Plug Failure/Unusual Issue

BertQuodge

I have a LocalBytes plug that has been working well for a few weeks. The plug switches a small TV, which draws about 60watts. I tried to turn the TV on yesterday, via HomeAssistant, but nothing happened. The LocalBytes plug didn’t respond to its own button either. On checking, the LocalBytes plug fell off the wifi network about 2 hours earlier. I removed power from the LocalBytes plug and powered up again. The plug started working again. I then updated the plug’s firmware to 2025.4.2.

A similar issue occurred this morning on the same unit, except I was trying to turn the LocalBytes plug off via HA. This time wifi was still connected (-61dB), and if I look at the logs of the LocalBytes plug via wifi I can see no events if I try and switch the plug on or off via HA or via the plug’s built in switch. I see other log events ok. The relay doesn’t operate and the LED on the LocalBytes plug doesn’t change state. I power cycled the LocalBytes plug again and it started to work. After a few minutes I can now control the plug via HA but not via the LocalBytes plug’s built in switch. The built in switch has not been disabled. If I operate the built in switch the HA status doesn’t change, if I operate the plug via HA, it works as expected. The LocalBytes plug is slightly warm to the touch, just the same as my other plugs. I powered cycled the plug again and it returns to normal working status.

The only warnings I’ve seen in the plug’s log are shown below:

[08:35:37][D][esp8266.preferences:238]: Saving preferences to flash…
[08:35:37][W][component:239]: Component preferences took a long time for an operation (60 ms).
[08:35:37][W][component:240]: Components should block for at most 30 ms.

The config on the plug is:

substitutions:
  name: "esp-w-plug7-yaml"
  friendly_name: "esp-w-plug7-yaml"
  default_state: "RESTORE_DEFAULT_OFF"
packages:
  localbytes.plug-pm: github://LocalBytes/esphome-localbytes-plug/localbytes-plug-pm.yaml@main
esphome:
  name: ${name}
  name_add_mac_suffix: false
  friendly_name: ${friendly_name}
api:
  encryption:
    key: xxxxxx
wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password
  reboot_timeout: 15min

I’ve replaced the plug with another but I’ll keep monitoring the original plug for the time being. The replacement plug, in the same location as the original, works fine. Both plugs report a -61dBm wifi signal level. There hasn’t been any other changes to my system or wifi. Both the original and replacement plugs are 2023-10-ESP, with 13A switching capacity, and are running ESPHome 2025.4.2.

The random failure behaviour is odd, if you have any ideas to try and resolve they will be appreciated.

Thanks

RebeccaH

Hi @BertQuodge

Sorry for the delay in replying to your post. Please don’t think we’re ignoring you!

To be perfectly honest, you’ve given us a bit of a head scratcher. Bear with us as we mull it over. 🙂

BertQuodge

Thanks for your response. I’ve powered the original plug off and on many times now and the issue has not re-occurred. The new LocalBytes plug I’m now using in place of the original has been faultless and I’ve not had any WiFi or other issues. Intermittent faults are the worst, but, so far, the original plug (located near its original location) is working ok.