No data?

[discodancerstu]

Hi all, anyone else having issues with the integration? No data coming through into HA for last couple of days.

Portal appears to be working fine?!

[barleybobs]

@discodancerstu Are you still not getting data? I have checked my instance and I am still receiving data.

[discodancerstu]

It is sporadic, some days its fine and other days not. I find a reset of the water softener often helps, almost like it is losing WiFi - however it is less than 2 metres from the AP!

[barleybobs]

That is odd. Is there anything in HA logs?

[discodancerstu]

Sorry, where would I find that data?

[barleybobs]

It should be under Settings > System > Logs

[misterymisery]

Again no data in Energy tab from two days (I can see pattern 6 days works and stops). Nothing in logs and integration works and showing data. Strange thing...

[barleybobs]

I've not be having a similar issue so I am not sure what could be causing this. It's odd that no logs are being produced.

[ijosbuttler]

If you're experiencing issues with the integration not pulling data into Home Assistant, there could be several potential reasons for this problem:

1. Integration Configuration: Double-check that the integration is correctly configured in Home Assistant. Ensure that the login information and settings are accurate, including the serial number and date format.
2. Network Connectivity: Verify that your Home Assistant instance has internet access and can connect to the Ecowater portal. If there are any network issues or firewall rules blocking the connection, it could prevent data from being retrieved.
3. Ecowater Portal Status: While the portal may appear to be working fine, there could be backend issues or maintenance activities affecting data retrieval. Check (watersoftenersizecalculator) if there are any announcements or service status updates from Ecowater regarding potential disruptions.
4. Integration Updates: Ensure that you're using the latest version of the Ecowater integration. Sometimes updates or changes on the service provider's side may require corresponding updates to the integration for seamless operation.
5. Logs and Error Messages: Check the Home Assistant logs for any error messages related to the Ecowater integration. This can provide valuable insight into what might be causing the issue.

If none of the above steps resolve the issue, you may need to troubleshoot further.

[dragosj]

I also have same issue, no data since two days ago and in mobile app or web everything is fine. Energy dashboard does not show anything anymore. I get a warning: Setup of sensor platform ecowater_softener is taking over 10 seconds. HA does not show any errors on all 9 entities discovered in evowater.

[barleybobs]

There appears to be an issue on EcoWater's end. As I have just checked and the web interface is claiming that 0 litres of water have been used but the graph shows the correct value. Therefore I believe this is an issue not with the integration but with EcoWater's website.

[dragosj]

Hi, I can confirm I think it was something from their end. I unpluged for 1 min. the appliance and then it start sending data. 2 days are lost, no reports.

[BelMaseto]

Same here since four days: 0 daily liters used but graph values are OK.

[HumanSkunk]

Same issue here. Thought it was the integration but it’s definitely something server side. I have had to restart the softener every 36 hours or so over the last week as data seems to start going wrong. The softener reports the right information on device and the graphs show the correct usage but the the current water used and the average will just show some random number that it has got stuck on, usually 0L. A power cycle instantly fixes it. In the last restart I went through the wireless setup again to see if that kicks anything into life.

frustrating as I had this installed only a month ago and one of the features I wanted was usage data etc. At least I know others have the same problem and it isn’t isolated to my machine. At least it still functions as a softener…

[Ekkib]

I also can confirm : no data anymore. Since approx. 22 May (update of operating system). A powercycle of the softener triggers data again for some very short time (2 to 3 days). No idea, what goes wrong ? With the latest update of the operating system on 2024-06-25 all is working again. Without power-cycle of the softener. I keep watching it !

[HumanSkunk]

I am tempted to temporarily disable the integration if it does it again and see if there is the same behaviour. I can confirm it stopped working reliably at 12am on 23rd May, it stopped again at 5am on 29th May, and then at 12am today.

[BelMaseto]

More on this issue.

Looking into the device's EASE report available on my EcoWatter account I've seen that at some point, the Controller Time data listed there is stuck to a fixed time value (in my case was about 03:10) and when this happens, daily consumption value is stuck too.

On normal condition Controller Time field shows current time value, so seems that the issue is related to a bug in the device firmware that locks the internal clock.

Power cycle the device solves this. As a workaround I will place a Shelly there to reset the softener daily.

[HumanSkunk]

Failed again last night. So do they remotely update as it was fine for 3.5 weeks after the install? I have a spare smart plug so I can fit that.

On the web portal I also checked the device time and it’s currently reporting as 23:19 listed under support -> troubleshooting.

Has anyone reported this issue to EcoWater? My contact all goes direct through the installer.

[figorr]

Failed again last night. So do they remotely update as it was fine for 3.5 weeks after the install? I have a spare smart plug so I can fit that.

On the web portal I also checked the device time and it’s currently reporting as 23:19 listed under support -> troubleshooting.

