My Smartmi smart toilet seat suddenly stopped working today. The red light below the 2 buttons turned on but no lights at all on the control panel and none of the buttons work.
Can anyone please help me figure out what's wrong with it? Also trying to look for the English manual but the link posted in previous deals no longer works.
Truly a sh*tfest.
Oh $#!t….
Have you owned it for around 18 months? This seems to be the common break down period.
Yes, mine stopped working after about 18 months (I checked the date of purchase). The spray function doesn't consistently have pressure. Now the only way it works (not always perfect) but is to switch it on and off everytime. It is not a major hassle because the powerpoint is close by, but it is disappointing all the same.
Exactly the same here, also roughly in the 18 months range. What often works is alternating between the two spray buttons (the one which sprays more forward and the one a bit further back) - after cycling 1-3 times one of them normally has enough pressure.
But still quite disappointing that it breaks so early and will be looking to replace it with a different brand next time around.
yes, I did notice the other spray worked, but I thought that one was ladies… so I was unsure of the consequences! lol
Around 17 months for mine. Time to look for replacement I guess.
So I ended up replacing mine with this one from Bunnings for $399. Was not keen on the Xiaomi Whale Spout after what happened to this one.
https://www.bunnings.com.au/d-lucci-smart-bidet-toilet-seat_…
Size wise it's pretty similar to the Xiaomi without the side panel and at least I can deal with Bunnings if I need to claim warranty.
Hey Mucchan. My Smartmi also died at the 18 month point and I am looking at the Bunnings option.
How do you find the D'lucci? How does the water pressure compare to the Smartmi? I found even on high, it was too low for my preference.
Cheers!
Mike
The water pressure is fine for me. I think it's slightly stronger than the Smartmi.
Wife complains that there's no option to keep the light on with the D'lucci. Other than that everything else is as good / better than the Smartmi in our opinion.
to keep the light on, simply cover the light sensor (with tape, etc) at left hand side (next to the seat release button)
How weird mine just died as well, similar period. I'm gonna message Gearbite because thats just silly if they only last that long.
Mine also just stopped working. Bunnings one is also sold out near me so I ended up ordering one online
Planned obsolescence? Weird that they all died at around 18m, (mine is completely dead, no lights at all)
Mine also is playing up now, water pressure issue. Anyway to fix this by opening it up and replacing a faulty part?
Yes, mine too at 20 months!
It worked great for 20 months, but now seems a bit confused.
Selecting bum wash, it gives you a cold blast, a warm fanny wash, then another cold blast.
Fanny wash gives you a bum wash, but sometimes it all works OK
It is something to do with the 3 way valve that selects either of bum wash, fanny wash, or nozzle clean.
It is driven by a small stepper motor. The valve also has tapered slots so depending on the rotary position of the valve, the pressure can be adjusted from a gentle wash to almost an enema.
Taking the valve apart, it seems to have a small plastic tab to stop it spinning all the way around which was broken off in mine.
So it seems the stepper is losing its reference and not selecting the correct position.
I can't work out how it references the stepper, unless it relies on the motor stalling at the end tab, which won't work now because the tab is torn off.
Anyway, I can't fix the tab, and need a new valve but am unable to find anywhere to buy one.
The only help I could find was this Utube video https://youtu.be/rNXm95uXkS4?t=9
These Chinese products are not supported, and seem to have built in obsolescence, like Japanese ones 40 years ago.
So, I suggest you don't buy one until Xiaomi set up a spare parts network so they can be fixed.
At $300 to $400 to buy, they are not a throwaway product and breaking at less than 2 years is not acceptable.
Were you able to for back the broken part like what the guy did in that YouTube video?
Mine just started playing up about a week ago too after purchasing back in August 2018.
Same symptoms as what you describe.
How hard is it to pull everything apart?
I found that if I dial the pressure down to the lowest it seems to spray instead of just leaking out
I have had the same problem, unit is 20 months old.
I actually contacted the guy in the Youtube video above. He was most helpful and a top bloke. I managed to pull apart the unit and located the valve. I could not find any broken tabs in the valve mentioned in some of the posts above, or any "broken teeth" in the valve as referred to in the Youtube video. I suspect my model is different to the one in the Youtube video…
What I DID find was that there appears to have been some water damage to the stepper motor and the rotor looked clogged up. I cleaned the motor rotor with some RP7 and I assembled it back tonight and the unit is now working fine….
