Aqara Good Valve Controller T1 with Matter, Requires Aqara Zigbee 3.0 Hub, Mixed with Water Leak Detectors for Dwelling, Helps App Distant Management Shutoff, Helps HomeKit, Alexa, Google

OK, but needs better mounting
I utilize a large array of Aqara sensors – approximately 20 spread between temperaperature sensors in every room, leak sensors on every faucet and appliance, etc. One of my long term home automation dreams was to leverage the dozen leak sensors I have around the house and automatically turn off the water if a leak was detected.For YEARS I have been awaiting someone reputable to come out with a valve such as this one. I saw Aqara had launched this, and smashed the buy button. Being a mechanical engineer, there are some things that I want to share with the Aqara community, and maybe influence Aqara to make some improvements. If your valve looks like my attached picture, be cautious about purchasing if you’re not handy and willing to cobble a solution together.Pros:-Strong motor with impressive torque coming from 4x AA batteries.. If your valve is in good working order, this thing will most likely rotate it.-Compact design. This thing will fit almost anywhere and it keeps a relatively low height profile.-Super easy pairing, standard for Aqara. Aqara app –> Add device –> T1 valve. Done!-Manual hand bypass is well done. Just push down on the large grey tab and you have complete freedom to move the valve by hand. The valve then recognizes where it is after you move it.-Manual electronic actuation is simple. Single button push will electronically actuate.-My valve handle fit into the actuation arm like a glove, nice snug fit.Cons:-Not enough flexibility in mounting. I have a 1″ standard Apollo valve on my incoming line to my house. This will be a common configuration, and I expect others will run into the same problems I have, which I will expand upon below.The mounting brackets don’t have enough height to clear the valve stem (handle mount). I had to make a “custom” spacer out of some PVC pipe to push the actuator further from the pipe. If I hadn’t, the valve was at an awkward angle which would have decreased it’s effectiveness.The mounting brackets also fell DIRECTLY on the seam between the valve and the pipe. This area has a height difference due to the diameter of pipe vs. valve. This made it really hard to stabilize the valve. I tried swapping the handle of the valve 180 degrees (quick removal of valve stem nut), but that didn’t change where the mounting bracket was located.Finally, one hose clamp is not enough to deal with the torque of this motor at maximum.The above items caused the valve to want to “twist” in a few different directions, ultimately meaning that there was enough slop in the assembly that it didn’t fully close the valve when requested. To constrain it a little more I used some zip ties on the handle to lock it down a little further. This was surprisingly effective.My setup works, but I was pretty disappointed that I had to go through all of this to get it to “work”. I am going to keep working to improve the install as I want it to be bulletproof so it works if/when it needs to.Aqara can improve this design by:-Allowing for a vertical adjustment on the bracket. (closer/further from pipe). A two piece bracket with a simple channel/keyway with a slot for the bolt will allow this.-Make the bracket extend further away from the valve, down the length of the pipe. This will allow it to clear larger valves and mount directly to the pipe, including pro-press valves which are bigger than mine.-Design the bracket to utilize two hose clamps. This will VASTLY increase at the rigidity of the mounting method and make sure that it doesn’t twist on the pipe.-I would recommend changing the valve handle “gripper” to be a two piece clamshell design. Instead of two arms to cradle the handle, just use a flat plate with two screws that secure to another flat plate on the other side. This will accommodate different valve handle sizes and further constrain the valve to prevent “twisting” (like my zip ties did).

Peace of mind
Works as designed. Only challenge is getting installed. Just need an extra set of hands 😁.

Easily Installed and works great
Only have been running it a month, but it is has worked amazing so far. I use this daily to turn on and off the main water valve when I arrive and leave and Workshop. Will update after more use, But so far works like a charm.

It took me literally 10 min to install and 1 minute to add it to my Samsung smartthings hub. I believe it connects via zigbee 3.0.I do not have an aqara hub. I just put in the batteries and the lights started blinking and opened my smartthings app connected to the smartthings hub and voila, it was auto detected and automatically added as a switch. It has on and off state. I also have ikea water leak sensor added to smartthings so i just added a routine/automation so then when the sensor detects water, it turns off the water valve.This device is a no brainer and the best and most important smart home investment ever.P.S.I have tried using the cheaper zigbee/matter smart water valves before this but either they were too weak despite being connected with an actual power adapter or they did not close the valve completely.In the end I’d say, just spend $100 and get this product.. You won’t regret it.

Top!

Mouvement limité à 45 degrés.Très bon couple… pour les vannes un peu dures.N’est pas adapté aux anciennes vannes (en forme de lame-pic)Et il faut prévoir au moins un espace de 5-6cm sous la tige de vanne,… et un espace de 16cm sur 25cm autour du tuyau.A part cela ça fonctionne…