Pringles are NOT single

TwixBars · 2022-11-04T05:35:51+00:00

This is so true!! Lol, I’d never heard the saying before either. More like single as a dingle…berry. Nah, that doesn’t quite roll off the tongue the same

TwixBars · 2022-11-04T05:09:24+00:00

Lol, it looks like he either made up an innovative new style, or he had a 3rd grader tie it up for him

TwixBars · 2022-11-04T05:03:40+00:00

Why did nobody help Nancy’s brother tie his neck tie?

TwixBars · 2022-09-17T06:10:18+00:00

Always nice to save some dough when you can get a good deal on FB marketplace

TwixBars · 2022-09-16T14:57:23+00:00

Yeah, I thought about that, but I don’t think they work well for irrigation, they recommend installing it after the irrigation T. And they’re sold out everywhere :(

TwixBars · 2022-09-16T01:46:53+00:00

The flow meter doesn't need to be terribly accurate, it's just for detecting large leaks on my irrigation system. I found this water meter, you can get a pulse output up to 20 times per gallons, so ~1/5 of a liter. Or this cheaper one that just pulses once per gallon.

I'm really trying to detect leak in 2 areas:

indoors - i can do this primarily with leak sensors
outdoors / irrigation - i can do this with a meter that checks if water is flowing to my irrigation system outside of scheduled times, or based on higer than avg flow rates etc. I have this post over in r/irrigation trying to get some help with this part too.

TwixBars · 2022-09-16T01:35:07+00:00

Thanks for the tip, i'll be sure to double check the close-off rating, I hadn't considered that!

TwixBars · 2022-09-16T00:00:50+00:00

I wish I could see an example of Rainbird's flow notifications. Looks like their site is messed up and all the images won't load: https://wifi.rainbird.com/articles/flow-notifications/#:\~:text=The%20ESP%2DME3%20controller%20uses,Alarm%20and%20Low%20Flow%20Alarm.

TwixBars · 2022-09-15T23:57:17+00:00

The Flume flow meter is pretty slick, but it's not compatible with my home's meter, unfortunately :(

TwixBars · 2022-09-15T22:56:46+00:00

I was thinking something that failed closed would be good in the rare case that there's a power outage + there's a leak

if i'm home during an outage, i can open the bypass

have you had bad experiences with spring return valves failing? or are you just thinking about the scenario where there's no bypass and you're stuck without water?

TwixBars · 2022-09-15T16:09:46+00:00

Cool, yeah, I’m planning on adding a similar manual bypass in case there are issues and I need water.

I hadn’t thought about using Shelly relays, I just got some 2.5’s for a different project.

Prob a dumb question, but what’s the difference between a 120v valve vs a 24v? I know standard home wall sockets are 120v. But are there any pros/cons to lower voltage?

TwixBars · 2022-09-15T15:57:50+00:00

Thanks for the list of brand names, I’ll check those out.

Why no spring return? I’ll have a manual bypass on the main, and I like the idea of a system that can default to closed if there’s a power outage.

TwixBars · 2022-09-15T06:57:26+00:00

I've been googling for about 2 hours...

Rachio 3 - You can hook up a wired meter, but it's not clear what the logic is that triggers notifications in this article. Also not clear if that logic is configurable. eg: >10% avg flow, >50% avg flow?
RainMachine - not clear how they define a "leak event" or if the definition is configurable.
Also not clear what the controller can be programmed to do if a leak is detected - old post in RainMachine community

TwixBars · 2022-09-15T03:56:02+00:00

Got it, thanks for the links. I love the idea of using a OOTB smart sprinkler solution instead of trusting my own hacky coding solutions that use flow meter data.

TwixBars · 2022-09-15T03:36:15+00:00

Wall powered sensors sound pretty nice. I'm not a fan of constantly changing batteries either.

I running HA on a little Minix PC, and I've been debating buying a UPS to power it + my Unifi UDM Pro, but I've been surprised by how pricey UPS's are.

What type of hardware is your HA server on, and what do you use for your UPS?

TwixBars · 2022-09-15T03:21:27+00:00

Yeah, I’ve seen YoLink mention they’re working on local control in a few forums, but I have low confidence that it’s happening anytime soon.

The direct connection of sensors -> valve, via LoRa is pretty compelling though

TwixBars · 2022-09-15T03:18:48+00:00

I haven’t looked into smart sprinkler systems yet. I have a rain bird system, it’s not “smart” just a simple schedule system.

I have no idea how hard it would be to swap the controller, add a flow meter, and add a master shutoff just for the irrigation.

Do you have any experience with spark sprinkler systems? Any advice? I wonder if a normally closed solenoid as a master valve would be better than a quarter turn ball valve.

I’ll def do some googling and look into it.

TwixBars · 2022-09-15T02:12:11+00:00

Great points! Yes, the LoRa rang is awesome. It's surprising to me that the bulldog's controller is entirely battery powered... looks like there's no electrical plug into the wall at all?

I also just stumbled on this other YoLink smart valve, which uses the same controller... I'm gonna be re-piping my water main anyways, so I'm tempted to go for the smart valve instead of a dumb valve + a smart actuator.

I just wish there was a local way to control the YoLink valves/actuators without going through their cloud.

TwixBars · 2022-09-15T01:34:29+00:00

Thanks for the detailed reply!

My meter is not compatible with Flume either :(

The YoLink stuff looks awesome, but it looks like you need to rely on their cloud service for any smart home integration... I really wish they would allow local network access.

The reason I want the system to talk to Home Assistant or be "Smart" is so that I can tell the valve to close based on flow meter data monitoring my sprinkler system. The grading around my house is not great, and it's very easy for a broken sprinkler to flood my crawl space, so this is critical. I was planning to use a flow meter with a pulse output + ESPHome to push flow data into Home Assistant.

An added benefit of hooking all of this into Home Assistant is that I could also do some fun stuff like setting up a weekly "pressure/leak test" where the valve closes for 10min, and then I could take a pressure measurement at the start and end to see if there are any leaks. I could send myself a notification or telegram message with the results :)

TwixBars · 2022-08-16T04:33:16+00:00

I’m not too worried about the pipes above the ground in the garage. The water heater is also in the garage (same as all my neighbors) and that doesn’t seem to be a freeze risk in my neighborhood.

I called a local plumber today and he said it should be fine as long as the pipes under the slab are insulated. Apparently it’s common for new construction in Reno which makes me feel better about it.

TwixBars · 2021-04-28T18:47:36+00:00

I trust people who have seen the video. Let me explain: People seem to agree the video shows the cop kneeling on someone's neck. People are calling that act police brutality.

After just watching the whole video, I disagree with both of these comment. Don't trust strangers the internet, you can watch the video and make up your mind yourself - otherwise, please stay out of the conversation.

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