I will report back in a few days to see if the problem was caused by the stepper motor getting stuck. FYI, the stepper motor is a 24BYJ48 12V DC, less than $10 and easily available. I've got photos of where the problem bits are located - I don't know how to post photos here so PM me if you like.
In case anyone is interested and need to replace the seat, Bunnings now stock a seat with a wireless remote AND features an air dryer for $318, which is pretty good value. Its called "evekare Smart Bidet Toilet Seat with Wireless Remote Control". Obvious bonus is that warranty returns are much easier with Bunnings than getting any response from Xiaomi…
OK quick update - fix looks like to be temporary only and gone back to usual tricks. The fact that it went back to working fine for a day - weird.
Also, the Bunnings unit has gone up to $399 overnight…..
So my unit seems to be working ok now. Perhaps the problem is intermittent?
Initially I thought the filter was blocked (never replaced it) so I decided to clean that out.
There was only some sediment in the filter but not much. I flushed it out with vinegar and bleach and water (don't mix them together else you end up with chlorine gas I think).
Power cycled, triggered the wash a few times and not it seems ok.
Many thanks to Froogal for sending the photos.
Will report back if the problem resurfaces and I need to pull things apart to fix
The below photos are courtesy of Froogal:
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/119657/84775/img_3693.…
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/119657/84776/img_3697.…
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/119657/84777/5a455d7a-…
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/119657/84778/img_3694.…
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/119657/84779/img_3706.…
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/119657/84780/img_3699.…
Hopefully these help you figure it how to repair and fix your mijia toilet seat bidet
My toilet seat stopped working as well after 18 months. The spray position light kept flashing and the unit kept beeping. Opened it up, and found a damaged component in the three way valve. A tiny plastic nob (about 2 mm) sheered off the valve.
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/119657/84777/5a455d7a-…
Thanks edrift and Froogal for the photo.
Tried to glue it back on, didn't work. So next step is to get it 3D printed. Taking measurements was an absolute pain. If 3-D printing works, I'll post a step by step repair guide. Seems like a very common problem, and will be a pretty simple fix if we can get the right replacement part. Will be a shame for us to throw out an entire unit because of a tiny 2mm piece of plastic.
Hi Pedroz, keen to know how you go with printing that part. I found the part with the notch missing but couldn’t find the broken bit anywhere…
G'day Froogal
I found the broken plastic part sitting just underneath the motor shaft. It was resting next to another small notch in the housing, and did not look like a broken piece of plastic until I touched it with some tweezers.
Regarding the 3D prinitng, I took measurements on Sunday and asked a mate to put together a CAD model earlier this week, but realised that some of the measurements I had were off. So I purchased a new set of vernier calipers, and re-measured.
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/214916/86380/xiaomi_va…
I also emailed the 3D printing company this morning to ask if they can print the notch onto the old valve. I also asked how accurate the 3D print of the entire valve would be given how small some of the measurements are. Am waiting to hear back from them. Will let you know how I go.
Wow, looks like some tight tolerances.
Making the whole new part might take a few goes I'd say.
I have a 3d printing pen and when I get around to pulling my seat apart I would try just printing new plastic on to the old piece (assuming the same problem).
But currently I have been types of filament (PCL and pla) so I'm not sure which would bond the best.
I have had good success in plastic welding ABS before, but this piece looks too small to do that
I've put together a couple of models in Tinkercad, and have asked a company with some serious 3D printing gear to print off a couple of samples in different materials. First print will be done in resin based on the recommendation of the company. Given the way the valve works (the notch on the valve hits another notch in the motor shaft housing) it seemed printing the notch on to the old part would be a short term fix. Even if an entire re-print may only last another 18 months.
Hoping to pick up the printed part on Friday. Will keep you all posted on how it goes.
That is some very impressive work! Keen to know how you go.
I finally got around to pulling apart my seat based on the photos you sent me.
I was able to crudely 3d print a little tab on to the broken piece by using PLA filament and a soldering iron. (My 3d printing pen was broken at the time)
Everything inside the unit looked fine. No signs of water damage. No leaks.
Sadly still beeping and throwing errors. Water doesn't heat.
Valve seems to work (need to power off and on to test) but overall the seat is unreliable.
Printed a couple of replacement valves, got the seat sort of working after sanding away the part to make it fit. Unfortunately the the spray position light started flashing, and the seat stopped working. I tried replacing the broken valve with a valve from a working toilet seat, it didn't solve the spray position error.
Does seat heating still work? I may need only that for winter.
