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How to detect Status "Unknown" or Z-wave communication issues?

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    How to detect Status "Unknown" or Z-wave communication issues?

    Scenario:
    I went to change the batteries on my Schlage lock the other day, after connecting the battery clip I unlocked from the keypad and assumed everything was fine.
    Before I went to bed I manually locked the door and thought nothing of it.

    In the middle of the night I can see the status LED on my HS 200 dimmer indicating the door is unlocked. After walking downstairs I confirmed that the door was indeed locked. I then tried sending a lock and unlock command from my phone, nothing worked. Being middle of the night, went back to bed and decided to troubleshoot in the morning.

    When I finally got to the HS4 web interface in the morning I checked the child-device Door Lock status... the device numerical value was "0" indicating unlocked (hence why my overnight event was stuck indicating unlocked) but the status value was "Unknown". Subsequent testing showed the controller could not reach the node. I finally disconnected the battery, reconnected, and then everything was working perfectly. Apparently I must have bounced the battery connection the day before which screwed up the z-wave transceiver in the lock.

    So here's the question:
    How do i get ahead of this before it happens again so I know there's a problem SOONER rather than much later. Is there a way in an event to detect status "Unknown" versus what was was in the device value (which was 0 = unlocked)??

    Are there other fail-safe detection methods that one can utilize to detect device communication errors? Is the answer to turn on polling? Yes, i know it's frowned upon, but what if I limit the polling to once an hour?

    What methods do you use to proactively detect Z-wave communication issues?

    #2
    You could try this: I'm doing pretty much the same with Yale Z-Wave (YRD210) locks - these are plain z-wave - not plus. I have an event that fires up some z-wave led bulbs if I leave any of the doors unlocked and based on the color I know which one. i started having issues after I enabled this because it seems if I unlock and lock too quickly the status never gets back and my LED stays on. I added an event that says if whatever door lock (the actual lock child device) is unlocked > 1 minute then poll. Most of the time that works.

    So in summary for grins maybe try polling the lock after it has been unlocked for more than x amount of time..

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