Fan/Light Switch Disconnection Issue Thread

pbennett · November 23, 2021, 1:03am

Another disconnect this week. On the original one I purchased. So far so good on the one from the hold backs that Courtney released recently. This one gets much more use, but honestly haven’t had the new one installed long enough for that to be useful info yet. Note… It’s November. So my initial speculation that disconnects seemed to be in the summer is shot.

June 2020. PreOrder from original release.

Sqrt(6^2+4^2) feet
Lazy answer… Middle of a 12x12ish bedroom. Switch next to doorway towards the middle of the room, about 4 feet up the wall relative to an 8’ ceiling… And … Math

67-69F inside
Can’t tell you exactly when it disconnected but it’s been 50 high/ 30 low lately… Was within the last few days. That said it’s an interior wall for switch and finished, heated attic above fixture…

Hubitat. Didn’t check this time, but previously the zwave has always stayed connected… Only lose the switch to the canopy.

1.36

Not a lot but this is easier:

Think there are two 14w in there now (two LED 60w equivalent)

Fan hadn’t been on since September, so light only this time. Can’t speak to previous times

Want to say it was about 5 or 6 months since the last disconnect? I think the last time was longer (those were close to a year, hence my warm weather speculation that I just shot down by disconnecting in November). So that’s to say… No… No pattern I can tell so far… But it’s infrequent so hard to say.

EDIT: disconnected again two days later. Frustrating but I seem to remember that before… Twice right in a row then perfect for months. We’ll see.

harmfulmushroom · December 5, 2021, 8:03pm

Random question for people who know what they’re doing / have troubleshooted these disconnection issues a lot in the past…

Could the issue possibly be as simple as the canopy module needs a better antenna? Warranty aside, would it be worth opening the canopy module, desoldering the included antenna and replacing it with one that is larger? Of course being mindful of the internal components that could still hold a powerful charge, especially if it were to have already been installed.

Could also go a little less invasive with something like a RF repeater using an ESP or something. This all isn’t my wheelhouse, but I bought a LZW36 a month or so ago to play around with. I was hoping it might be as simple as a hardware issue, like an antenna that should be a little longer/bigger or something.

MRobi · December 6, 2021, 3:38am

Not an expert on RF by any means, but I would think the antenna would almost have to be fully defective for this to be the case. RF signal can travel in KM’s depending on the frequency and transmitter power. Obviously I wouldn’t expect that out of a switch, but most of us have the antenna exposed from within the canopy and we’re talking only a few feet between the switch and the antenna. So even the crappiest of antenna’s should be able to receive an RF signal from a few feet away.

BuilderTroy · December 6, 2021, 6:37pm

Could help but I am not sure if a particular length is ‘tuned’ to a frequency. Antennas are weird that way where it isnt always just putting something bigger in, it also needs to be the right size.

Maybe I am thinking about this wrong, but I would guess the average distance from the switch to the canopy is in the 8-10’ range plus the signal needs to (in some cases) travel through a metal canopy case. Was that what you were thinking in terms of distances when you said a few feet?

harmfulmushroom · December 6, 2021, 8:04pm

Makes sense! I figured this angle had already been explored (or not given all the specifics about antennas). Just wanted to throw it out just in case

SandyB · December 11, 2021, 1:23am

It seemed to be distance/obstruction related for me too.
I have 1 LZW36 that wouldn’t pair at all at about 15 ft. from the canopy, but works nicely at 8 ft. Another one is about 12 ft. away, it was very unreliable until I pulled the antenna wire out beyond the canopy. Now it’s quite reasonable; works 95% of the time.

ashley.waltrip · January 13, 2022, 5:26am

Is there an update about this? I have 2 switches and if one works the other doesn’t. It bounces back and forth.

Is-glock · January 29, 2022, 3:29pm

I am wondering too? I am also have the issue where the lights will shut off on the switch and I have to turn the power off to the switch to get them to come back.

gurule31 · March 4, 2022, 2:48am

Any update on this? I did not even realize this was an issue.
Have 3 switch, 2 have been fine, 1 has had issues mostly since ive had it. Probably 2 years or so.

tidesraty · March 30, 2022, 3:11am

It seems like @Eric_Inovelli just doesn’t care about customers who bought this switch. He’s more concerned about bringing new partners online to push the 5-button switch…

I like the red series, but this kind of support and responce is why I’m no longer buying Inovelli switches… I REALLY hope things change, because I’d like to get 3 more fan/light switches and 4-5 5-button switches…

Eric_Inovelli · March 30, 2022, 3:14am

It’s not that I don’t care, I am just caught in a rock and a hard place. We have a manufacturer that doesn’t want to work with us and won’t help us solve this issue. We’ve said we would give refunds to whomever wants it and have replaced all that we can.

