I have recently had low battery troubles, but have now got it nicely charged up.
For some reason my soil sensors are no longer receiving data.
I did unplug everything so I could remove the unit to the house for charging, but it is all back together now.
I was hoping to set up auto watering based on the soil sensors, but since they are not showing, I have set up a daily watering program.
But that is not working either!
I can operate the water now function, but that is the only thing that seems to work.
I can’t see anything in the app that I can adjust and all the connections are correct.
Hi Sam, looking at your order history it looks like your sensors are early 2021. I think best if we get you onto a pair of the latest version; I'll get some in the post for you. Chris
Hi Chris,
Thanks, I’ve just noticed that there is no temperature reading either.
I don’t see why it’s all just stopped working randomly. It seemed fine until the low battery problem.
If the system is not detecting the temperature sensor would that stop it from watering on a program?
I have it set so that it doesn’t water below 6degrees so maybe if it doesn’t have a reading then it won’t water I suppose.
To add on to my last post:
There is a temperature reading actually, see attachment, but the temperature tab doesn’t display anything.
On the auto watering program I have it set to not use the soil sensors, but on the main display it says that it will not water/will water when the soil is at a certain level of wetness/dryness.
I wonder if despite telling it not to use the sensors, it still is trying to.
Hi Sam - thanks for these. Useful to get screenshots.
On your first question: "If the system is not detecting the temperature sensor would that stop it from watering on a program? I have it set so that it doesn’t water below 6degrees so maybe if it doesn’t have a reading then it won’t water I suppose."
If the temperature sensor is not detected, we declare "invalid temperature" so it won't prevent the system from watering on a timer, and won't trigger the "low temperature hold".
Sometimes we have seen that the temperature reading hasn't been passed from the device to the app on the last update ( which is when the web app will show no temp but the control panel on the device is OK ). The charts on the web app will show if the temp sensor is OK, yours looks fine.
We're sending new soil sensors to see if it's a hardware problem on your end.
Thanks Chris.
New soil sensors all set up and working nicely.
Still having problems with the battery though.
I charged it up yesterday with the 18v trickle charger you sent me recently.
When I plugged it in, the battery level icon went away, which I assume is normal when connected to the mains.
It charged to approx 85% maybe ( at least that’s what it was when I came back from work ), but even though it was still plugged in it was showing the battery level, and I had to press the wake button to get more information.
I disconnected the trickle charger and plugged the solar panel back in and the control until started beeping constantly.
I turned it off and then on again and the beeping stopped.
This morning the battery is at around 20%.
I am assuming that the unit is trying to do something during the night and draining the battery.
Maybe it is using all its power beeping?
My partner says that it does beep randomly quite often for quite a while when she is working in the polytunnel during the day but there doesn’t seem to be a reason for it.
Hi Sam
I'm wondering if perhaps the soil moisture sensors are causing a drain by causing the control unit not to go to sleep fully. Would you mind unplugging the soil sensors and leaving the trickle charger on for 24 hours so I can see the maximum level the battery gets to? We can monitor the battery level from here.
Chris
Hi Chris,
I have had to plug the trickle charger back in as the battery is still constantly draining.
It has been connected to the mains for a few days now.
The other main problem is that the system will not water automatically on soil sensor 1 and that it seems to water whenever it feels like it on soil sensor 2.
I have set the moisture sensing but it makes little difference.
As I mentioned before; the control box beeps every so often for quite a while. Not sure if it is meant to do this, but I didn’t notice it doing it before.
Is there a way to reset the control box to factory settings so I can re-input everything, to see if that helps?
Hi Sam - we're going to ship you a new control unit, we have a suspicion that something's wrong in the one you have as regards battery life and intermittent sensor readings. I'll ask the team to get you one first thing next week, and if we can arrange collection of your old one that would be great ( afterwards ).
I do note that your sensors are not responding particularly well to watering, ie the moisture level isn't going up.
- Are the sensors positioned well, and the soil compacted around them?
- Is the watering running for long enough to make the soil damp?
If the sensors continue to register dry soil, the control unit will continue to water every 3 hours.
Soil sensor 2 which is monitoring our hanging baskets seems to detect the moisture ( very wet which is correct ), but it seems to ignore the fact that it is already wet and starts watering anyway.
Soil sensor 1 which is monitoring our ground beds in the polytunnel detects that the soil is incredibly dry ( which is correct ), but refuses to water at all.
Yeah, there must be something wrong because even with it plugged into the mains it refuses to do any watering schedules that I have set.
I tried a watering boost yesterday and nothing happened within 30 mins either.
Hi Chris / Harvst team. Have got my Yard greenhouse set up and running with a Harvst Control box + a Water Mate unit that is pumping water from a rain butt one floor below up onto the set up on the roof. All working well with the exception of the moisture sensors. I had one pair delivered with the Yard and another pair delivered with the Water Mate Kickstarter delivery. I’ve been struggling to get any consistent readings from them with the exception of one unit connected to the water mate unit. Was hoping to set up responsive watering based on the moisture sensors but any time I do it ends up watering fairly constantly because the sensors keeping dropping out and saying the moisture levels are 0%. I’ve always turned the control boxes off when disconnecting / reconnecting and have tried gently cleaning them and the connectors but not improvement. Any advice please? Firmware upto date.
Hi Sean, we'll get a pre-production wireless soil sensor out to you tomorrow, I can see how one of your sensors isn't giving reliable data ( but as you have them both assigned to the same garden location, and both are called "lower moist" I can't easily differentiate which is which ). If the wireless one works well for you then we'll get you rigged up with them.
