leaks and avoid property damage wherever possible.
And you may ask yourself:
How is this sensor different from other sensors on the market?
The answer is: your cable is expelled.
And that’s very interesting because it allows us to use it in a wide range of contexts.
Firstly, if you want to use it like any other flood detector, it may be more practical to install it, for example, next to your washing machine, as you may not have the space to install a flood detector underneath it.
As a result, this sensor, with its offset cable, can be installed anywhere, and the cable can easily be placed under the washing machine.
This cable is 2 metres long, but what’s interesting is that you can cut it to any size you like.
The vast majority of flood detectors incorporate metal parts to detect a water leak.
But this sensor incorporates copper in its cable, which means it can beused outdoors, and that’s a detail that makes all the difference.
It’s very simple to use: when water comes into contact with this cable, it changes state:
From dry to wet.
In addition, you can usean adhesive to stick the electronic part of the sensor to a surface.
And another adhesive to stick the displaced cable support.
Another very interesting detail is that, unlike many flood sensors that don’t incorporate a siren and alert you with an audible signal inside your home when a water leak is detected, this Frankever sensor DOES have a built-in siren that will alert you, so you don’t need to use your phone to find out if there’s a water detection, you can find out directly from the sensor’s alert if you’re inside your home.
But of course, this sensor, by communicating with the famous Zigbee technology, can be linked to various home automation concentrators like the one in the Tuya Smart Life ecosystem, whether it’s a concentrator from Lidl, Moes, Nous or any other brand.
It also supports Zigbee2MQTT, so you can integrate it into a universal hub like Jeedom.
Or Home Assistant.
How do I configure the Frankever Zigbee flood sensor?
To use this sensor, you need to remove the protective cover and unscrew the inner plate so that you can insert 2 AAA batteries, which are not included by default.
Now you need to have your home automation hub in include mode.
To include this sensor, you need to press and hold the physical button for a few seconds until the red LED starts flashing.
In my example, I’m using the Tuya hub called Nous.
Once the sensor is included in your home automation hub’s Zigbee network, you can install the cable in the sensor support and close the cover supplied with the sensor.
You can check whether you have correctly connected this cable to the sensor by pressing down on the end of the sensor with your fingers.
By doing this, you can see the state of the sensor change from your phone, simulating a water leak detection or no water leak detection.
If you see that it responds correctly, you have a working sensor and you can install the cover on its end.
Of course, the process is similar for Zigbee2MQTT, which you can use in Home Assistant or Jeedom. You need to launch the include mode and connect your sensor at this point.
Once the Zigbee sensor is included, it will be visible in the Zigbee2MQTT interface and you can test it with your fingers by simulating a water leak and seeing the change in state.
Once your sensor is connected to your Zigbee hub and operational, you can install it in a strategic area of your home or garden, bearing in mind the maximum Zigbee communication range, which is around 10 to 15 metres by default, but you can improve this by purchasing various Zigbee devices that automatically repeat the signal, such as the Smlight dongle.
A very interesting detail is that the relocated cable can be glued to the surface where it will be installed and you can even paint it to hide it in your installation.
Use it as a Zigbee water level, rain or flood sensor.
In terms of applications, this sensor is highly versatile and can be used in a variety of environments.
As I mentioned, by default it can be used to detect a water leak inside your home.
But you can also use it to find out whether or not it’s raining in your garden.
This sensor should be placed inside your home, near the window.
The cable is placed outside your home, in contact with the ground, and can warn you if it rains.
Of course, it’s not a rain gauge, so it doesn’t measure the amount of water, but it does let you know whether it’s raining or not, so it could be useful for creating routines such as not automatically watering the lawn when it rains.
Another example would be to use it as a water level sensor to know the high or low level of water in different contexts such as a swimming pool, an aquarium, a rainwater tank and much more.
In my example, I’m going to use two water level sensors to find out the status of the low and high water levels, but of course a single water level sensor can suffice if you only want to know one status.
In other words, if the “Dry” status of my sensor corresponds to low level, this means that the water level measured by my water level sensor is low.
I’m now going to fill my bucket with water.
If this low water level sensor has the “Wet” status but the high water level sensor has the “Dry” status, this means that I have an intermediate level, i.e. neither too low nor too high.
I’ll keep filling the bucket with water to get above the high level.
If the high water level sensor is in the “wet” position, this means that the water level is high.
This information can be invaluable and can be tracked with a history from your home automation interface and, of course, the magic of a smart home is being able to create different routines with other smart devices that act on that water level if necessary.
And of course, if you have voice assistants in your home, you can be alerted to these water levels, whether they are low or high.
All in all, this Zigbee water level, rain or flood sensor could prove very useful, with many interesting use cases and an attractive price tag, making it another likely success in the smart home market.