Couple noob questions

[jarisiv]

Hi and again thanks for the great project. I eventually found some time to solder all the parts together and managed to install the software as well. Couple noob questions:

1. What are the main differences between the master and dev branches? Is dev stable and ok to use or should I stick with master? I have now installed dev.
2. In the pump unit some buttons make the sound but not all even I have untick the audio from the Spa Config page. Is this how it should work?

Edit: I have a 2021 Helsinki with square pump model S100101.

[visualapproach]

Hi @jarisiv

1. The latest and greatest goes into dev branch first. And also potential bugs that may have been introduced. If no big errors are reported I pull it into master branch when I feel it's a good time to do so. Usually with a new release/version tag. Occasionally the dev branch is unstable but I try to put a notice in readme in those cases.
2. Well, lets say it was the intention until you brought it up 😄 . I just updated the dev-branch with more silence.

Thank you for your post / Thomas

[jarisiv]

1. That's clear now!
2. Updated and now "Audio off" is truly audio off. Perfect! When audio on, following buttons give some sound feedback: Key Lock, Heater, Bubbles, Temp Down, On/Off. But following buttons don't give sound feedback: Timer, Unit Change, Pump/Filter, Temp Up. That really isn't a big issue if that's how it should be but for noobie like me I was first thinking that maybe I have done some mistake like bad soldering. Therefore I went back to soldering table and re-checked everything without any change in this behavior.

Then a new question.

3. Should the boot-up show the IP address of the device on the screen? My IP is 192.168.1.108 but during the boot-up I get following numbers in sequence: 92 -> 1 -> 1 -> 68 -> 1 -> 1 -> 10.

[visualapproach]

Weird

[jarisiv]

Yep but not a real issue as buttons still works. Btw, talking about buttons, any hint how to utilize e.g. C/F button to something else like controlling light switch in Home Assistant?

[visualapproach]

You just need to listen for mqtt topic BW2_0_0/button where the button's pretty name will be the payload. I can't show an example right now because my network is down.
You should also disable the button in globals.h. Instructions in the file

[jarisiv]

When you are back online would you mind to share an example? Thnks!

[visualapproach]

3. Should the boot-up show the IP address of the device on the screen? My IP is 192.168.1.108 but during the boot-up I get following numbers in sequence: 92 -> 1 -> 1 -> 68 -> 1 -> 1 -> 10.

Smashed this bug now. (dev branch for now)

[visualapproach]

Make a sensor for the buttons. See here
Then make an automation that triggers on the button state, like below. It will toggle my awnings out/in when I press the TIMER button on the pump. Pretty neat if I may say so.

- id: '1629627523677'
  alias: Markiser ut/in från SPA-knapp
  description: ''
  trigger:
  - platform: state
    entity_id: sensor.spa_button
    to: TIMER
    for: 00:00:05
  condition:
  - condition: state
    entity_id: group.familj
    state: home
  action:
  - service: cover.toggle
    target:
      entity_id: cover.markis_gra_2
  mode: single

The possible button states are:
"NOBTN",
"LOCK",
"TIMER",
"BUBBLES",
"UNIT",
"HEAT",
"PUMP",
"DOWN",
"UP",
"POWER",
"HYDROJETS"

[visualapproach]

And to avoid upsetting the timer function in the pump, I have that button disabled in BWC_8266_globals.h:

//set to zero to disable display buttons. Order as above.
//Example: to disable UNIT and TIMER set 1,1,0,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1
const uint8_t EnabledButtons[] = {1,1,0,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1};

[visualapproach]

Never thought of it until now, but I think that disabling the NOBTN would be no good...

[jarisiv]

Thank you so much! Now having my "Please bring more beer to dad" TTS announcement button in the pump (Unit button).

[visualapproach]

Most useful button ever!

[jarisiv]

Couple more things. Any idea why all my HA entities becomes unavailable very often:

I don't believe in bad WiFi coverage as having multiple Shelly devices in the jacuzzi area without any connection issues. Is there way to check the WiFi connection quality?

Then is it possible to reset chlorine add and filter change from HA?

