Strange things are happening in the office

[racerfern]

For some strange reason my HS-WS100 light switch failed. It communicates with HS4 but I can't hear any relay toggle and nothing that I do will turn the light on. HS4 thinks it turned the light off/on when activating from the Devices screen but nothing happens. Once in a while the lot says "Failed sending Z-wave command...:

In addition, I have an Aeotec Multisensor 6 that also controls the same light. Suddenly, the green motion light is on 24/7 although it appears to function. The green light usually only comes on when it senses motion. This is now USB powered and has always been USB powered.

Both problems happened at the same time. WEIRD! I tried excluding and re-including to no avail.

One last thing, the HS-WS100 has a small LED below the paddle and that was rapidly blinking yesterday but slowly faded away while blinking rapidly.

I'm inclined to think the WS100 took a $hit but the Aeotec green light baffles me. Thoughts? Suggestions?

[ewkearns]

Physically remove the HS-WS100 and see how that changes the Aeotec. Alternatively, you could have some Z-wave misbehaviour not related to those two items that is affecting them. A huge problem with Z-wave is that without diagnostic tools one malfunctioning device can create an epic mess.

[racerfern]

A huge problem with Z-wave is that without diagnostic tools one malfunctioning device can create an epic mess.

Agreed, I have a number of devices that won't show associations, have lost contact with its z-net, etc. Fortunately, most are outdoor ambient lighting that aren't critical this time of year.

I think the only thing that will straighten things out is completely excluding, then a total reset of two z-nets and re-include all my devices. In addition to diagnostic tools, I wish there were were a way to re-build the z-wave database. Who knows if the problem is in the z-net or in HS4?

[racerfern]

ewkearns

Physically remove the HS-WS100 and see how that changes the Aeotec.

What?!?!?? I disconnected line from the WS100 and the Aeotec sensor green light went off. Plug it back in and the light goes back on. How? Why?

[drhtmal]

I would power cycle everything and see if it works.

I have had WSx00 devices fail with the relay stuck on. A little percussive maintenance could unstick the relay. If that does not work my guess would be that the WS100 is dead.

[racerfern]

drhtmal Love it, percussive maintenance huh? NG. I have spare dimmers around so I'm going to put one of those in. I just bought some Z-Link dimmers really cheap and I think they're identical to the HS WD and WS series.

[ewkearns]

ewkearns

What?!?!?? I disconnected line from the WS100 and the Aeotec sensor green light went off. Plug it back in and the light goes back on. How? Why?

This is kinda what I expected to see. Again, without diagnostic equipment, my SWAG is that you have some wild and crazy Z-wave crosstalk. Sadly, the "why" is probably above my pay grade...

[racerfern]

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried replace bad node after switching to a new device. It removed the old switch that was definitely bad but did not replace it with the new one. Possibly because the new dimmer is an entirely different animal.

I included the new dimmer securely just as a curiosity and everything worked perfectly. It showed as a Stelpro until I renamed it although the Node Info shows ZLink as the manufacturer.

[racerfern]

ewkearns Have you seen this or anything like it?

https://www.zwaveproducts.com/collec...z-wave-toolbox

[ewkearns]

Yes, but I haven't seen a review. When they first came out they were $250, which was a silly price point, except for a practicing professional. If they would drop the price to something reasonable, they could sell a ton of those, but at the current cost, most people will handle the periodic issue with a "cut-it-out" and see what happens part-swapper approach. I hate that, but...

[TC1]

One could download the Silicon Labs Z-wave tools for free. I recently did that to upgrade the firmware on a node that Homeseer doesn't support the firmware file for.

The Silicon Labs (they make all the Z-wave chips) tools can tell you literally anything you want about the network or a device, but be forewarned, without technical knowledge of Z-wave it might be confusing.

[ewkearns]

Can you still do this? I'm a little confused whether this will be available for mere mortals, going forward...

https://z-wavealliance.org/cit/

[Tomgru]

My guess is that something was going on with the association between the switch and the sensor.

[racerfern]

Tomgru It sure seems like that except that I didn't have an actual association set up. It was done through events. Although the common association of each device was HS4, but not directly. No linking either.