Domoticz

I am curious what are the experiences with the New Model Neo Coolcam powerplug (id 0x1027, type ox0200).

The reasons i'm asking: I'm quite happy with the old model. i bought 8 of the old model on AliExpress and they all still work perfectly. Of the new model, from which i bought at the same store on aliexpress, 3 out of a batch of 4 stopped functioning within a month (with the smell of burning plastic)

so I am wondering: Was this just a bad batch? Of does everyone have this experiences like this with this new model?

akamming wrote: ↑Wednesday 11 September 2019 21:55 so I am wondering: Was this just a bad batch? Of does everyone have this experiences like this with this new model?

Bought 2 of earlier model almost 3 years ago during 11/11 discounts. First lasted 2 days, second a few months (but was almost never switched & for a low power, only unpowering my garage door when my system was set under "vacations" planning)!

Thus the "Buy chinese = Buy twice" proverb was not even verified here...
=> IMO, you were lucky with your first batch. At the time I was not the only one having issues very soon with theses plugs, this was epidemic!

According to some users with some electronic design background opening their failed devices, the design was not only unreliable but unsafe. Since then, I avoid buying 220Vac powered devices in China.

ok clear…. i think i'll do that as well now

I have 3 of these plugs. One of them is powering my washing machine almost every day for over 10 Amps and has no problem.
Only giving false readings on the kWh data. Strange numbers like '-21474816.000 kWh'

I've got several as well. All my devices are monitored with these plugs. Just to monitor usage and initially switch something. (so no daily switching just monitoring usage)
Only 1 device is switching daily... the QUOOKER. 23:00 OFF -> 07:00 ON.

Plugs Identified as: No issues except for sometimes a strange kwH value... but with a FIBARO... same thing sometimes.

I have three of the same model (the new one). Two work pretty well, one of them after two months loses connection at just 5 meters (and a concrete wall) from the controller, the others don't. I guess that's not high quality stuff.

mm148881 wrote: ↑Tuesday 05 November 2019 10:58 I have three of the same model (the new one). Two works pretty well, one of them after two months loses connection at just 5 meters (and a concrete wall) from the controller, the others don't. I guess that's not high quality stuff.

That is really annoying indeed.

I had a Fibaro with the same issue. So Well not limited to NEO
What I needed to do was:
- I pair a Secure Node near the Base Station (same room).
- After all properties have been detected ( I give it some time ) I unplug it and move it to the final destination
- Mesh network takes care of the rest. I do mention that I have a lot of plugs so the mesh is pretty ok.
- Incidentally I instruct the nodes to - find their neighbor - but due to the extensive network I have now this has not been done since 2016.

This is what I did with the faulty plug, although I included it as a "Node" not "secure Node". But when displaced in the living room (5-6 meters away) where I have a functioning Neo plug, it stopped working correctly and half an hour afterwards it was dead for the controller. I am quite new to domoticz, why use a secure node inclusion? Can all z-wave devices be included securely or only some of them have that capability?

mm148881 wrote: ↑Tuesday 05 November 2019 10:58 I have three of the same model (the new one). Two work pretty well, one of them after two months loses connection at just 5 meters (and a concrete wall) from the controller, the others don't. I guess that's not high quality stuff.

The radio chip is supposed to be always manufactured by sigma designs whatever the device brand I believe, thus this should not make a difference between manufacturers, if correctly built/designed (powered!).

The main flaw on first generation was with the 220Vac->12Vcc converter responsible for powering the z-wave chip: It was not respecting the converter manufacturer reference note/design (over simplified by neo to cut cost) and proved to fail with time on many devices (with voltages reaching up to 20Vcc, far over z-wave chip limits which was in the end failing).

Just think the issue is still there according to your symptoms: For now you just experience reduced radio range from a chip that's already injured by a bad power supply, maybe up to a full failing device someday.

Others were not correctly screwed in factory, leading to bad contacts internally. These ones were easy fix at receive... but a few weeks later, bad design was often showing its effects after bad assembly and this was the end!