How to set a simple timer reset

[Rmb]

[Alex_S1]

Sorry for delayed reply and thank you so much for so many replies.

I made a test flow with different timers from two apps and different time settings.
When I run it, no timer works. They simply run through directly and do whatever action they are supposed to do but without the set time delay.

I´d like to post a video to show it “live” but cannot upload it here.

@DirkG You´re right. There is no error when only one of the fields is used. I mixed it up.

[Alex_S1]

PS: In the Countdown app I created a time called “Licht Lager”. The remaining time is pre-set to -1. I can change and save new values but when I leave and enter the configuration again it shows -1 again. So to me it looks like the time I set in the card itself is multiplied by -1.

[Alex_S1]

Here a more detailed situation showing how fast the timer ends. In this case the timer ended in 10 ms.
The card is a random timer between 10 and 20 sec. But for all other cards it is the same. The ending time varies between 10 and 20 ms.

[Mike1233]

Have you removed the card with
IF zone inactive
THEN turn off the lights

[Alex_S1]

Maybe some background of why I´m doing it makes sense to some of you.
The last 7 years I built a Fibaro system with almost 90 physical components and over 100 scenes.
It never was smooth or easy to use and a lot of LUA knowledge is required to make it work more smart.
As the development of Fibaro doesnt seem to make progress, I decided to switch to Homey and tested at work first with few components and, besides the countdown issue, this system is years ahead compared to Fibaro.

[Alex_S1]

Yes, I made a new flow with just one timer card. Same story, it simply runs through.

[DirkG]

Excuse me, but I have the feeling by now that you don’t know what you’re doing or don’t know how these apps work.

@Alex_S1

Here a more detailed situation showing how fast the timer ends. In this case the timer ended in 10 ms.
The card is a random timer between 10 and 20 sec. But for all other cards it is the same. The ending time varies between 10 and 20 ms.

This is not the time how long the countdown ran, this is the time in which the flow card was executed. These are completely different things.

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Please create the following flow in the WebApp with the Chronograph app and save the flow:

Btw, you can also use 10 sec.
Then open the Homey App on your smartphone and open the settings of the Chronograph App (More → Apps → Chronograph → → App-Settings). The you will see such a screen:

Now push the play/start button in the WebApp. Then you will see in the Chronograph screen, that a timer starts to count down until its finished:

You have to create another flow with this flow card so that an action can be triggered when the timer has expired:

That’s it.

I recommend that you read the topic relating to the Chronograph App. This topic describes how to create flows:

[APP][Pro] Chronograph - Adds precise timer, stopwatch and transition functionality to Homey

Chronograph Adds precise timer- and stopwatch functionality to Homey. Features Create timers and stopwatches directly from flow cards, no need for a prior configuration, Start timers with a duration in milliseconds (fractional seconds), seconds, minutes, hours or days, Start stopwatches without a predefined end time, Trigger flows at exact timer- or stopwatch durations with millisecond (fractional seconds) precision, Self-explanatory flow cards for easy integration of timers and stopwatch…

(I created the description with the Chronograph app because I don’t have the CountDown app installed.)

[Alex_S1]

Thanks!

Now it works with two different flows where the countdown is a single flow.
My mistake was to think too simple. I thought adding a countdown card with 10s will mean that the next step connected to this card will start after 10s.

Thanks for the explanation and the support!

Again, sorry for asking (maybe) stupid questions but I come from the Fibaro world where things work very different in many cases.

[DirkG]

You’re welcome. The forum is the place to ask questions. In most cases it’s helpful to look at the app topic. In the App Store there is a link to the app topic for most of the apps.

BTW, I also switched from Fibaro to Homey, but that was a while ago. And in terms of usability, they are two different worlds.

[Alex_S1]

Thanks a lot.

[mrPilloft]

Hi Alex. Haven’t tested this, but imagine this would work.
1st line: Starts a timer when zone gets inactive
2nd line: Cancels the timer if zone reactivates
3d line: Does something when timer times out

Drawback: There’s a period of one minute after the zone gets inactive that’s unhandled. If you have motion sensors, then they could play into the mix as well.

[Alex_S1]

Hi!

Thank you for this suggestion!

This way it would be very easy. Unfortunately, the delay needs to be seconds, not minutes.
I´ve solved finally with the timer flaws and now it works.

Again, thank you!

Alex

[Marc_Jurriens]

You can make it more fancy, but you get what you want by making two flows:

Flow 1: every time the motion sensor senses motion you reset the countdown

Flow 2: when the countdown expires you turn off the light

[Alex_S1]

Got it work

Thank you!