Once the spray position light starts flashing all the buttons become unresponsive. The seat stays heated, but I cannot adjust the heat setting. If the seat light is on, I can't turn it off.
Thank you, the board may has some problem. I've just bought this toilet and now a bit worry.
@ndoan: I just ran a test with the water tap turned off, no problems. All buttons work. When I turned the tap on, the spray position error came up, and water started leaking out of the housing. So looks like I had two problems, broken valve + water leak.
@Pedroz: Pedroz, Perhaps try rotate the valve 180 degrees before putting the stepper motor on. Also make sure the o-ring is seated properly on the valve. I made that mistake and water leaked everywhere.
@Pedroz: Did you ever get this fixed?
Aside from the inconsistent spray over the past 6 months, over the weekend the control panel just stopped working.
Flashing position light and the seat doesn't heat anymore.
No visible signs of external leaking
Anyone have any updates on getting this fixed? Mines doing it now..
Created an account to share back my findings with this most useful thread.
Mine developed issues after about 2.5 years - single person household so maybe less use than some others.
It had the sporadic spray issue, but no error codes.
Based on the info in this thread, I was able to find the "broken tab" and glue it back on using super glue.
It seems to have fixed the issue, although I think pressure may be slightly lower. Not sure how it will hold up. I suspect as others have metioned this notch is probably subject to regular stress, and so may fail again.
As DF8 mentioned above, it's a bit confusing how to orientate the valve when reassembling - I'm not clear if there is a "correct way"
Tip: If you don't have the right triangular screw driver, try searching around on how to open them without one. I was able to use another funny shaped screwdriver that was in my set.
Here's a couple more pics:
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/396833/89602/before.jp…
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/396833/89603/after.jpg
If it breaks again, I might try some "Knead It Aqua". I've had pretty good success with that in the past. It is moudable, has good adhesive properties and dries hard.
https://www.google.com/search?q=bunnings+knead+it+aqua
Nice one. Thanks for sharing!
So I gave up on mine and threw it away recently.
The valve fix was short lived and mine resumed beeping.
I bought the Kogan electric bidet seats instead. It uses more standard water fittings too instead of proprietary connectors.
Also has a dryer function and spare nozzles and filters included.
Got it on sale for $209 delivered and hopefully will last longer than the mijia one
Do you have a guide for the process to getting to this valve?
It's easy.
Remove the seat.
Unscrew the bottom. Screws are triangle ones and hidden by rubber plugs.
Unscrew the 4 Philips screws securing the valve (see photos i posted previously).
Unclip the valve housing
Remove the valve and repair.
Thanks will have to give this a shot
Update:
Holding up ok (5 weeks later), I was quite careful with the glue job. Used rubbing alcohol to clean before, and was very careful with placement.
Pressure is fine. Fingers crossed……
Fix worked for ~2 years. More issues again. Opening it up to determine if it's the same failure or something else.
Update:
Opened it up and the superglue tab fix was still holding strong!
I couldn't see anything obviously defective (which bothers me).
It was quite gunky though, so I gave it a decent clean.
I've put it back together and will test shortly.
While I had the valve stepper open, I observed it's start-up routine, which is to rotate about 180 degrees (?) counter clockwise (presumably searching for the endstop tab), then it rotates ~90 degrees clockwise (presumably moving to it's starting "middle position"?.
This routine repeats each power cycle, which means if it doesn't find it's home the first time, it's relative rotation means it will search further around on the next pass.
This is why it may (?) take a few power cycles to properly home itself?
Update 2: It is still doing the hot/cold sporadic spray silly buggers. Boo.
I tried super glue, works for about a week. Finally "old school" method soldered a small piece of metal on a metal washer (see picture) then glue it on the valve…..so far the toilet has been working for 5 months.
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/101344/89900/img_4431.…
That's a great idea. Surprised it still fit in the tube.
Also wonder if it rusted?
Since it is still working perfectly, I have not open it up to see whether it's rusted. It's on the dry side of the valve and I did use very thin "colour bond" material to construct the washer and painted the steel with a clear coat after gluing on the valve. Hope it will last for some time. Fingers crossed.
Nice one!
Perhaps I shouldn't have thrown out my seat. Oh well too late for that now.
Bought a Kogan one instead. Hopefully it lasts longer!
I wonder how a 3d printed version of your washer would hold up, glued in the same way.
Likely not as strong but potentially easier to manufacture for some (like me).
