Lithium Air Quality CO2 Sensor
Introduction
The Lithium Air Quality CO2 Sensor is a quality product provided by Lithium under their Smart Home brand MerryIoT. It is designed to be used for detection of indoor unwanted high CO2 levels.
It is a compatible device within the Lithium App, and it is used under the Environment category.
IMPORTANT: Given the nature of this sensor, being solely responsible for indoor monitoring of CO2 levels, it is not considered relevant for the users nearby, but more for the Owner of the device. Therefore, this sensor is configured to work in Silent Mode (private sensor) ONLY, and does NOT notify other users besides the Owner.
Quick Setup (Lithium App)
Step 1. Remove the packaging and insert the provided batteries (Li-SiO2 battery, “ER14505”, AA size x 2 pcs), using a small screwdriver (Cross-type screwdriver PH0). Pay attention to +/- direction, as this may be different from other battery-operated devices.
Step 2. Activate the device, by long pressing the Button on the sensor for over 5 seconds. Once the sensor joins the network, the LED will keep on for 3 seconds.
Step 3. Enrol the sensor in your account, by opening the Lithium App, touching the + (plus) icon under “Your Devices.” drawer list, and easy scanning the QR code on the side of the sensor’s body.
Step 4. If your device is a compatible model and it is enrolled in the Lithium system, the “Add Sensor” screen will be displayed, for you to check the details and use the map to fine tune the location of the sensor, by touching in the green circular area.
Info: The location is your current mobile device GPS location, and you can move the sensor pin freely around your location (no more than 500m away). If you need to place the sensor at a remote location, this is NOT possible. You need to be physically present in the installation location (+/- 500m to consider the GPS inaccuracies).
Step 5. Install the device in the desired room. It can be easily hanged on a wall using the appropriate screw or nail for your wall material.
Test
Now the sensor is installed. You DO NOT have to create a real Environment emergency on the public map to test if the sensor is properly sending signals.
Press the Test Button on the sensor. You should receive a Test Push Notification from the Lithium App.
Now everything works properly. You are DONE!
How does the sensor work within Lithium App?
Keep-Alive
While Idle, the sensor will transmit a Keep-Alive control signal, every hour (60 min), containing the state of the sensor.
Error State
If the sensor is not sending any data, not even the Keep-Alive signal at all within 24 hours, it will move into Error State and you will receive a notification to make you aware and allow you to check for any issue.
Trigger
The sensor will send data whenever the CO2 level exceeds the set threshold (CO2 level > 1000 ppm). If the threshold is reached, then an Environment emergency is triggered and published on the map, alerting ONLY the Owner of the sensor (Silent Mode).
Ending an active Emergency
The sensor scans the air quality every 10 minutes, reporting the trigger state, depending on the set threshold. During an active Emergency, changing the state of the sensor, by lowering the CO2 levels in the air around (e.g. by opening a window) will mark the Emergency as Solved after the next scan. This means the Owner is aware of the Emergency and the situation is stable, so no need to worry anymore.
The Solved Event will be automatically removed from the map after 10 minutes from marking as Solved (it can take maximum 20 minutes).
Ending a stale Emergency
For almost all sensors the emergency status will be updated by the consequent data transfers of the originating sensor.
If the sensor is not sending any update after the initial Emergency trigger, for more than ~6 hours, it will become irelevant and it will be automatically ended and removed from the map.
For the current Air Quality CO2 sensor, it means that sending the update signal every 10 minutes, with an exceeded threshold value, will keep the Emergency active indefinitely, until the Owner of the sensor lowers the CO2 levels.
Troubleshoot
If you think the device is not sending data properly, you can try the following.
- Perform a re-join procedure, to force the sensor to re-join the LoRaWAN network. To perform it, you need to long press on the Test Button for 5 seconds and release. The blue LED will blink quickly and then will stay lit for a couple of seconds if the Join was successful. Now the device is properly sending data over the LoRaWAN network around.
2. Check your Helium coverage at https://explorer.helium.com or https://mappers.helium.com. If you do not have coverage, you can expand the Helium network by installing a compatible Helium gateway. Check it out at https://heliummart.com.
3. In case you do have Helium coverage, make sure the gateways are online in the Helium Explorer, and try to move the sensor around in a different spot of your location. Better, try to join the sensor and check the signal outdoors. If you can use the sensor outdoors, then it might be your building materials are obstructionist the LoRa signal. Try placing the sensor as close to the outside as possible, such as near the house front door or a top level window, or an exterior wall..
4. Last thing you can do is to re-try all the Quick Setup steps. Just delete the sensor from the Update Sensor screen and re-add it as usual.
Still having issues?
You can use the official Lithium Community Discord channel to ask for help.
You can use the website support form here: https://lithium-app.com/support
You can write us an email with a detailed description of the issue at support@lithium-app.com
The original product information, data sheet and user guide may be found on the MerryIoT website here: https://www.merryiot.com/Product/Detail/7