Reed Switch Whitepaper

Introduction

The reed switch is an electrical switch operated by applying a magnetic field. Without the magnetic field, the switch is open, with the magnetic field, the switch closes. This sensor allows Simple Hardware devices to cover a great number of use cases - when combined with a magnet.

The reed switch replaces the button functionality in the SimpleIndustry and SimpleMeter devices and is used to trigger downlink!

There are three API 6 user modes that work with the sensor:

  • Reed switch on/off

  • Reed switch counter

  • Reed switch pipeline

Each of these modes covers a different business logic by having sending different data based on different triggers. Let's have a closer look.

IMPORTANT: The reed switch functionality below works exactly the same with switch/dry contacts!

Reed switch on/off

How it works: When the reed switch closes, a message is sent immediately. When the magnetic field is no longer present and the switch opens, a different instant message is sent. Very simple!

Reed switch on/off is also available in three different WiFi versions. You can read about them right here!

Reed switch counter

How it works: The device will count the number of times the reed switch has closed (number of magnetic field presences/magnet rotations). You can choose the trigger of the message: either it's time (number of switches in e.g. one hour) or the exact count (message sent after e.g. 50 switches.)

Reed switch pipeline

How it works: The device will measure how long the reed switch was open and then how long it was closed. This will then be reported in a message that contains a total of 8 time periods: 4 for both states. E.g. reed switch closed for 12 minutes, then opened for 10 minutes, then closed again for 8 minutes, etc.

Reed switch modes comparison table

Reed switch-based modes can be fine-tuned with these downlink registers:

Here's the API 6 table for more information!

Last updated