Aqara Roller Shade Driver E1, Smart Motor for Roller Shades with App & Voice Control, Quiet Operation, Zigbee-Compatible, Works with HomeKit, Alexa, and Google Assistant
Close to an ATL?
CamelCamelCamel.
using these for a few years, ties in perfectly with Home Assistant
These were not strong enough to pull up my blackout blinds so I had to return them (they could pull them down just fine but unfortunately that somewhat defeats the purpose)
Anyone know a good source of chains with no joiners in them? I've got several blinds where the existing chains had one of those little joining pieces in it, which won't go through the blind's gear or the aqara's gear, so I can only do half a lift.
I do love these units though. They do all my blinds (2.3m vinyl blockout being my widest) happily. Can run while charging the battery, and integrate with zha in home assistant really well.
I've also designed and 3d printed a really basic wall plate to make a couple "direct drive". Just hacked with clippers one of the chain discs the aqara came with to slot straight into the end of the tube on the blind.
oh nice idea for the direct drive mods. Was it this one?
For the chains, you would have to get them at the right length then?
No, nothing so elegant. Mine is much more ghetto! Just essentially a slim plate for the wall to stop the unit rotating when it's driving, or sliding off. It's mostly held on by the tube pushing on it.
Chains can be any length if there's no join, they'll just keep winding through happily. The ones I have with joins worked when manual, because they were long enough to get the blind up and down without the join going through the blind tube gear. But with the aqara on there, the join can only move half as far before it hits a snag (either the tube, or the aqara)
yeah, I had a similar problem with one of my blinds. I cut it too short.
I meant that the chain length will need to match the height since there is no join.
I had issues with the plastic joiner interfering with the mechanism too so I switched to metal chain and bought the proper tool to split/rejoin the links with no joiner. I found Bunnings the best source for the chain itself and the joiner tool from Ali or eBay, e.g. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008578334709
The tool's kinda expensive but does a great job. People have 3d printed their own tools to do it but looks pretty dodgy.
link goes to 404
are you referring to something like these 'manual curtain metal chain pliers'
3D printed options seems ok
Sorry yeah, those are the ones. I didn't try the 3d printed option but there's a fair bit of torque and precision required so I feel like they'd be quite frustrating to use
@j13: Even the purchased ones are frustrating to use! Getting the bead in the pliers, with the nails from either side sitting in the open bead and keeping it all sitting right together while you close the pliers…
Unfortunately I actually damaged the internals of my blind doing all this (during assembly/disassembly to get the chain off, nothing to do with actual work on the chain) so haven't actually got my driver installed yet. It was also a Moes one from AliEx, not one of these Aqaras.
@Chandler: Haha yes there was still plenty of swearing involved on my part. You can buy replacement mechanisms so hopefully one of those works for you.
It never occurred to me to crack open the balls and relink instead of using a joiner. You've made my day! :D
please report back how you go
Do these require a seperate hub to work?
Q&A section says yes
You will need a Zigbee Coordinator whether it's an Aqara hub, Sonoff stick or other
Would like to know this too.
whats the cheapest capable hub you can use?
I've been using the SMLIGHT SLZB-06M (https://smlight.tech/product/slzb-06m) with mine for a few months now and been working great with zigbee2mqtt. And it's PoE powered too! Got it for $52 on Aliexpress
I love my smlight too. But it needs some kind of computer running the actual ZigBee and automation services (eg home assistant). If someone is just looking for a hub that runs off a phone app, then the Aqara ZigBee hubs or dongles are the way to go.
Thanks, bought another two.
Are the Kogan ones any good?
These have now been copied and are a dime a dozen on AliExpress. I use both these and the Moes units and they're identical with Z2M support.
Personally I've found these units really suffer for battery life over time as well.
Ive had several Moes for years and seen some battery decrease but still plenty convenient. However looks like the battery is easy to replace and source according to this site https://smarthomescene.com/reviews/aqara-roller-shade-driver…
How's the battery life on Moes? Pricing is similar to aqara, so maybe aqara better for warranty
Some are nearing 4 years old, started off at 3 months and getting closer to 2 months battery life. Wouldnt say similar pricing, I've bought them on average $35-40 after aliexpress sales/cashback over a length of time
I have a couple of these Aqara lifting quite heavy blinds - 2.5 meters wide by 2.1m high. The battery needs charging about every three months. Blinds opened the AM - closed PM.
They've been running for about three years and I haven't noticed battery degradation.
Afterthought: I have slowed the motors down in the Zigbee controller (Home Assistant) and that might help with less drain.
nice, I'll have to check out the Moes units on Ali
Thanks for sharing the info on Moes. I hadn't heard of these until you mentioned it.
Can the Moes units just pair with the Aqara Hub and be access via HomeKit as the Aqara badged units are?
They aren’t a complete clone but 95% the same. If you’re running an Aqara hub you probably need to stay within the ecosystem.
I run HA with Z2M and they’re functionally identical. I also like that the Moes comes with a solar charger too.
Thanks for that, I appreciate it. Not running HA but always something I've considered. Cheers
got a link for this? I can't seem to find the solar one on aliexpress
Keep in mind with GST not included in this price it works out to be about the same as the Aqara. So I would rate the Aqara at this price point if you use PAYTO5 to bring it down to $63.
But if you're buying future units without a Prime sale the Moes is just as good (just without the Amazon warranty).
I paid about $99 a few years ago - so very good price if you already have Zigbee set-up. I wonder if they would work with the Ikea zigbee hub?
Does anyone know if you need the dedicated hub? I already have a Home Assistant server, can I pair them directly to that and not worry about the company's own hub?
if you already have a zigbee controller then you can pair it with that using Zigbee2mqtt for example
Yep as long as you have some kind of ZigBee coordinator hardware for Home Assistant to control them with. The blinds aren't "locked" to Aqara-only hubs.
If you don't have ZigBee coordinator hardware, the sonoff v3 ZigBee USB stick is a great cheaper option (but use a little USB extension cable to avoid signal interference). More fancy and flexible are the smlight ones, which is what I've moved on to.
I'm using mine with ZHA rather than z2mqtt. Haven't watched that video, but was there anything particular about why using z2mqtt instead of ZHA?
Would it work with the Phillips Hue hub?
No
Wanted this, but might need to grab more than a dozen, then it will end up costing a lot.
I buy one each sale, almost have every blind covered :)
They work out at $62/each in the Aqara Store bundle: https://www.aqarastore.com.au/collections/bundle/products/aq…
PAYTO5 also brings this down to $63, so just as good but a single unit through Amazon.
That's fair.
I used a new customer 5% off code on Aqara, 9 units for $530.95 or $58.99 each.
There seems to be a bug with them never sending these codes out automatically upon newsletter signup as advertised, but their support team have replied with a code within 24hrs for me on two occasions now (unique email addresses).
Thanks. Purchased 2 sets
any zigbee standard hub should work but I would consider the long term plan which may lead to having a Home Assistant instance.
The SMLight SLZB-06M works as a hub but can also be used as a coordinator later on.
Thanks! Yep will have to look into home assistant down the road but wanted something that would work for now. I didn't know SMLight SLZB-06M could work as a hub as well. I thought it was just an extension to make home assistant work on a computer. But if that's the case, can it take electricity through USB or does it have to charge through ethernet. Perhaps I could could plug it straight to the ethernet of my router.
Yes it can be USB powered or via POE
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Great little device! I have got 7 in total and they have been absolute amazing. Only one failed within the first 6 months which Amazon replaced without any fuss!