# A problem I have and asking for ideas on how to address the "problem"

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/a-problem-i-have-and-asking-for-ideas-on-how-to-address-the-problem/102114>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [9 November 2026 20:56 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/a-problem-i-have-and-asking-for-ideas-on-how-to-address-the-problem/102114 "2026-11-09T20:56:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![dynamicdave](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/dynamicdave/32/96_2.png) [@dynamicdave](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/dynamicdave)\
**Post date:** [10 November 2026 13:26 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/a-problem-i-have-and-asking-for-ideas-on-how-to-address-the-problem/102114/21 "2026-11-10T13:26:04Z")

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**Sorry** , posted the wrong link. Got me worried as I've just ordered another two of these switches.  
This is the **correct** link to the Smart Plug to switch the mains as well as showing consumption.

Single pack:- [https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008430296089.html](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008430296089.html)

Twin pack:- [https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008584169841.html](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008584169841.html)

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**Author:** ![TotallyInformation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/totallyinformation/32/31_2.png) [@TotallyInformation](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/TotallyInformation)\
**Post date:** [10 November 2026 16:40 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/a-problem-i-have-and-asking-for-ideas-on-how-to-address-the-problem/102114/22 "2026-11-10T16:40:54Z")

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Hmm, top comment showing for me:

> It's fine, it does the job and works with home assistant. i just had to set up the wifi credentials and mqtt server ip. it gets very hot to the touch when the appliance using it is drawing 3kw. it is painful to touch. i would expect only the relay inside to be hot, but the whole smart plug is hot instead. i'm scared for the safety. it's still working fine, but it's worrying. i'm not sure if it can cause a fire.

I'm afraid I'd never trust any of the direct from China devices under any real continuous load.

Shelley devices are relatively expensive if brough direct (due to shipping costs as well) but they have a long term reputation now. Early Sonoff devices also weren't really to be trusted at high loads but now seem very reliable.

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**Author:** ![Trying\_to\_learn](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/trying_to_learn/32/28400_2.png) [@Trying\_to\_learn](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Trying_to_learn)\
**Post date:** [10 November 2026 19:54 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/a-problem-i-have-and-asking-for-ideas-on-how-to-address-the-problem/102114/23 "2026-11-10T19:54:11Z")

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# Wow, thanks all for the replies and support.

But I am still reading confusion on how it works.

_BTW it was built about..... 14 years ago._  
And I think it was my second (or third) ever Arduino project.  
It was going to have sensors on it for detecting when the pots have/had enough water, and a rain sensor.  
Alas those were never applied but the code was written for them.

## To review:

The box is an entire system to water my plants daily.  
It is plugged into mains - gotta get the voltage from somewhere - but runs on 12V DC.  
It has a 12V 5A _Brick_ for the power.

Soon after it was built I got into the world of NR.  
And soon after that, Tasmota and Sonoff, which opened a whole new way of doing things.

The Sonoff device wasn't with Tasmota and I had to flash it. Anyway.....

## What happened next:

Because of NR, I could control the Tasmota switch to power it on/off daily around the desired time. (Save power)  
But there was still the problem of _Detecting rainy days_.  
3 Years down the track, I found the weather node that could give me weather for where I am.  
That helped.  
So I modified the NR code so if it was raining, it didn't turn on the power at mid-day.

Soon after than my network got a HUGE redesign. **H.U.G.E!**  
Alas that gave me a whole world of pain with power supplies - I posted here at the time asking for help - and MQTT messages and all that.  
I would get home from work and the plant waterer was turned on.  
Not at 17:00.  
It's time is 12:00  
So a lot of pain there and the problem was found/fixed.

## More recent events:

Alas I don't work any more. ☹ Took a year to get over that shock.  
But I am still seldom home at mid-day.  
The TANK I use holds a bit more than the required 2 weeks of water, and when I was refilling it, I would notice it wasn't as empty as it usually was.  
As _luck_ would have it, a couple of times I WAS home at mid-day.  
I would hear it turn on, water and turn off.  
Then one day I noticed the short time between turning on and watering.  
So, I checked the time in the waterer - it shows the time on boot. It was slipping.  
(Hey a 2032 ? battery can't last forever)  
Argh! I didn't add code to adjust the time when I wrote it as time slip wasn't a problem.  
It was supposed to be powered 24/7. (Things change)

So at 11:50 (Real time) the waterer says/thinks it is 12:00  
To get around that problem I changed the times of powering the device to 11:40 - 11:59  
(See previous screen shot)

There are `5` (FIVE) plants to be watered.  
An arduino is needed to switch the solenoids to control the water flow from the pump.  
Each pot having it's own time for water flow.  
The pump is a small one that isn't the best for the job, but was a good price.  
It is high pressure, low flow. But I think it was like $20 at the time.  
It needs some pressure as there is a bit of resistance in the solenoid/s.  
(They were bought new and are used in washing machines. They cost about $30 each.)  
And the PSU (5 Amps) was not cheap either. About $50 - I think.

## Where am I confused?

Well, couple of things:  
It has `3` modes.  
1 - from mid-night  
2 - at time  
3 - from dawn  
Because though `at time` was the default, but I got to overthinking it.  
If it started raining overnight. No need to water tomorrow. (From mid-night)  
Or, if I got up and it wasn't raining overnight, but was threatening to rain today, "From dawn" was introduced.  
They read the detected rain hourly and got a total rainfall for that day.  
If it exceeded the value set, watering that day was skipped.  
But those reading were at _time_: 00  
Now - because of the RTC slip - the time of watering is _time_: 50  
So, OCD me, thought it would/could be better to check the rain at the same time/part of the hour.  
But in retrospect, it is an ongoing total and so WHEN the values are taken is probably not important.

Or - at worst - how do I modify the flow so it sort of echoes the changed time for watering.

Clearer?

P.S.  
Summer time is another world of pain.  
Well, was. But it caught me out.  
I didn't have Summertime code in the waterer code.  
Again: why should it. It is just doing a daily thing. 1 hour drift of time isn't the end of the world.  
But I've addressed that problem in NR.

[Previous page](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/a-problem-i-have-and-asking-for-ideas-on-how-to-address-the-problem/102114.md?page=1)