How do I disable the local button on an intermatic outlet?

Developer's Corner General Dev Discussions
1

I apologize if this is the wrong section. I have a need but don’t know how to do some of the finer programming. Let me explain my situation. I am using an intermatic wall outlet to control my son’s TV. He is 3 and finally realized he can press the button on the outlet to turn on his TV. This of course underminds my system for controlling how much TV he watches and empowers him to watch TV during bed time hours. Is there anyway for me to disable that button but still allow me to control it from my phone and with scenes?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

2

Is it a plugin appliance module or an in wall outlet?

From a non programming standpoint…

If its an in-wall module I would say the best thing you could do is use some sort of mechanical solution like a flat plate (to cover the button), that is secured by a screw. If you have an appliance module then I suggest gluing some sort of cover over the button.

If you want to do this electronically then you could maybe do this in tandem with a scene and a virtual switch. Depending on the brand of switch and whether it reports its status without being polled, you could set it to “off” via a scene if its switched on (you use the same switch as a trigger for the off command), you would then also need a virtual switch to override this behavior when you want it on, or set it to only do this during certain hours.

If the switch doesn’t report its status immediately, then you would need to poll the switch to determine its state.

3

As a programmer, “superglue” was the first thing that popped to my mind when I read the OP… 8)

4

[quote=“strangely, post:2, topic:173445”]Is it a plugin appliance module or an in wall outlet?

From a non programming standpoint…

If its an in-wall module I would say the best thing you could do is use some sort of mechanical solution like a flat plate (to cover the button), that is secured by a screw. If you have an appliance module then I suggest gluing some sort of cover over the button.

If you want to do this electronically then you could maybe do this in tandem with a scene and a virtual switch. Depending on the brand of switch and whether it reports its status without being polled, you could set it to “off” via a scene if its switched on (you use the same switch as a trigger for the off command), you would then also need a virtual switch to override this behavior when you want it on, or set it to only do this during certain hours.

If the switch doesn’t report its status immediately, then you would need to poll the switch to determine its state.[/quote]

I made a trigger that does exactly that. I manually disable the trigger during the approved tv hours. Not sure how I could set a schedule to the trigger though.

It’s an in wall outlet so I am going to look into some safety covers and see if any happen to cover that area.