Winter Boat Monitoring Tip - iSocket3G

[oceanfroggie]

Discovered this inexpensive shore power monitoring and boat temperature monitoring unit that uses 3G/4G SIM card. Saves extra trips to check boat during winter in this part of the world. It is essential to know your shore power is working and your heating is working. If there is a power cut in the Marina at least I will know and can phone marina staff to get power restored. A nice advantage is we can turn the heating on remotely from the car when we are a few hours from the harbour so it will be nice and toasty this time of year.

• SIM card slot + Backup battery
• It notifies you when shore power is cut or resumed
• Monitors Boat temperature
• Can control a 16amp appliance remotely switch on/off, timer schedule, temperature triggers, etc
• Sends alters for power cuts, temperature thresholds, etc

It uses SMS which can be a bit clunky to use, but they have an app that does the SMS bit for you. Its not the most sophisticated option but cost effective for winter frost protection (ie controls boat electric frost heating).

Dehumidifier on the LHS socket is on a conventional 24hr timer switch, but the electric oil/frost heating is on the Smart timer on the RHS

iSocket 3G: power cut tracker, temperature monitoring device

 

[Phildorset]

nice - thanks for posting

 

[EugeneR]

I am a big fan of these devices and have three active in the boat at present. Some types, like the new Energenie, allows you to control a further three sockets even.

Just yesterday, I received alerts that my boat's power had been disconnected - potentially exposing the boat to freezing temperatures while the heaters are disabled - and was able to make a call to get it reconnected.

I like the fact that the linked model uses 3G since many older makes e.g. Thermotxt, Powertxt, Tuta and GSMPlug requires 2G cards which is harder to find these days. That said, the price for the linked device is relatively high and devices can be had for much lower. Ebay is a common source as care homes etc get rid of SMS managed devices and opt for Internet managed ones instead.

 

[[2068]]

I've been using an iSocket for some time.

The little rechargeable battery inside mine failed after a few years ... a 3.7V Lipo from Ebay, a soldering iron, and some shrinkwrap has it going again for the grand sum of 5 Euro

I got a text alert a few weeks back, and cycled to the Marina to see what was happening (takes 2 minutes). Mr Disconnector-Because-I-Want-To-Connect-My-Orbital-Sander was quite shocked when I turned up and asked him why he had disconnected my boat and had plugged into my metered lead.

 

[EugeneR]

The little rechargeable battery inside mine failed after a few years ... a 3.7V Lipo from Ebay, a soldering iron, and some shrinkwrap has it going again for the grand sum of 5 Euro

Mine (non iSocket) was NiMH and I would be reluctant to replace that with LiPo. Sounds like the iSocket is a more modern device.

What used to go wrong with some of mine is the connection between the temperature sensor and the main unit which is simply a headphone socket. It then leads to SMS alerts e.g. at night to say that temperature has been lost. Easy to fix though. It seems the iSocket is slightly different on that front as well.

Most of these devices use the same - or at least similar - set of SMS commands e.g. #07# to get a status update. There used to be a good app on Android that made it easy to send these, but it has been removed. What app do you use?

Also, are there any IOT alternatives?