Has anyone reported this issue to EcoWater? My contact all goes direct through the installer.

A also saw this a week ago ... but after doing a power cycle ... the device starting sending the correct data to web, app and api ... so I supposed It was a problem with my network (maybe the firewall blocked something and the device was stucked). But today I saw this issue again ... I was checking and no firewall rules were applied.

I sent a request to the Ecowater Team using the Support Form you can find when you log at wifi.ecowater.com. The contact method from the app ... is not working (the app closes when you tap the button, iOS app).

[cedricdelecole]

Same here since 28/05 ... and indeed the ecowater app only shows "0 liters used" days after days, but when you look at the graphs, it shows correct daily / hourly consumption. One thing though is that I am running out of salt at 0%, but I assume that has no impact on the fact that 0 liters are showned as daily usage ...

I have tried contacting them via the app to report the issue but no feedback from them yet. Have you done so ?

P.S. I just contacted them at the number on this page (https://www.ecowater.be/fr/contact) to report the issue and they just solved it over the phone by asking me to unplug the power for 15 seconds then plug it back. The data came straight into the app back ...

[barleybobs]

P.S. I just contacted them at the number on this page (https://www.ecowater.be/fr/contact) to report the issue and they just solved it over the phone by asking me to unplug the power for 15 seconds then plug it back. The data came straight into the app back ...

@Ekkib mentioned that a power cycle appears to get data again for some very short time. It seems to be that a power cycle will fix the issue with data not arriving temporarily although then the data will stop later.

[BelMaseto]

It happened again after 4 days since last power cycle. I can confirm that this issue is some way related to device internal Controller Time: EASE report shows that mine was stuck some hours ago, as it did every time daily consumption failed. Power cycle again and solved...until next failure, so time to place a Shelly to force a daily reboot.

[almoney]

It seems like your controller is failing. I don't have this issue.

[HumanSkunk]

I have also fitted a smart plug to mine which power cycles it every 24 hours at midnight. Hopefully until Ecowater acknowledge the issue beyond "restarting it" this should stop this issue. The installer has also raised it but he has said he hasn't seen it on any others that are being monitored.

[heisenberg2980]

I just got an ecowater softener and this issue happened right after installing it. After adding the integration to HA the data was retrieved without any problem, but then it was stuck there and not updated for hours (while the data in the ecowater app was updated fine). Then I decided to disable and enable the integration, and that solved the issue, which means it was caused by the integration and not the ecowater servers. Could it be that we are dealing with multiple issues, one of them caused by ecowater, and a different one caused by the integration not retrieving the data properly?

Also is there a way to know when was the last time the integration retrieved data from the server? as it only happens every 10min, it would be useful to have an entity or similar showing when the last synchronization happened to troubleshoot issues (or even better, a button to allow a manual synchronization)

[figorr]

I just got an ecowater softener and this issue happened right after installing it. After adding the integration to HA the data was retrieved without any problem, but then it was stuck there and not updated for hours (while the data in the ecowater app was updated fine). Then I decided to disable and enable the integration, and that solved the issue, which means it was caused by the integration and not the ecowater servers. Could it be that we are dealing with multiple issues, one of them caused by ecowater, and a different one caused by the integration not retrieving the data properly?

Also is there a way to know when was the last time the integration retrieved data from the server? as it only happens every 10min, it would be useful to have an entity or similar showing when the last synchronization happened to troubleshoot issues (or even better, a button to allow a manual synchronization)

What you explained is a different issue. For instance ... today my softener was stucked again ... and the integration was not updating data but neither the iOS app was updating the data ... after swithing off and on the softener ... the data was inmediately updated (in HomeAssistant and in the iOS app) without reloading the integration.

Sometimes the Ecowater server goes down for a while, some minutes (you can see the device sensor is "Offline") ... and the next time the integration asked for data (10 minutes later) ... it works fine and gets the data without problem. If you reload the integration before the 10 min ... you can shorten this time and get the data again.

Regarding to the option ... to know when was the last time the integration retrieved data from the server ... could be solved creating a sensor, using yaml, that checks when an atributte, like "water used today" updates its value.

[heisenberg2980]

Regarding the sensor to know when the integration retrieved data for the server, I thought about that but it wouldn´t work. That would only give you a real value when there isn´t any issue with ecowater servers (so it wouldn´t help to troubleshoot issues) and only when the water used today value changes, so it wouldn´t really be helpful. A real sensor that is updated every time the integration successfully retrieve data from the ecowater would be much more helpful.

[figorr]

Ok, I just sent a pull request in order to create a sensor for date and time data when data is updated from the server.. But I am bit new coding here ... so before merging I need someone else can check the changes. In order to validate that there is no a huge mess in that code. I will try to test the changes in my installation during the weekend, to see if there is nothing extrange.

