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Mod-Box for Home Assistant

Microfire

Microfire

• 3 min read

This write-up will focus on using several of our components, Mod-EC, Mod-pH, and DS18B20 temperature sensor,  in one device, to create a complete sensor box that works with Home Assistant.

1.

📦 Install ESPHome

Follow the instructions on the ESPHome website.

2.

🏁 Start a project

Type esphome wizard mod-box.yaml in the terminal. Make sure the path on the terminal is where you want the project to be. Follow the steps, and there should be a .yaml file in the directory you ran the command in. For this write-up, it will be mod-box.yaml. If you type esphome compile mod-box.yaml you should see the project compile.

3.

💻 Add some YAML and code

We'll make a custom sensor component to get the Mod-EC module working. This is done by adding some lines to the YAML.

The YAML file should be changed to the following:

substitutions:
  friendly_name: Microfire pH+EC
  device_name: microfire-ph-ec
esphome:
  name: $device_name
esp32:
  board: esp32dev
  framework:
    type: arduino
logger:
api:
ota:
wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password
  ap:
    ssid: $device_name
    password: !secret wifi_failover
captive_portal:

# import the components
external_components:
  - source:
      type: git
      url: https://github.com/u-fire/ESPHomeComponents/

# https://esphome.io/components/i2c.html
i2c:
  sda: 21
  scl: 22

# https://esphome.io/components/sensor/dallas.html
dallas:
  - pin: 23
    id: dallas_temp

sensor:
  - platform: dallas
    index: 0
    name: "Temperature"
    id: water_temp
    on_value:
      then:
        - component.update: ec
        - component.update: ph

  - platform: mod_ec
    id: ec
    update_interval: never
    name: EC
    temperature_sensor: water_temp
    temperature_constant: 25.0
    temperature_coefficient: 0.019

  - platform: mod_ph
    id: ph
    update_interval: never
    name: pH
    temperature_sensor: water_temp

button:
  - platform: template
    id: ec_calibrate_low
    name: EC Calibrate Low 0.1
    icon: mdi:format-vertical-align-bottom
    on_press:
        lambda: |-
          id(ec).calibrateLow(0.1);

  - platform: template
    id: ec_calibrate_mid
    name: EC Calibrate Mid 1.0
    icon: mdi:format-vertical-align-center
    on_press:
        lambda: |-
          id(ec).calibrateMid(1.0);

  - platform: template
    id: ec_calibrate_high
    name: EC Calibrate High 10.0
    icon: mdi:format-vertical-align-top
    on_press:
        lambda: |-
          id(ec).calibrateHigh(10.0);

  - platform: template
    id: ec_calibrate_reset
    name: EC Calibrate Reset
    icon: mdi:restore
    on_press:
        lambda: |-
          id(ec).calibrateReset();

  - platform: template
    id: ph_calibrate_low
    name: pH Calibrate Low 4.0
    icon: mdi:format-vertical-align-bottom
    on_press:
        lambda: |-
          id(ph).calibrateLow(4.0);

  - platform: template
    id: ph_calibrate_mid
    name: pH Calibrate Mid 7.0
    icon: mdi:format-vertical-align-center
    on_press:
        lambda: |-
          id(ph).calibrateMid(7.0);

  - platform: template
    id: ph_calibrate_high
    name: pH Calibrate High 10.0
    icon: mdi:format-vertical-align-top
    on_press:
        lambda: |-
          id(ph).calibrateHigh(10.0);

  - platform: template
    id: ph_calibrate_reset
    name: pH Calibrate Reset
    icon: mdi:restore
    on_press:
        lambda: |-
          id(ph).calibrateReset();

  - platform: factory_reset
    name: Restart with Factory Default Settings

Make sure you change the wifi section to your network and password if you aren't using a secrets.yaml. Check that the i2c section is using the correct pins.

Make sure to change the dallas section to match which pin the DS18B20 is connected to.

4.

🔌 Connect everything

Now is a good time to ensure the module is connected to the ESP-device.

  1. Connect the probes by screwing the SMA-BNC connector to the board, then attach the probes to the connector.
  2. Connect the 1W pin on the carrier board to a pin on your ESP-device. Remember to match it to the ONE_WIRE definition from the step above.
  3. Attach the DS18B20 sensor to the carrier board: black=GND, red=VCC, yellow=SIG
  4. Make the I2C connections:
  • Mod-EC SDA to controller SDA
  • Mod-EC SCL to controller SCL
  • Mod-EC GND to controller ground
  • Mod-EC VCC to controller 3.3 or 5-volt

5.

➡️ Upload

Type esphome run mod-box.yaml It will compile the project and ask you which serial device to upload the code to. After that, you'll see the ESP debug output. If everything goes to plan, you should see a device has been discovered in Home Assistant.

6.

🏠 Home Assistant

From within Home Assistant, press Settings > Devices & Services and find the device in the ESPHome integration box. Click it and then click where it says 1 Device. You should see a screen with all the device information, Mod-EC, Mod-pH, temperature measurements, and some buttons to calibrate and reset the device. You can create dashboards, scripts, and anything else Home Assistant can do from here.

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