Automatic garden watering with TASMOTA on NodeMCU or Wemos D1 ESP8266 and relays

Garden Watering with Tasmota on ESP8266 with relay boards. Tasmota Firmware for ESP Micro-controller and Relay boards used to operate Valves in order to water garden and run a lawn sprinkler. Watering your Garden with ESP8266 micro controllers such as a Wemos D1 or a Wemos D1 mini is easy using the TASMOTA firmware. All you need for this weekend project is a Wemos D1 mini and a relay board made for arduino plus of course a normally closed Valve. Tasmota has MQTT capabilities so you can easily integrate Tasmota into your home automation environment in your home network. That means you could automatically water your garden as directed by your smart home software such as FHEM, Node Red, OpenHab HomeAssistant IoBroker or anything of the kind.
In my home network I am using FHEM, but the integration with MQTT can be done on any linux system or any other home automation software that speaks MQTT.
Licence-free music on / Lizenzfreie Musik von www.terrasound...

[@OneMarcFifty]

Let me keep my promise and show the first detailed video on my ESP8266 projects. More to come. Stay tuned.

[@pichonPoP]

ohhh, interesting video. I wanted to build this in 2009 xD, nevertheless didn't have the tools. I'll store this video on my PC, and maybe I can build this soon. Thank you, Marc, for sharing your knowledge and making it so easy to get it.

[@OneMarcFifty]

Thank you very much - and let me know how things turn out ;-)

[@hwjr1973]

Good to put a pulsetime1 restriction on it for a maximum runtime. Nice useful remark about the diode, should it be in series or parallel to the valve? You can also use the magnetic valves that run 24v ac to separate circuits.👍

[@hamhumtube]

Newly discovered this channel. Very good content. Thanks. I am an amateur would have been preferred to go into details about That diode connection

[@OneMarcFifty]

Thank you. I‘ll keep a note for the next video 😉

[@ionni73]

Hi Marc. I just discovered your video and channel. An excellent video, thanks. It would be interesting to understand where did you placed /soldered (?) the diode you mention. (Would be nice to see it in order to make sure the direction is correct :-) ). Further: in your project, which power supply did you use? I guess you need 3 of them (3 v for the microcontroller, 5v for the relay and 12 v for the valve). So which power supplies do you use for the everyday operation of this project? Thanks again. I will be looking in your channel for such videos... ;-)

[@OneMarcFifty]

Hi Jonathan, I usually use a 12V DC adapter followed by a step down converter (2Amps cheap China type) and then have the ESP8266 on a small board that has a 3.3V SMD regulator which I hook up to the 5 V. W/r to the diode - it just needs to be in anti-parallel to the valve. Commercial relay boards have this soldered already. So at normal operation the diode blocks (Cathode to +12V, Anode to 0V) like this i.stack.imgur.com/lpcMU.png (ignore the resistor)

[@ionni73]

@@OneMarcFifty Thanks a lot Marc. The schematics was a good remider, of the need of a diode in inverse connection, thanks (I was actually curious to see a picture of your connections ;-) ). Anyhow. Following your instructions. Let's see where it lands... 😀 Looking forward for more Tasmota-driven garten accessories... and driving them via Home Assistant...

[@DarkClaw974]

1:42 RIP germans who're watching this video. lmao

[@OneMarcFifty]

You do realize that I am German, right? 😉

[@wardwyseur]

did u put the diode at the valve spool, or the relay spool, i dont think the peak will destroy your chip because of the relay, btw nice informative video, i learned alot

[@OneMarcFifty]

Thank you. In fact you need to add it to _any_ coil, that includes the relay and the valve. I have only added it to the valve as I am using an arduino relay board which already has a diode on board.

[@leonardoramirezorozco3319]

great video !! im intersted on creating something like this

[@OneMarcFifty]

Thank you Leonardo - let me know how it goes ;-)

[@paulhyland3528]

great video, I'm literally in the process of making my irrigation system using a node mcu with an 8 way relay board but using the same solenoid. great tip about the diode! would it be any type of silicone rectifier diode you would use ? thanks

[@OneMarcFifty]

Hi Paul, yes - any silicone should do (1N4148, 1N4001 or the like) - even though the voltages that can occur can reach 200 Volts and the specs of the diodes are far below (50 / 100V) , they seem to be fast enough to short circuit quickly enough. Never had issues with those.