[HumanSkunk]

So it seems doing a power cycle to restart at midnight is not enough as twice now the system clock has frozen during the afternoon and stops passing any usage data into the EcoWater servers. Will increase the frequency to do it at midday as well to hopefully get more stable data.

Edit: - So an update to this, after the power cycle happened at midnight i checked the system clock this morning and it was stuck at 00:16, so the updates froze 15 mins after i power cycled it which is ridiculous. For now i have temporarily disabled the integration to see if it remains up, if it freezes again then that completely rules out an integration conflict with the servers.

I have checked through the HA logs and unsure if this tied with the actual events of it losing connection and freezing but i have these periodically appear but it could be a red herring:

2024-06-14` 21:10:36.762 ERROR (SyncWorker_41) [root] Error connecting to "wifi.ecowater.com": HTTPSConnectionPool(host='wifi.ecowater.com', port=443): Max retries exceeded with url: /Site/Login (Caused by NewConnectionError('<urllib3.connection.HTTPSConnection object at 0x7f55907950>: Failed to establish a new connection: [Errno -3] Try again'))
2024-06-14 21:10:36.769 ERROR (MainThread) [custom_components.ecowater_softener.coordinator] Error fetching Ecowater AC000<Redacted> data: Error communicating with API: cannot access local variable 'website_data' where it is not associated with a value

I will report back after 48 hours (or earlier) with whether it froze or not.

[figorr]

Today they just released a new app release, at least at iOS. Let’s see if there are good news with server connection, and there is no more disconnections.

[HumanSkunk]

So having had the integration disabled since my last update I have had no issue with data feeds and the system clock remains at the correct time. I havent power cycled the softener since disabling the integration. Prior to this I couldn't get two days without data being interrupted. I will leave it another few days to get to get a more definitive diagnosis that the integration could be causing an issue server side. I will then turn the integration back on and see what happens and report back.

[niallobr]

That iOS 1.25.1 update did not make any difference for me. I've now disabled the integration and will power cycle my unit too. Previously I did a power cycle and left the integration running. Data collection resumed for a while then stopped again

I would rather it is an issue with the integration as I only recently had the Compact 200 softener fitted. It was a lot more expensive than some of the alternatives and was hoping for easy integration with HA. So hoping it is an simple integration fix rather than something complicated or unlikely to be fixed on the EcoWater side.

[laplac]

I have the same issue, I have reported it to portal support as well as ecowater customer service but still no response.

[HumanSkunk]

Since disabling the integration over a week ago the Softener has not needed to be restarted and has reported consistently over that time. I am now going to turn the integration back on and will report back if the softener freezes. I was wondering if it could be a memory leak issue, as I didnt encounter the first freeze for just under 3 weeks after the device was installed.

[figorr]

Today … since midday … no data. I tried several power cycles without success. I tried disabling the integration and doing another power cycle … but no difference. The app also is showing the device as offline. But the softener is showing internet connection and the router is showing the device as connected. The weird thing … in the past when the update of the data failed … I can see, at the app, the water usage graphs being well updated according to the usage. Today, since midday, even the graphs are not being updated.

[niallobr]

My data is still working since I disabled the integration and restarted the softener. The data on the EcoWater app home screen doesn't always update right away. Sometimes I need to go to the graphs and back to home and it updates. Maybe they added some limits or security updates on the API? No idea, just speculating.

[laplac]

I have added a smart plug and scheduled an auto power-cycle everyday at 5:00 am. So far so good.

For those who disabled the integration and enabled it again. Did it fix the issue ?

[heisenberg2980]

I think we are trying to solve a problem that is not in our control. I think ecowater has some type of issue in their software or servers that makes their servers stop receiving certain data from the water softener, and for some reason switching the device off and back on again solves the issue (I guess when the device starts, it sends some type of initial message to their servers that temporarily fix the issue). I say "certain data" because I have seen the ecowater app stuck on 0 liters, but at the same time the "graph" tab shows data about usage. The only solution that seems to work at the moment is the one @laplac mention about power-cycling the water softener everyday.

I am trying to contact ecowater to help them with this issue, and I will propose they update the firmware of the devices to include an option to configure a local MQTT server where the device can send real-time data without depending on their servers, which me luck!

[HumanSkunk]

I had it power cycling every night but still it would freeze during the day, then had it power cycling at lunch as well and it would still freeze between. Seems that the time between freezing just got quicker and quicker each time. I had the integration off for over a week with no clock freezing. Since turning the integration back on it’s been fine without power cycling), but it’s only been a couple of days. If and when it crashes I will report back. When it was first installed it took about 3 weeks for it to freeze the first time.

@heisenberg2980 good luck with contacting them. MQTT local integration would be great.

