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    Originally posted by racerfern View Post
    Eureka! I was fighting the device when I should have been trying HomeSeer. I clicked Remove/Exclude A Node. As soon as I pushed the batteries in I got a message that a node had been excluded, even though nothing showed as far as I could tell.



    Then I clicked on add/include a node non secure and VOILA!



    It shows battery level, heartbeat and the unit itself. Now to learn more.



    Thanks to everyone who pitched in.


    Apologies I didn't suggest that first, but happy you have it working now. It's always best practice to use the exclude option in HomeSeer first before the include option on a new ZWave device.
    cheeryfool

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      I picked one of these units up from Lowes yesterday but haven't installed it yet. I am kind of struggling to see what the use case really is for tieing into homeseer? How are you guys using the z-wave side and what benefits does it have over a traditional smokie?

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        Not a lot of advantages, but a few.

        You can monitor battery levels and be alerted.
        You can send and log alerts for alarms to other destinations (like email/sms).

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          the log is an interesting idea, don't know that I would rely on it for true safety purposes but it could be helpful on vacation or while at work.

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            Originally posted by norcalhkr View Post
            the log is an interesting idea, don't know that I would rely on it for true safety purposes but it could be helpful on vacation or while at work.
            This was/is my main purpose. If I'm away and I get an alert of smoke I can check cameras around the house. Then again I always wondered if the smoke or fire would take out the power or internet or something first before sending me an alert.

            I also have local announcements speak threw sonos in every room of the house as to which room the sensor is going off in.

            Battery for me is unreliable. it goes from like 80% to zero and starts beeping at the same time I get an alert.

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              Originally posted by integlikewhoa View Post
              This was/is my main purpose. If I'm away and I get an alert of smoke I can check cameras around the house. Then again I always wondered if the smoke or fire would take out the power or internet or something first before sending me an alert.

              I also have local announcements speak through sonos in every room of the house as to which room the sensor is going off in.

              Battery for me is unreliable. it goes from like 80% to zero and starts beeping at the same time I get an alert.
              The battery going out that quickly does make the alert a little less effective although it should help with the mystery of where is that beep coming from which is a benefit.

              I could see sending an alert across the sonos as to where there is a problem rather than just relying on everything going off.

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                I followed a previous poster event scheme to check for the unit's heartbeat on a regular basis. This assures it's alive since First Alert recommends testing the units once a week (but who really does). My heartbeat is every 67 minutes so at 75 minutes I get an alert if something is awry.

                I would have to think the smoke alarm will fire away far before there is so much damage that there is no power, although anything is possible.

                And if I'm too far from home, I can ask a neighbor to at least have a look if I can't see anything on the cameras.

                Yup, it's like "almost" being there in my book.

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                  Originally posted by integlikewhoa View Post
                  This was/is my main purpose. If I'm away and
                  Battery for me is unreliable. it goes from like 80% to zero and starts beeping at the same time I get an alert.
                  Yes, I can't rely on the battery level reminding me ahead of time to take action, but I send myself a weekly alert to battery levels so I can be aware how close we are to needing a change. For some reason, I only get a low battery alert if I open the battery drawer and close it after I know it should be getting low. So, not super useful. . .though I also have a status check every 67 minutes to make sure my alarms are still active.

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                    Question: Can I sound the alarm?

                    On the ComboZ smokes, if one unit sounds, can I cause the other units to sound as well or are they status only ?

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                      No. They don't talk to each other and you can't force them to alarm from HS. . .afaik
                      Last edited by TechFan; January 3, 2017, 02:04 PM. Reason: autocorrect errors

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                        That's correct -- they are report only devices, and therefore there's no way to link them up.

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                          Regarding "usefulness", I also have a function to escalate an alert if we're not home (SMS and email). Also, if alarm occurs after sleep hours, all lights are turned on to assist if it were an actual emergency / evacuation. Of course I hope never to see these functions activate

                          Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

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                            I know there is a hardware link available for their linked ones, I may go with a set of those and a hardware link to a sensor instead.

                            When the smokes go off, I want it to get loud...

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                              Anyone run into this issue:


                              Same model but one is not posting a battery level. Rescanned multiple times with the same result. Any tips/help would be much appreciated!

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                                Up in the top header of the device manager are 5 icons, one is show/hide hidden devices. Toggle it and sees if the devices are hidden
                                Blair

                                HomeSeer: HS3 Pro | Blue-Iris 4 on Windows10Pro
                                | Devices: 832 | Events: 211 |
                                Plug-Ins: Z-Wave | RFXCOM | UltraRachio3 | Sonos
                                BLLAN | BLLOCK | NetCAM | Global Cache Pro | Blue-Iris4

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