[@paulhyland3528]

@@OneMarcFiftythat's great thanks ive got some 1n4001 diodes so ill use them. Cheers

[@mandeepmails]

Nice and informative video. Question - i connected wemos with relay and AC power accessories. i'm able to control but because of no power-backup or whatever reason if there's couple power fluctuations, it wipes out the config from the esp8266. Any ideas, how to avoid it ?

[@OneMarcFifty]

You could/should take the following countermeasures: First, make sure you have flyback diodes on all coils. Second, add capacitors to your power supply. Third, make sure that your power supply is dimensioned correctly. If you are using an unregulated power supply, the voltage might actually vary or lot so - fourth, use a regulated power supply with the right Amp/Voltage. Let me know how it goes.

[@mandeepmails]

@@OneMarcFifty absolutely that’s the plan.

[@flyingmonkey3822]

Which phone app do you prefer for connecting to your Tasmota enabled devices?

[@OneMarcFifty]

Actually I rarely use my phone to do that. My Tasmota devices are all linked to my home automation. But usually if I access the device directly then I just use the web interface

[@AlexanderVeith]

Hallo Zusammen! Kann mir Jemand erklären wie ich Tasmota und Rules in der Konsole nutzen kann? Ich habe einen analogen Sensor ähnlich wie in dem Video der Gibt einen Wert aus. Ich möchte das, wenn der Wert >x ist dann Relay für xsec anschalten. Und das ganze nicht dauernd, sondern nur alle 5 Minuten. Es soll eine automatisierte Bewässerung für Blumen werden. LG

[@OneMarcFifty]

So gut kenne ich Tasmota leider nicht - vermutlich kannst Du das mit der Konsole lösen tasmota.github.io/docs/Commands/ Die Rules sind hier definiert tasmota.github.io/docs/Rules/ Ich würde das in meiner Umgebung eher mit MQTT lösen (also die Home Automation Software - in meinem Fall FHEM, aber müsste mit jeder anderen auch gehen - würde die Aktionen triggern).

[@IoIon2010]

Hallo hope you can help. How can avoid a relay turn off/on after every restart? I have 2 relays set in interlock , but every time the wemos tasmota restarts they will go on together for few than a second.... can you help me?

[@OneMarcFifty]

It depends what hardware (ESP version - Wemos etc.vs. Sonoff etc.) you are using. If you can change the pin then try this out. GPIO 0,4,1,3 are default HIGH after boot until tasmota loads. You might try pullup / pull down resistor and also check the tasmota options. This article may help: randomnerdtutorials.com/esp8266-pinout-reference-gpios/

[@IoIon2010]

@@OneMarcFifty wemos d1 , switch gpio0 gpio14 , relays gpio2 gpio12 .... I think I need to move to an hardware interlockable double relay mobule...

[@OneMarcFifty]

You might try wiring the relays to pins gpio 0 and 4 - see if that changes anything... or add a pull up to gpio 12 for a test...

[@MrBobWareham]

Nice video but you could have used Tasmotizer 1.2 exe it does it all no need to download any bin files Tasmotizer goes and gets the files for you

[@OneMarcFifty]

Many thanks Bob, you're right - I had kind of gotten into a routine for flashing with a certain toolset ;-)

[@lelandclayton5462]

I honestly don't know what I am doing wrong. I followed your video to the T and the Relay just stays ON no matter what.

[@OneMarcFifty]

Hi Leland, there are a couple of diagnostic steps that you can take in order to troubleshoot this situation. First, remove the relay board and measure the output at the ESP - does it go from high to low as you expect it (or vice versa) ? If not, then you might try a different contact or maybe you are using the wrong pin. Troubleshoot this first. Second, put a high (3.3V) and low (0V) signal on the entry of the relay board - does it change its state ? If not, you will need to check why and fix that part. Once those two parts work well independently then putting them together should work. Let me know how it goes.

[@lelandclayton5462]

@@OneMarcFifty I figured it out, it was the Relays I was using. Found a 4 Channel Relay Board in my Junk Box and it works.

[@OneMarcFifty]

Yeay !!! Happy you got it working!

[@dustinperez5341]

Tesmoda is most ineffective way to relay your module breaking point if your working within quantum realm it's way different though u wouldn't understand though. Lololololololo

[@OneMarcFifty]

Tesmoda ?!? Lololo ? Anyway, thanks for your feedback.

[@dustinperez5341]

@@OneMarcFifty jk