Might be able to design in a bit of extra stress relief by chamfering/filling/rounding corners a little etc…
One of the guys a few posts above already got a valve 3D printed
Yeah I did see that actually. Was thinking this hybrid approach might be less vunerable to tolerences and easier to modify/print at home.
Waiting for someone to make one so I can buy one haha. On another note, I'm having trouble undoing the filter to swap for a new one. any tips?
Have faced water pressure issues with my Bidet too (flashing light). Thought I'd have a go at the fix based on the pictures above and thought I'd share an update.
In my bidet, it looks like Xiaomi addressed that value failure issue and designed a new part for it in later batches, see:
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/194419/90867/img_20210…
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/194419/90866/img_20210…
Some further investigation: my stepper motor is running fine though and mechanically doesn't seem to have any problems. I reset the bidet a couple of times and watched the motor turn. The "wash" valve that cleans the bidet outlet runs fine, see below. So mechanically I think there should be enough pressure to squirt the water for a normal bum wash. There's also been a couple of times when I've pressed the button every 10 sec or so and it's worked after a couple of tries, but not anymore.
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/194419/90868/img_20210…
The flashing light issue seems to me like there's some failsafe sensor that's detecting an issue elsewhere and the coding logic refuses to proceed with the bum wash.
A bit bummed out ;) with the bidet. Seems over-engineered. I've had 2 of them, the first lasted ~2 years but one day no longer turned on. This one lasted 4 months and had the flashing light issue. I'm a big fan of Xiaomi products but very disappointed with this one and will be a bit more cautious.
Might consider the Cefito as a replacement or even a non-electric one that has lower chance of failing.
Interesting about that valve. It is a different design.
If only 4 months old, why not claim warranty?
I bought the kogan seat as a replacement. Still working, touch wood
Have tried already. Made the unfortunately mistake of buying from banggood without PayPal protection. Initially had high expectations because of the existing one I owned.
Hopefully the Kogan one lasts longer! I'm not a big fan of Kogan as a company either but seems like the bidet is a decent alternative.
Yes they are shocking to deal with sometimes.
I have had great warranty experiences with them sometimes, but terrible other times. Had to contact consumer affairs.
But at least it's an Australian seller bound by ACL unlike Banggood.
@edrift: Is your Kogan bjdet working fine. Thanks. Mine purchased from a company on ebay who closed and repair could be possible
@rehan770: Yeah Kogan one is working great
It is good because it has a dryer too, and came with spare parts (filters).
It also uses standard fittings.
I think the energy saving is better too
I’ve finally replaced my Smartmi with the Evekare from Bunnings - if anyone in Perth wants my unit for spare parts, send me a PM.
I took mine off and in Perth too. Replaced with the newer Xiaomi. My older one had the weird water pressure issue
Yeah it’s pretty annoying with the same problem for everyone. What’s the warranty on the new Xiaomi? The evekare was really easy to install, 3 year warranty (much easier warranty returns with Bunnings), same features as Smartmi but with fan and the controls are mounted on a remote you can stick on the wall. For some reason this unit is easily available in the eastern states stores but not in WA. I’ve been on the look out in Perth and got the last one in Armadale last week - otherwise it was only available in Bunbury or Albany!
How's your evekare going?
I bought one 2019 from Ebay. I used it for 8 months then the light start flashing and malfunction (No warranty)
I thought I was unlucky. 2021 I bought another one from Banggood. It last only 9 months, the same issue. Contacted Banggood, they said that the item only has 3 months warranty.
I bought many products from Banggood, Now I stay away.
This is a common issue. Xiaomi should do something about it.
Now I am going to buy one from Bunnings. It comes with a 3 years warranty. I hope it'll last.
My super glue fix is still holding up 1 year on. Fingers crossed.
I've managed to glue the valve but the rubber seal ring is leaking
Do you know if there is any replacement?
There is this whole valve and motor assembly on ebay. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/373955125249?var=642921460574
DF8 There seem to be different types of the valve and motor assembly, do you know which model is fitted to the Smartmi toilet please?
ie the positive line, or the reverse line.
30 mm or 50mm.
Many thanks.
Penmarkian To answer your question…I am not 100% sure. The motor in my smartmi was totally corroded. The valve leaks a little so I decided to buy the whole assembly. I've ordered the positive line assembly last week but may take a long time to arrive from china. Anyway the original motor only has a 20 cm lead so either the 30cm or the 50cm will do. I sent a picture of the original motor to the seller and the seller highlighted to me that the plug on the motor is a not exactly the same as the smartmi but can be modified to suit. If you can wait, I will let you know whether it works when I receive the new valve.
