We are nearing the release of the latest WaterMate controller update, and would love to have some of you early-adopters help with final testing. The main change is non-functional ( we've made some changes to our development process ) ... and we want to be 100% sure that there are no functional changes or bugs introduced before we roll it out to all users.
In addition, we have added a few things:
- "battery too low to pump" now only activates when charge is LESS than 40%, it was previously LESS THAN OR EQUAL ... and with charge state being measured in lumps of 10% you were missing out on possible pumping time.
- There's a new "5 minutes" button for manual override ... if you want to use one of your zones in the greenhouse or polytunnel for hand watering ( Pro pumps only ). If you have a hand gun on the hose, when the gun is closed, the pro pump will stop due to the high pressure cut-out.
- Removed support for legacy wired soil sensors which used to use the 4-pin connector. We are working on a generic wired device system which will use the same 3-pin connector as the temperature sensor; in theory this can support soil sensors so that may be an option for the future.
- Fixed bug where "battery too low to pump" was showing for mains boxes ( though this did not prevent the box from pumping ).
- Calculate battery health on first power-up ( checking Internal Series Resistance, supported on V9 and later boxes only )
- Attempt to detect a failed ( open circuit ) pump: if there is no current drain within the first two seconds of pumping, show a red alert on the Device Control Panel. Pro pumps used with a ball cock ( or other physical means of stopping the flow ) will show zero current when the trip switch cuts in ... but that should always be AFTER 2 seconds of running to build the pressure up. If this technique proves reliable, we will connect it to the server for email alerts.
- Device now sends more information which will allow us to show which zone has watered on the dashboard charts.
- Faster and more robust WiFi connection, including display of the WiFi state; one of OK, TEST, AUTH FAIL, TIMEOUT, or NO AP ... If WiFi fails to connect for 3 times, WiFi state will change to one of the fail modes above. It won't try again until the next day. This is to improve the interaction when setting up WiFi after a change of SSID / network, and improve interface response times when WiFi is struggling to connect.
- When stopping the pump due to high current drain ( emergency shutdown ), unit will do a single long low beep after the pump stops, and a red message is shown on the DCP.
- Security modifications for PSTI compliance.
- Removed unnecessary select options on settings screen ( valve type, sensor type ).
- Factory reset now sets device into OFFLINE mode not online mode ( there is no SSID! ).
- Removed float switch settings; for tank-to-tank we recommend a ball cock and the pro pump with a high pressure cut-out.
- Device logs more information to local memory. Logs are purged on firmware update, or when requested from server. Max rolling 7 days of data.
Let us know on this thread if you are happy for us to update your Sprout or WaterMate to the latest beta firmware. Once we've migrated the majority of control units to this version of the firmware, we have some exciting news for you - but that's for later ; )
I’d be more than happy to test. I’ve replied on another thread about my water mate not turning on after winter but if you can see my device and update remotely I’d be happy to test.
Hi, I've updated Scope6, gingerdan [when it comes online] and Adrian to the latest version which is 2024042600. I've also updated the first post in this topic with more info. Full detailed notes will come soon.
Was running two solar water mate Pro systems on Wi-Fi up until the 29/04/2024, since updating on to Firmware 2024042600 can only keep one connected to the Wi-Fi all the time, second unit will connect after rebooting, then drops out anything between 2 & 6 hours later, have also re-setup the Wi-Fi & password, plus rebooted my router with the same results, now not sure what to try next?
Regards Paul
Hi Paul - thanks for the feedback - I will get the logs from your device ( remotely ) and see if we can determine what's different in the setup that's not keeping the connection. They both use the same wifi chip. It's your newer model that won't stay connected - are there any other differences between your two in terms of hardware connected ( eg sensors ), or distance from router?
Hi Chris,
Yes, it’s the newer one playing up and is about another 10 feet further away from my router and currently has no sensors connected, as borrowed the silver wired temp sensor for my Poly as the old little white wired temp & humidity wouldn’t work after the update. ( which we had already spoken about )
Regards Paul
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We are nearing the release of the latest WaterMate controller update, and would love to have some of you early-adopters help with final testing. The main change is non-functional ( we've made some changes to our development process ) ... and we want to be 100% sure that there are no functional changes or bugs introduced before we roll it out to all users.
In addition, we have added a few things:
- "battery too low to pump" now only activates when charge is LESS than 40%, it was previously LESS THAN OR EQUAL ... and with charge state being measured in lumps of 10% you were missing out on possible pumping time.
- There's a new "5 minutes" button for manual override ... if you want to use one of your zones in the greenhouse or polytunnel for hand watering ( Pro pumps only ). If you have a hand gun on the hose, when the gun is closed, the pro pump will stop due to the high pressure cut-out.
- Removed support for legacy wired soil sensors which used to use the 4-pin connector. We are working on a generic wired device system which will use the same 3-pin connector as the temperature sensor; in theory this can support soil sensors so that may be an option for the future.
- Fixed bug where "battery too low to pump" was showing for mains boxes ( though this did not prevent the box from pumping ).
- Calculate battery health on first power-up ( checking Internal Series Resistance, supported on V9 and later boxes only )
- Attempt to detect a failed ( open circuit ) pump: if there is no current drain within the first two seconds of pumping, show a red alert on the Device Control Panel. Pro pumps used with a ball cock ( or other physical means of stopping the flow ) will show zero current when the trip switch cuts in ... but that should always be AFTER 2 seconds of running to build the pressure up. If this technique proves reliable, we will connect it to the server for email alerts.
- Device now sends more information which will allow us to show which zone has watered on the dashboard charts.
- Faster and more robust WiFi connection, including display of the WiFi state; one of OK, TEST, AUTH FAIL, TIMEOUT, or NO AP ... If WiFi fails to connect for 3 times, WiFi state will change to one of the fail modes above. It won't try again until the next day. This is to improve the interaction when setting up WiFi after a change of SSID / network, and improve interface response times when WiFi is struggling to connect.
- When stopping the pump due to high current drain ( emergency shutdown ), unit will do a single long low beep after the pump stops, and a red message is shown on the DCP.
- Security modifications for PSTI compliance.
- Removed unnecessary select options on settings screen ( valve type, sensor type ).
- Factory reset now sets device into OFFLINE mode not online mode ( there is no SSID! ).
- Removed float switch settings; for tank-to-tank we recommend a ball cock and the pro pump with a high pressure cut-out.
- Device logs more information to local memory. Logs are purged on firmware update, or when requested from server. Max rolling 7 days of data.
Let us know on this thread if you are happy for us to update your Sprout or WaterMate to the latest beta firmware. Once we've migrated the majority of control units to this version of the firmware, we have some exciting news for you - but that's for later ; )
If you are "removing support for legacy wired soil sensors" will there be something else we can use this port for?
Regards Paul
Yes, it’s the newer one playing up and is about another 10 feet further away from my router and currently has no sensors connected, as borrowed the silver wired temp sensor for my Poly as the old little white wired temp & humidity wouldn’t work after the update. ( which we had already spoken about )
Regards Paul