Aeotec 7 Recessed Door Sensor Binary Door_Window object is always Closed

[HomeAutomationHawaii]

Aloha fellow HS users,

I installed 21 of the Aeotec 7 recessed door sensors in a client's house to manage their air conditioners when the doors are open/closed. Running HS4 4.2.6 on a Windows HometrollerPlusG1 and using Z-wave plugin 3.0.9.0. All is working well but I have a question about the objects that get created and their behavior.

When paired to the Z-Wave network these create several objects including one called "Sensor Binary Door_Window" and one called "Access Control Notification". When the sensor reports open or closed changes, only the Access Control Notification object changes to reflect the new state. The Sensor Binary Door_Window object shows "Closed" all the time and the Web UI shows no changes have ever been made (no change time) to these objects in the weeks they have been running. The plugin works fine generally and I get what I need from the sensors reliably but it seems odd that this field is created but (apparently) never used. I've used previous revs of these same sensors on HS3 and the roles are reversed. The Access Control Notification never changes and the Sensor Binary Door_Window (might be slightly differently named when created on HS3) reflects the open/closed changes.

As I said, I've got what I needed but is there any reason why this changed between HS3 and HS4? And perhaps why not have both objects created reflect the state changes? It's admittedly redundant but why create an object that (apparently) doesn't report what it seems to represent. Is the Sensor Binary Door_Window object deprecated but still being created? I guess it could also be the Aeotec 7 units operate differently than the previous models I have under HS3 as well. I see this behavior consistently across all 21 sensors.

Anybody know the history or logic behind how these are working?

Mahalo!

-HAH

[Rupp]

Can you post a screenshot of one of these devices and it's features/nodes. Is the Sensor Binary Door_Window type a root node? If so root nodes do not change status. They are the "parent" node for all child devices/features.

[HomeAutomationHawaii]

Can you post a screenshot of one of these devices and it's features/nodes. Is the Sensor Binary Door_Window type a root node? If so root nodes do not change status. They are the "parent" node for all child devices/features.

Thanks for the reply.

It is a feature node, not a root. As you can see in the attachment, the root is "South French door right". I had to find one that was currently open but you can see in the attached that the Access Control Notification feature has been updated recently and shows open while the Sensor Binary Door_Window shows closed and never updated (these sensors have been in place and included in the Z-Wave network for weeks).

The only two features I've seen update are the Battery and Access Control Notification features on all 21 of them.

[Rupp]

I do not have one of these but they appear to work just like Z-Wave lock where the open/close is shown via the Access Control Notification. I'm not sure what the Sensor Binary Door_Window is used for on this device. Does the documentation that came with these not show what Z-Wave classes these devices support?

[mterry63]

FWIW, I have one of these version 7 devices installed in HS3 and it behaves exactly as you've described. The binary sensor child device never changes status.

Did you add the unit securely (S0 or S2)? If you look at the data sheet it appears the Sensor_Binary support is highly dependent on the security level added.

It also looks like the Sensor_Binary report is disabled by default in parameter 1.

[HomeAutomationHawaii]

See the snips from the v7 docs below. Looks to me like it supports the Sensor Binary class and indicates what values will be reported for those objects. All sensors were included securely of course.

You may be correct but under HS3 the behavior for the v5/6 models was reversed from what I see (see attached from my HS3 system using them). And it seems odd to create features for it that never appear to get used but perhaps there's something in the Z-Wave spec that requires certain objects created if certain Z-Wave classes are reported supported. In any case, on HS3 that Sensor Binary Door_Window was the way Open/Closed events for the sensor were reported. On HS4 that feature sits idle and the Access Control Notification reports the state.


It could very easily be the sensors having changed in v7 rather than the plugin doing something unexpected but unfortunately I can't add a v7 to my HS3 system at the moment to see if it follows the behavior of the old ones or reports changes as I see on HS4. But the Aeotec docs seem to indicate both of those features should populate on HS4.

NOTE: I renamed the HS3 object in this case to "Left Door". It used to be something about a Binary door sensor, similar or the same as what the v7's create.






Mahalo!
-HAH

[HomeAutomationHawaii]

Yes, all added successfully securely. Given it works one way on HS3 and the opposite on HS4 I'm starting to think the plugin is just honoring one of the features on HS4 and not populating the Sensor Binary feature for some reason (just as it did on HS3, just the opposite way).

FWIW, I have one of these version 7 devices installed in HS3 and it behaves exactly as you've described. The binary sensor child device never changes status.

Did you add the unit securely (S0 or S2)? If you look at the data sheet it appears the Sensor_Binary support is highly dependent on the security level added.

It also looks like the Sensor_Binary report is disabled by default in parameter 1.

[HomeAutomationHawaii]

FWIW, I have one of these version 7 devices installed in HS3 and it behaves exactly as you've described. The binary sensor child device never changes status.

Did you add the unit securely (S0 or S2)? If you look at the data sheet it appears the Sensor_Binary support is highly dependent on the security level added.

It also looks like the Sensor_Binary report is disabled by default in parameter 1.

Just re-read this and given you see the Access Control Notification get used on HS3 (as I see it on HS4) with the v7 sensor, perhaps Aeotec did change something in the sensor as that implies it tracks with the sensor. I'll see if I can get Aeotec support to comment on it as now the plugin seems less likely to be the culprit.

-HAH

[HomeAutomationHawaii]

Just to circle back, I heard very quickly from Aeotec support (on a Sunday no less!) and they said that the Sensor Binary object is deprecated and by default their sensors don't send that report. I'm assuming that in pre-v7 models that object hadn't been deprecated yet or was in transition so they used it rather than the Access Control Notification. There is a way to enable this to also report status but as you might expect it will use 2x the battery because now it is sending two reports instead of one. As the Access Control Notification is working perfectly for my uses, I see no reason to enable this other report but always good to know why.

These sensors are probably my favorites for doors because of their size and being set into the door/door frame rather being mounted on the face of the door (and therefore way more visible). They also seem to be good on battery in my experience and have reasonable range. I wish there were an Insteon version of them for cases where I already have Insteon devices and no need for a Z-Wave network but perhaps one day. I like Z-Wave as well as Insteon mostly but fewer networks is always better in my book. The Insteon door sensors I've seen so far has been all surface mounted and kinda bulky so not easy to hide.

-HAH