DF8
Thank you for your kind reply.
Please let me know when you have had a go at fixing it.
Kind regards.
Penmarkian,
I received the valve assembly last week. The valve is exactly the same as the original Smartmi valve so no problem there. However the plug came with the motor does not fit but no biggy just trim off some of the white plastic tabs and it plugs right in the motherboard. Now the problem I have encountered was the motor did not turn. So I contacted the seller and thought that the motor was faulty. The seller is very helpful and knowledgeable. They advised me to swap the wire (pins) around and success! Now my Smartmi is working perfect once again.
Please note the the original motor wires sequent (from top to bottom) was yellow, orange, red, brown and black. When I followed the same sequent, the new motor does not turn. The new motor need to go black, brown, red, orange and yellow.
Hope this helps. Let me know if it works for you.
DF8 Very much appreciated, and valuable advice. I will go ahead and order one.
Thanks for taking the time to write: it is very good of you.
Hey guys, my seat stopped working recently. The power trips immediately after the nozzle comes out and goes back in. Anyone with similar issues?
Hi all. Do anyone has any problem with the nozzle when the washing button pressed?
When I pressed the washing button, the bidet release some water but the nozzle does not come out.
What would be the problem?
same problem here, i opened the assembly, can't find anything visibly.
Hi All,
Thanks to all who contributed to this thread which helped me a lot to open and diagnose my bidet.
In my case, valve and washer were fully ok.
Water did spray but one time out of two, and worsening, the nozzle did not come out, thus. the water was sprayed inside the bidet, gladly not going too far.
I found it was because the ramp on which the nozzle is sliding had gotten too rough because of limestone deposit and/or was no more greased enough (if it was ever greased).
So I separated the nozzle from its ramp (straight forward job), cleaned everything with vinegar and sprayed some PTFE on the ramp.
All good for two months now, fingers crossed.
Ya I did the same that day and happy to report it's been working flawlessly since then.
Ok, so the jet issue seems now definitely solved, but the next problem is already surfacing, and it's a warm water issue.
For a few weeks, when I set the warm water to max (4/4) the four leds of the spray intensity begin to blink and I only get cold water.
If I set the temperature to min (1/4), all works fine.
If I set it to 2/4 or 3/4, there is first the blinking with cold water, and then after some seconds, the warm water comes out.
I noticed that the colder the incoming water is, the longer it takes for the blinking to stop.
Using the warm/cold alternating mode has no influence on the symptoms.
Situation is progressively deteriorating so I suppose that at some stage I will only get cold water.
I suppose that the water heating element is scaled, or has another issue.
Questions:
Did anybody experience the same symptoms, and find a solution?
Any hints on dismantling/unscaling the water heater?
Any source for a new water heater?
Many thanks,
Charles
I've decided to resurrect my old seat (1st gen Xiaomi)
The valve seems to be ok, even the o-ring
The steepest motor is rusty, so somehow water got inside there, it doesn't move freely, I don't have experience with steepest motor but I believe you should still be able to rotate it in steps?
I found replacements on eBay for around $15 for the motor with the exact same plug sand cable colour, but there are tons of it on AliExpress for as low as $3 just different cable colours and plug.
I'm a bit hesitant on just replacing the motor without addressing whatever caused the water ingress. Maybe I could speak the gaps with tape? But if the leak is from inside, it'll ruin the next motor too
For anyone still reading, I bought the stepper motor but kept getting 4 LEDs flashing, it was only when I turn the valve counter clockwise to the very end, and reinstalled that it started working. Only issue is it sprays when retracting, the timing might be off and I need to close the valve a bit
I did try to glue the broken tab on the valve with epoxy, but only last a few weeks and the back to broken state.
So now I drilled a 1.5mm hole at the broken tab position, just not deep enough to reach the o-ring, and insert a M2 stainless steel hex screw, then dremel the top off (if you are doing this remember to only cut for 1 second then dip the valve into water to cool down the screw, otherwise will melt the valve!), lastly sealed and secure it with super glue.
I think this should be much stronger than just gluing back the tab.
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/533522/118237/20241207…
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/533522/118236/20241207…
Probably part of the stoush we having going with Beijing at the moment. First, it was beef and barley exports, now'll they will really teach us by shutting down our Xiaomi smart toilet seats!
Lucky toilet paper is back in stock!