[visualapproach]

Try adding expire_after: 700 in the binary-sensor status and see if that works.
It should be possible to reset the timers from mqtt. I'll add an example tonight

[visualapproach]

Actually I'm not sure the 700 will help. I need to look at it also later. Don't think the status msg is repeated but I'm AFH now.

[visualapproach]

Checkout the buttons.yaml file, and add it to your config. Add the button in lovelace. Test if it works.

[jarisiv]

Cl reset did work but filter reset not.

[jarisiv]

Seems that filter reset did reset total energy consumption.

[visualapproach]

Oops, sorry. Corrected now. I had a parallax error and wrote down the wrong commands. Updated now.

[jarisiv]

Thanks, now working!

[visualapproach]

Is it only the status sensor that's unavailable, or is it all the spa entities, or other entities as well?

[jarisiv]

It is all entities that goes unavailable. Sometimes it can be only couple seconds but sometimes also multiple minutes. I have noticed that during those unavailable times also the web configuration cannot be accessed. So based on that I don't think that is MQTT or HA issue. Could it really relate to the WiFi link quality? Can that be monitored someway?

[visualapproach]

Not my expertise but I guess it's a possibility. If you check BW_2.0.0/MQTT_Connect_Count topic it shows how many times mqtt has reconnected. Might be a hint.

[jarisiv]

Yeah almost 100 times during 3 day period.

[chunkysteveo]

Sounds like a wifi issue... I have a wifi mesh and it's never dropped a packet. 100 disconnects would suggest a hardware/connection issue.

[jarisiv]

I will try to test this by taking the UniFi AP closer to the pool area.

[jarisiv]

Thinking is it possible to somehow get the Exx (e.g. E02) errors in to the HA? That would be awesome. I found one example here by using the Node-RED but I am not using that.

[jarisiv]

Actually now when thinking with tired eyes, the same issue is with the binary sensor. It will also change it's status between on and off when the error code is blinking. So actually not yet sure how to fix that. Just thinking out loud. What if the possible error code would not be blinking in the display but instead be stable?

[chunkysteveo]

That's awesome, thanks @jarisiv !

This may help the issue with the flashing on/off - but I am sure (it may be in the dev or 6-wire?) but there is an ERR MQTT topic that gets triggered on an error. Not sure if that is also linked to the character state and thus goes on and off, but I recall reading up that the ERR flag was put into the MQTT messages to help with error state? Maybe check that out and if it remains constant till the tub is reset - that should solve your issues to switch the binary sensor to that state??

It's too cold here at the moment for me to test anything! haha

[jarisiv]

Thanks @chunkysteveo! I am running the latest dev (6-wire) and cannot see ERR when listening to layzspa/message topic. So maybe that is only for 4-wire version at the moment.

[chunkysteveo]

It's not on my "latest" version, I think it's DEV and also for 4-wire as we can't see the state of the character display. I am sure @visualapproach set this so we poor old 4-wire folk know that there is an ERR state?! Maybe we can push this into the 6-wire version too? Seems better to have a global "ERR" flag as well as the characters on display?

[visualapproach]

I am sure @visualapproach set this so we poor old 4-wire folk know that there is an ERR state?!

Yep, the displays on the 4 wire systems is not knowable, but the CIO send an error bit.

Maybe we can push this into the 6-wire version too? Seems better to have a global "ERR" flag as well as the characters on display?

Yes. It's redundant, since the ESP has to do pretty much the same check as you did in the HA yaml. But I might do this.

[jarisiv]

After updating yesterday with the latest dev I found that most of my "HA entities goes often unavailable" are gone. I didn't yet fine tune my WiFi coverage so certainly something in the code has fixed these issues. Again thank you for your continuous improvement!

[jarisiv]

Seems that the issue is back. Restarting the board helps for a while but in the end it starts to lose connection (both web UI and MQTT). I tried to move my UniFi AP like couple meters from the pump but didn't change it much. This issue can be seen also when pinging the board. Very long latency and lot of packet drops. Not really sure how to troubleshoot this.

[jarisiv]

The board is inside a junction box. Dont't have previous experience of ESP8266 so don't know how sensitive the WiFi antenna is.

