[newbie] After the first euphoria: Safety? Security?

[pellusfromtellus]

Posted in General discussions where we can talk about "everything".. Right?

I'm in the beginning of my learningcurve but I built my first 4 mysensor nodes and there will sure be a lot more. Very briefly; my enviroment; raspberry pi with domoticz and 5 "zwave plus" units and a serial GW to MySensors and 4 nodes (motion, button, relays). It's overwhelming and exciting. Lego for adults.

But.

My first step: Euphoria, when understanding that everything is possible.
Second step: Shopaholic! I bought a lot of different arduinos, radios, component and sensors. (btw; isn't it unbelievable that you can order stuff for 1 euro sent with free shipping from china to northern europe. I still don't understand it!?)
Third step: powersupply? casing? radiorange? mounting details? stability?

Now I start to think a little about safety – I don't want to burn down my house – and security:

Safety: How do I make my nodes as safe as possible (in an electrical sense)? My first nodes was powered by cheap asian-made USB-chargers, but how many didn't serve less than 5V? ..marked with 1A or 2A but giving me 0,5A (lack of quality, but cheap of course). Can I trust them or have anyone had some incident (like fire, short circuits, overheating) with these kind of cheap low-end products? Anyone who can share thoughts about WHAT to think about or even better; building hints/tips? (Yes, I ordered my first pack of power supply modules; http://www.ebay.com/itm/261985573055 )

Security: Thoughts in two directions;

a] Building guidelines for parts of the system that includes physical security, larm sensors, motion detectors, door sensors that are vital. Yes, I understand that ANY radiobased network could be taken down by radiojammers.. What approach should I have? "cabled hubs" (mySensors ethernet gw?) by wire controls/reads sensors. Maybe having a cabled ethernet as "back-bone" wiyh 3-4 gw/repeaternodes? Anyone who have smart ideas or building concepts? Maybe build a cabled ethernet backbone, but this wireless stuff feels som comfy..

b] I've read some posts about signing (e.g. https://www.mysensors.org/about/signing ). Does this extra complexity affect the stability/reliability? ..and whats next step? encrypted messages? certificates?

Share your thoughts..... ..if You want to..

Best regards from a true Newbie!

[sundberg84]

@pellusfromtellus - I have spent alof of time with the safety question (AC to DC mostly and power supplies) - and it boils down to reading official guidelines and understanding that the more you read the more scary it gets... There is alof of discussions on this forum you can read! Start here for example.

• http://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1607/safe-in-wall-ac-to-dc-transformers
• https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/4175/clearance-creepage-and-other-safety-aspects-in-mysensors-pcbs (with alof of links)
• http://lygte-info.dk/review/Power Mains to 5V 0.6A Hi-Link HLK-PM01 UK.html
• https://skippy.org.uk/quick-look-at-the-hlk-pm01/
• https://www.ieee.li/pdf/essay/safety_considerations_in_power_supply_design.pdf

General tip is that cheap is bad (both power and safety) when it comes to power supplies. All you can do is stick to official rules for your country and understand if shit hits the fan you are probably in trouble since its DIY. If you want to be really safe (like OK from your insurance company) you need a official certification like CE or FEE on your product.

And yes, I had incidents... https://forum.mysensors.org/topic/1607/safe-in-wall-ac-to-dc-transformers/36

[pellusfromtellus]

@sundberg84 Thanks a lot for taking time to answer me. I will study all of your links carefully! Tks again!

EDIT: Wow! There is a lot to read, learn and do! ..and I guess I should unplug ALL of my nodes..

/Pelle

[sundberg84]

@pellusfromtellus - well yes and no.
I live in Sweden, we had aprox 1600 stove fires (dry cocking and electrical failures) last year and 15 fires from usb chargers... (no ref, heard on tv).
So you need to be carefull but also know that its not impossible and you will not start a fire if you have a basic knowledge. Its finding a good balance...