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Trouble with Linked Devices

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  • George
    replied
    Originally posted by TC1 View Post
    George you hit on the one "dirty little secret" of Z-wave associations, not all devices report back to the controller. Don't forget, the initial "conversation is between the devices, not the controller.

    There are some specific older brands and most newer devices will report updated status to the controller when doing direct Z-wave associates between devices. I specifically chose Cooper Aspire dimmers several years ago because they had an undocumented Z-wave parameter that forced them to update their status. For newer devices, they have to support multiple group associations.

    The problem is with the WS200+, it's up to it to tell HS3 that its status has changed due to a direct Z-wave command from Leviton controller. From what I can see in my HS4 setup and the WS200+ installed, it supports Group 1 and Group 2 associations. Group 1 is obviously already assigned to HS. I'm not sure this will work, but try setting the Group 2 association to HS also. Unfortunately I don't have time at the moment to lab this in my own environment.

    EDIT: My mistake, I have a WD200+ in my setup, but I'm assuming the Group Associations will work the same as the WS200 since they use the same generation Z-wave chip.
    TC,

    Thanks, I was able to assign Group 1 and Group 2 to Homeseer on the WS200+. I don't have the controller wired up yet, so I'll give it a shot and see if the switch will report back. If it does then I'm a happy camper. If it doesn't, I will have 4 of these pretty nifty things for sale!

    Leave a comment:


  • BobSpen
    replied
    Originally posted by philgrocks View Post
    I have two Z-wave wall switches that I want controlled together...

    Switch 1 "On" --> Switch 2 also turns "On"
    Switch 1 "Off" --> Switch 2 also turns "Off"
    Switch 2 "On" --> Switch 1 also turns "On"
    Switch 2 "Off" --> Switch 2 also turns "Off"

    I have been using the "Linked Device" capability on HS3 and now HS4 for the last few months. I have Switch 1 linked to Switch 2 and Switch 2 linked to Switch 1.

    99% of the time this works perfectly as I would expect above.

    But sometimes the two devices go into a ping-pong behavior... Somehow they get out of sync... The only solution is to shutdown homeseer and restart. This same behavior happened on HS3 and now HS4.

    Am I doing something wrong? Is there a better method?

    Thanks
    Back to the original OP's question: I have two WD100's that are "linked" to each other and have had no troubles for 2 years and they switch 2 times per day(~1400+ times) ALWAYS initiated from the HS system, not manual. When I tried this feature I was concerned that a "ping-pong" condition could occur but it never has. Since they are dimmers, with a couple second ramp, and I believe the switch reports it's changed state at the END of the ramp. This may be keeping me out of trouble? Just another data point.

    Leave a comment:


  • TC1
    replied
    George you hit on the one "dirty little secret" of Z-wave associations, not all devices report back to the controller. Don't forget, the initial "conversation is between the devices, not the controller.

    There are some specific older brands and most newer devices will report updated status to the controller when doing direct Z-wave associates between devices. I specifically chose Cooper Aspire dimmers several years ago because they had an undocumented Z-wave parameter that forced them to update their status. For newer devices, they have to support multiple group associations.

    The problem is with the WS200+, it's up to it to tell HS3 that its status has changed due to a direct Z-wave command from Leviton controller. From what I can see in my HS4 setup and the WS200+ installed, it supports Group 1 and Group 2 associations. Group 1 is obviously already assigned to HS. I'm not sure this will work, but try setting the Group 2 association to HS also. Unfortunately I don't have time at the moment to lab this in my own environment.

    EDIT: My mistake, I have a WD200+ in my setup, but I'm assuming the Group Associations will work the same as the WS200 since they use the same generation Z-wave chip.

    Leave a comment:


  • George
    replied
    TC or anyone, have you had an issue in which direct associations don't show the 2nd device status in HomeSeer?