[jarisiv]

Wondering if 10K Ohm resistor would help in this case or not.

[visualapproach]

The resistor will not help. I'm running the same code with connect count = 1. So what is the difference between our setups? I think Router and ESP-device. If you have a spare ESP to switch out this one? And maybe make your smartphone an AP and let the ESP connect to it to see if there is any difference.

[jarisiv]

In which cases the resistor might help?

[visualapproach]

To Keep OE low until VCCA and VCCB are powered up

[visualapproach]

Might be tricky to connect to MQTT through your phone. But speaking of that; maybe your mqtt-server is the problem. How is the wifi connection when you disable mqtt at the pump?

[jarisiv]

Disabling MQTT did not solve the issue. I tried to connect via smartphone AP and connectivity (ping) was much better when I moved my phone closer to the pump. So very likely it is related to the WiFi signal strength. I would say the distance between an AP and the pump is around 7-8 meters. The pump is inside the deck / pool surrounding (wood) and the board is inside a junction box (plastic). UniFi controller says that the signal strength is -74 dBm.

[jarisiv]

Breaking news! Connectivity issues solved! 🥳 It eventually turned out that the root cause for my "HA entities goes often unavailable" was really due to bad WiFi connectivity. It was very hard to believe because I am having very good WiFi coverage in my whole house and also in my backyard area where the jacuzzi is located. Even next to the pump (and ESP) the Wifi is working great. But it is my wood surrounding that blocks the signal almost completely. And especially when the wood is wet or moist. Or even worst, covered with wet snow. WiFi signal is not surviving from that. Now placed a new AP under the surrounding and problem solved. Once again, something new was learned. WiFi doesn't like water.

[visualapproach]

Yaay 👏 ! And you got your pool area swept as a bonus 😄

[jarisiv]

Couple findings now after I have solved my connectivity issues. I am new to GitHub so not sure should I address these actually somewhere else (Issues maybe?). Please advice if needed!

1. After restart temp unit setting is not remembered and always starts with F selected and have to be manually changed back to C.
2. After restart both actual temp and target temp goes to 0 for a moment before getting back to the real values. The issue here is that it messes temp graphs in HA.
3. It seems that bubbles goes randomly on for 0 seconds. This same behavior is not happening with pump or heater but just with bubbles. Example:

[visualapproach]

It's ok to ask here. I'll tell you if I want otherwise.

1. Have you set "restore states at startup" in the SPA config page? (And saved). If so did you wait for at least 10 seconds?
2. Yes, why do you restart it?
3. I don't know. Is it HA or MQTT or the ESP?

[jarisiv]

Thank you!

1. Yes. Startup behaviour: Last saved states. I have had this setting turned on from the beginning of my journey.
2. After error state (like E02 = a water flow issue = need for filter change) I don't see any other way to clear it but cut off the mains. Or is there another way?
3. I will try to listen the MQTT messages more and report the output.

[visualapproach]

1. Strange. I don't see that on my pump, but I have a PRE2021. It's always starting at whatever setting I left it with. May look into it some time.
2. I don't think there is another way to reset it, but I never get E02 unless the impeller axle bearings are worn out. Been running it for months with same filter. Rinsing the filter every month or so. But we have quiet soft water here so no Ca build-up.
3. I've had some sticky messages in the mqtt server that I had to get rid of. Don't remember how I did that, but maybe check it out. In HA go to configure mqtt integration and start listen on the layzspa topics. (Keep the spa off). There should not be messages hanging around in the command topic. Maybe not in the message topic either after 700 secs.

[chunkysteveo]

I had the random bubbles on and off pump on and off. Wouldn't trigger them, but would see GUI toggles go on and off, and Home Assistant would see it. Turned out to be loose or intermittent connections as I used header pins. Wires are all soldered direct to pcb and never had that issue again. How do you connect your cables to the PCB?

[jarisiv]

Yes actually it is not just bubbles but also pump and heater that goes off and on back again without triggering them. All my wires are soldered to the PCB and no real issues at all.