[HerrTim]

Hi, I just opened a new issue but I then saw your conversation. I had a call with the german support this morning. They've told me, the sync freeze is caused by using a third party smart home system. That's what the us IT guys told him some days ago. Ecowater officially does not accept any third-party tools.

I removed the connection in home assistant but the problem still occurs in the ecowaters.com dashboard. The value of water consumption for today is still broken. The chart works but the value is not updating. It also shows an update error. He will contact the us IT department again and keeps me in the loop.

[barleybobs]

They've told me, the sync freeze is caused by using a third party smart home system. That's what the us IT guys told him some days ago. Ecowater officially does not accept any third-party tools.

I wonder if they've tried to block the integration. However, that sounds more like they won't provide any support for the integration.

[cedricdelecole]

This is something which always astonished me .... HA is making tons of polling to lots of brands and their servers, to get the latest entity values. Cn you imagine the number of polls made every day by HA and the impact on the brand servers ????

Usually if I have an water softener like the Ecowater, I go to the app and connect few times a week (max ?). How many polls is HA doing to the Ecowater servers to get the consumption .... ?

[HumanSkunk]

So the softener froze at 15:36 today. Only just noticed when I logged in remotely to check the status. Gonna have to disable it for the time being. I’m not particularly in needed of minute by minute consumption so perhaps an hourly update?

[barleybobs]

This is something which always astonished me .... HA is making tons of polling to lots of brands and their servers, to get the latest entity values. Cn you imagine the number of polls made every day by HA and the impact on the brand servers ????

Usually if I have an water softener like the Ecowater, I go to the app and connect few times a week (max ?). How many polls is HA doing to the Ecowater servers to get the consumption .... ?

While I understand that HA polls the servers more than a human user. This would not be a problem if there was an official API or even better a local API.

[cedricdelecole]

by local API you mean we would poll the water softener directly without having to disturb the Ecowater servers ? Didn't think about that

[barleybobs]

by local API you mean we would poll the water softener directly without having to disturb the Ecowater servers ? Didn't think about that

Yes, a local API would allow us to talk to the device over the network directly. This would mean that Ecowater wouldn't even need to host an API in the cloud. It would also allow us to poll it as frequently as we liked. It would also mean that the integration would continue to work if internet access was disrupted.

[heisenberg2980]

There is even a better solution, and I am trying to contact ecowater to see if they would be open to implement that solution, as it would be amazing for Home Assistant user. This solution is to add an option to the water softener menu to set up a MQTT broker for the device to send updates. If they added this option, instead of having to pull the data by calling an API, the device will actually send the data to the local MQTT broker every time there is an update in any of the variables (like number of liters used, or changes in the water flow), so Home Assistant would receive the updates in real-time.

In a completely perfect world, they would implement both solutions (local API + connection to MQTT broker), as that would allow them to use the local API on their mobile app, so the app calls the local API when the user is home, reducing even more the load on their servers.

I am trying to show them the great potential this could have, as we (Home Assistant users) could be alerted if any tab is open when we leave the house, or even if a water leak happens while we are away, and all of this thanks to their water softener. I am sure a lot of people would buy their water softeners if this was implemented.

So far I have only been able to get attention from my local installer (I am in the UK), but he told me a guy from ecowater Belgium would contact me. As I mentioned before, wish me luck...

[niallobr]

My integration has been disabled for around a week. Everything was going great but now the water usage on the EcoWater app and web dashboard is no longer updating. The graphs are still working fine. So in my mind it seems like the HA integration is not causing this problem. Maybe EcoWater are making updates to their web platform in the background which is breaking things?

[misterymisery]

I have integration deleted completely for over a week and since than I have no issues at all. I sent email to support and they told me to delete HA integration and check. Also they told me that it is forbidden to use any 3rd party company apps or integration to EcoWater Softener. In the end I lost something which worked fine until May. I guess integration changed around that time? I have to admit 30 minutes was just fine for me on beginning on integration with Python. Maybe these polls are too often or something... Anyway delete fixed it for me so I am no longer using integration... Sad :(

[BelMaseto]

The integration is based on ecowater-softener Python lib (https://pypi.org/project/ecowater-softener/), that just scraps data from the wifi.ecowater.com page like any browser does, so it's unlikely that this is causing this issue.

IMO, this is the result of some poor/unfinished implementation at server end and/or at device communication module.

[heisenberg2980]

I agree with @BelMaseto. I think we should stop trying to fix the issue ourselves, as it's 99% a server-side issue and the only one who can fix it is ecowater, and start trying to contact ecowater in every possible way we can imagine, so this request of local access to the data reach their management team. I am already putting all the pressure I can on my local installer and he is trying to get one of the ecowater guys to contact me, but maybe if you guys try the same thing through their website or your local installers, at least one of us might get lucky.