    I have 4 Leviton Visia RF+ 4 button wall controllers. Model VRCS4-1L

    I can add the device to HomeSeer but HS does not add any child devices, only the controller.
    I then went into the Associations tab in the controller and directly associated a button to a Z-Wave Switch (Basement as I was down there)

    Then I tried it, the Visia controlled the load on the WS200+ switch perfectly, leaving me in the dark but HomeSeer still showed the switch as being on.
    I checked the association of the switch and it was still associated to HS3

    I tried multiple times and the same

    Does anyone know a trick to get HS to recognize these nifty controllers and either run events or just control devices?

    These would make a great replacement to all my X-10 wall button modules.

    I've attached the install manual, as I said it does add to the Z-Wave network but only as a controller with no child devices.
    Direct association with each button in the Associations tab controls the load but leaves HS clueless.

    Ideas?
    Attached Files

    Leave a comment:


  • TC1
    replied
    Originally posted by philgrocks View Post
    I have two Z-wave wall switches that I want controlled together...

    Switch 1 "On" --> Switch 2 also turns "On"
    Switch 1 "Off" --> Switch 2 also turns "Off"
    Switch 2 "On" --> Switch 1 also turns "On"
    Switch 2 "Off" --> Switch 2 also turns "Off"

    I have been using the "Linked Device" capability on HS3 and now HS4 for the last few months. I have Switch 1 linked to Switch 2 and Switch 2 linked to Switch 1.

    99% of the time this works perfectly as I would expect above.

    But sometimes the two devices go into a ping-pong behavior... Somehow they get out of sync... The only solution is to shutdown homeseer and restart. This same behavior happened on HS3 and now HS4.

    Am I doing something wrong? Is there a better method?

    Thanks
    You could just bypass all this and do direct Z-wave associations between the switches. It's instantaneous and doesn't rely on the home automation controller.

    I do this to unify separate light circuits under my kitchen cabinets which then allows me to control them as one circuit from two different dimmers on each end of the room.

    Leave a comment:


  • George
    replied
    Linking, while a good idea, doesn't work and produces what everyone is saying. I've just setup 'Follower' events that trigger if one light goes on to turn the other one. With Easytrigger, it's even simpler as you don't have to know on from off. You just tell EasyTrigger to set the 2nd device to the value of the first device.

    And just for grins, I put in a do not re-run event for 10 seconds in each event to prevent any ping-ponging.

    Leave a comment:


  • philgrocks
    replied
    Thank you all very much. I have been suffering with this problem for a long time and had my wife (rightfully) complaining for some time.

    I don't get how something this fundamental doesn't get fixed. If it can't get fixed the feature should be removed.

    Again thanks!

    Leave a comment:


  • YouElz
    replied
    I had not much luck with linking devices, I always use events.

    Leave a comment:


  • jgreenberg01
    replied
    I had a similar issue. Overcame it with 4 events:

    If Light 1 Turns ON and Light 2=OFF, then turn Light 2 ON
    If Light 2 Turns ON and Light 1=OFF, then turn Light 1 ON
    If Light 1 Turns OFF and Light 2=ON, then turn Light 2 OFF
    If Light 2 Turns OFF and Light 1=ON, then turn Light 1 OFF

    Don't forget to Unlink the devices first. No more random ping pong games

    Leave a comment:


  • crossedswords
    replied
    Following. I have the same issue.

    Leave a comment:


  • philgrocks
    started a topic Trouble with Linked Devices

    Trouble with Linked Devices

    I have two Z-wave wall switches that I want controlled together...

    Switch 1 "On" --> Switch 2 also turns "On"
    Switch 1 "Off" --> Switch 2 also turns "Off"
    Switch 2 "On" --> Switch 1 also turns "On"
    Switch 2 "Off" --> Switch 2 also turns "Off"

    I have been using the "Linked Device" capability on HS3 and now HS4 for the last few months. I have Switch 1 linked to Switch 2 and Switch 2 linked to Switch 1.

    99% of the time this works perfectly as I would expect above.

    But sometimes the two devices go into a ping-pong behavior... Somehow they get out of sync... The only solution is to shutdown homeseer and restart. This same behavior happened on HS3 and now HS4.

    Am I doing something wrong? Is there a better method?

    Thanks
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