[chunkysteveo]

2. The only way to get it to come back online is to cut the built in circuit breaker that they have on the cable... and replace with just a plug, and then install a wifi plug on that. But unless you need 100% remote management of the spa I would highly advise against cutting out the circuit breaker!! It's there to protect you and the tub! Not worth it.

[jarisiv]

In the Table of models (Build-instructions-Bestway-WiFi-remote.pdf) there is Helsinki model listed with pump model S100103. I have a 2021 Helsinki model but the pump model is S100101. In the table S100101 is linked with St. Lucia. Just noticed this.

[visualapproach]

Okay, thanks. They seem to mix the pump models with the lining models. For this project the pump model is the only important info, but I thought it was somewhat consistent with the advertised model names, like "Helsinki". It would be easier for people to see if their setup would be compatible. Maybe best to adjust the table. Thanks for the info.

[AttiMM]

Hi, I've a Maldives Hydrojet and I've just installed this modul to the pump unit (currently it's in my room and not connected to the tub).
It seemed works well, but now I just realized that in the web interface Main page there is no Hydrojet control at all to switch this function on/off. At the bottom the info is Firmware version: 2022-07-21 Model: MIAMI2021 which is not correct.
Any idea or solution? Thanks in advance.

[visualapproach]

@AttiMM Forgot to mention- check out the development branch for newest code

[AttiMM]

@visualapproach thx!

But you have to upload them one by one as they are.

All of the files under Code dir? There are a lot of dirs and 1554 files!!!

[visualapproach]

nono only the files in the data/ directory. Just a handful of files. Takes a minute max

[AttiMM]

Oh, now I see!!! Thanks again! :)

[AttiMM]

@visualapproach
just an update: because I had to modify lib\BWC\model.h file according to my MALDIVES, finally I could upload firmware via USB cable. After this I could upload data files via OTA. So the web UI info is correct: Firmware version: 2022-11-11, Model: MALDIVES.
Thanks a lot for your help!

[AttiMM]

Hi again,
Using SPA Config / Commands, I set 2 commands:

They are works well: turn on pump at 10 am and turn off 3 pm every day, fine.

Then I turned on heating yesterday but it stopped (I just realized it evening), I think because 'turn off pump' command executed at 3 pm.

How can I heat the water without turning off the pump automatically by my command in queue? Should I clear Command queue every time if I want to heat, and after reset "pump turn on/ turn off" commands again? I believe there should be an easier solution.
Thanks

[visualapproach]

Yes you have to clear the queue if you don't want it to turn off the pump. Unless you can change the time. Say run the pump between 00:00 and 05:00. Then you can start heating in the morning and it will not turn off the pump until 5 next morning.
I think what you are proposing is some sort of override queue function? There isn't one but I hear you.

[AttiMM]

Yes, you think right. It was obvious for me that the new command will be stronger than the old ones in queue (regardless of the method of creating the new command: manually on the display panel of tub; manually by the controls in web GUI or using Commands in SPA Config page).
Furthermore I would add an option in SPA Config page in Command queue: possibility to move the commands (drag&drop) higher or lower in the list - higher will be stronger if it would collide with a command in lower position.
Because of the option mentioned above: it may be a good idea to create a command in the queue automatically when the user set a new command manually, just to have the option to move it lower position in list if needed.
This auto-created command line should be deleted automatically from the queue if the user cancel it (e.g. turn off heater).
If the user not cancel but modify the command (e.g. set a new target temp when heating) don't needed delete the old auto-created "set target temp" line from queue but automatically modify that command according to the new command.

Does it make sense?

[visualapproach]

I appreciate your thoughts. The command queue is strictly sorted by time of execution. I'm not sure it is worth the effort to make a super advanced scheduler. People having this kind of requirements often have a home automation system that is already much more flexible in what it can achieve. But we'll see. If there is a common use case that could be improved easily, maybe. Possibly I need to do something, if/when I make the "start heater so target temp is reached at time...".
For the moment I'm rewriting the code to allow for some cool improvements, and it takes more time than anticipated. As usual :-)

[AttiMM]

Thanks a lot for your time supporting me - in this case just thinking about my suggestion.
I haven't tried home automation with Lay-Z SPA Module yet but it's the time for me! :-)