The wireless sensors will work with all mains Harvst controllers, and solar controllers from mid 2021 ( square white box with white mounting flanges ).
Great, those sound like the ones I have. Also re sensors I had 4 plugged ( 2 upper 2lower ) in but two didn’t even register so left with the two lower, one from each control box. The one on the water mate box seems reliable enough but the one attached to the main control box fluctuates in and out.
We have sometimes seen interference on the lines with the wired sensors when the cables run next to mains, heater or light wires ( which causes a haphazard trace ). The wireless sensors don't have this problem - but it's still good practice to keep sensors away from power lines or power items like heaters, if possible.
I have just swopped over the new control unit you sent me for the old one which had the original water level indicator. The original wired sensors are now plugged into the new control box but are not sending any data that I can see. The air temperature probe came with the original control box and I have not been able to unscrew it. I think it may be hard wired in. The previous control box came with it attached.
Can you please advise? Also do I or yourselves delete the original device?
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I have recently had low battery troubles, but have now got it nicely charged up.
For some reason my soil sensors are no longer receiving data.
I did unplug everything so I could remove the unit to the house for charging, but it is all back together now.
I was hoping to set up auto watering based on the soil sensors, but since they are not showing, I have set up a daily watering program.
But that is not working either!
I can operate the water now function, but that is the only thing that seems to work.
I can’t see anything in the app that I can adjust and all the connections are correct.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Cheers,
Sam.
Thanks, I’ve just noticed that there is no temperature reading either.
I don’t see why it’s all just stopped working randomly. It seemed fine until the low battery problem.
If the system is not detecting the temperature sensor would that stop it from watering on a program?
I have it set so that it doesn’t water below 6degrees so maybe if it doesn’t have a reading then it won’t water I suppose.
Cheers,
Sam.
There is a temperature reading actually, see attachment, but the temperature tab doesn’t display anything.
On the auto watering program I have it set to not use the soil sensors, but on the main display it says that it will not water/will water when the soil is at a certain level of wetness/dryness.
I wonder if despite telling it not to use the sensors, it still is trying to.
See photos.
See photo
On your first question: "If the system is not detecting the temperature sensor would that stop it from watering on a program? I have it set so that it doesn’t water below 6degrees so maybe if it doesn’t have a reading then it won’t water I suppose."
If the temperature sensor is not detected, we declare "invalid temperature" so it won't prevent the system from watering on a timer, and won't trigger the "low temperature hold".
Sometimes we have seen that the temperature reading hasn't been passed from the device to the app on the last update ( which is when the web app will show no temp but the control panel on the device is OK ). The charts on the web app will show if the temp sensor is OK, yours looks fine.
We're sending new soil sensors to see if it's a hardware problem on your end.
New soil sensors all set up and working nicely.
Still having problems with the battery though.
I charged it up yesterday with the 18v trickle charger you sent me recently.
When I plugged it in, the battery level icon went away, which I assume is normal when connected to the mains.
It charged to approx 85% maybe ( at least that’s what it was when I came back from work ), but even though it was still plugged in it was showing the battery level, and I had to press the wake button to get more information.
I disconnected the trickle charger and plugged the solar panel back in and the control until started beeping constantly.
I turned it off and then on again and the beeping stopped.
This morning the battery is at around 20%.
I am assuming that the unit is trying to do something during the night and draining the battery.
Maybe it is using all its power beeping?
My partner says that it does beep randomly quite often for quite a while when she is working in the polytunnel during the day but there doesn’t seem to be a reason for it.
Any ideas?
I'm wondering if perhaps the soil moisture sensors are causing a drain by causing the control unit not to go to sleep fully. Would you mind unplugging the soil sensors and leaving the trickle charger on for 24 hours so I can see the maximum level the battery gets to? We can monitor the battery level from here.
Chris
Sorry for not responding, I’ve been away.
I’ve just plugged the trickle charger back in and disconnected the soil sensors so hopefully you will see something.
Cheers,
Sam.
Hope that’s ok and you got some data.
I have had to plug the trickle charger back in as the battery is still constantly draining.
It has been connected to the mains for a few days now.
The other main problem is that the system will not water automatically on soil sensor 1 and that it seems to water whenever it feels like it on soil sensor 2.
I have set the moisture sensing but it makes little difference.
As I mentioned before; the control box beeps every so often for quite a while. Not sure if it is meant to do this, but I didn’t notice it doing it before.
Is there a way to reset the control box to factory settings so I can re-input everything, to see if that helps?
I do note that your sensors are not responding particularly well to watering, ie the moisture level isn't going up.
- Are the sensors positioned well, and the soil compacted around them?
- Is the watering running for long enough to make the soil damp?
If the sensors continue to register dry soil, the control unit will continue to water every 3 hours.
Ok, thanks.
Soil sensor 2 which is monitoring our hanging baskets seems to detect the moisture ( very wet which is correct ), but it seems to ignore the fact that it is already wet and starts watering anyway.
Soil sensor 1 which is monitoring our ground beds in the polytunnel detects that the soil is incredibly dry ( which is correct ), but refuses to water at all.
Yeah, there must be something wrong because even with it plugged into the mains it refuses to do any watering schedules that I have set.
I tried a watering boost yesterday and nothing happened within 30 mins either.
Cheers,
Sam.
Can you please advise? Also do I or yourselves delete the original device?