I’m not really sure what else to do at this point.

We are working on bringing these partners you’re referencing on to help us negotiate with this manufacturer. I’m hoping to have some resolution in the next month or so.

I wish I had better news, but I really don’t know what else to do outside of refunding anyone who has an issue which we’ve done already?

What do you propose @tidesraty?

DragonKing · April 4, 2022, 5:31pm

I’m still using my fan/light switch, but it does cause issues, as it doesn’t seem to like to get or send two commands in quick succession, but if you give it a minute between commands, it is usually fine. The worst is that anything that relies on it for repeating also doesn’t work during that time. Plan to replace it with the Zigbee version, when that comes out.

stplatt · April 6, 2022, 3:55pm

I didn’t see this suggestion in the thread. Yesterday my fan + light switch seemed to lose connection to the fan. Button presses would not change the light or fan, though the LED strip would change. Same with Zwave commands sent from Home Assistant.

Pulled air gap switch for several minutes - would not reconnect
Flipped circuit breaker off and on - would not reconnect
Flipped circuit breaker off and on, tried to re-pair from switch (fan dimmer button + fan button 3 times) - pairing started but did not fix

In sheer desperation to turn off the light on the fan, I pulled the chain on the fan. After cycling through the fan light and fan speed with both chains, the switch started responding again.

Hope this helps someone out there.

jsand75 · April 13, 2022, 3:20pm

This worked for me as well, air gapped the switch, cycled through the fan and light setting on the fan itself then pushed in the air gap and it started to respond again.

aaronfm · April 16, 2022, 3:14pm

I have three of the LZW36 switches deployed on a Hubitat C7 fw: 2.3.1.139, and only one works consistently. Two of them are deployed in a 2 gang box controlling two of the same model fans with chain pulls on either side of a living room. One switch (south fan) is <5’ away from the fan, and the other (north fan) is <15’ away. Only the one closest works consistently. I’ve flashed the firmware on the north fan to 1.36 hoping that might solve the issue but with no luck. Pulled the air gap on the non-working switch for 5 min and then it started working again until I tried to turn light on/off and set fan speed in somewhat rapid succession. Another interesting symptom is the lights in the (north) fan pulse/flash briefly every 5-10 min. Just a quick flash.
The 3rd switch is in the bedroom. Different fan model, but also a pull-chain control. The light works slightly more consistently than the fan.

Purchase Date: Nov 2021
Distance to Canopy: 5’-15’
Outside temp: 61F
Inside Temp: 68F
Hub: Hubitat C-7 2.3.1.139
Switch Firmware: 1x 1.36 2x 1.34
Parameter Changes: None
Bulb wattage: 3x 5.5W LED GE LED5DFBC
Disconnect happens with both fan & light

@Eric_Inovelli : Hoping you will have some news before summer when we need the fans!

papacrown · May 2, 2022, 5:35am

I kinda got this working 100%, but it involves Shelly, Homeassistant, node red and a third party wifi canopy module.

I bought this module, hooked it up at the fan canopy, integrated it with LocalTuya to homeassistant, Then I created rules in node red to set the switch led status to whatever the LocalTuya integration said (so if fan is at level 2, set led bar to 66% for fan button, etc). Then I created rules for the switch to control the fan through the wifi integration.

After this, I still had trouble with the canopy losing connection to wifi about once a day, so I put a Shelly 1 in the canopy to cut power whenever homeassistant detects that the fan is offline, waits 5 seconds and turns fan back on. It’s a bit convoluted but right now it works 100% of the time. I’ll update this post tomorrow with my node red nodes and the Shelly / homeassistant automation.

UPDATE:
Here’s the automation built off of this HA Blueprint for using the Fan/Light Switch Combo as a remote for the WiFi Canopy Module I bought:

alias: Inovelli Red Series LZW36 Fan Controller (ZWave-JS)
description: ''
use_blueprint:
  path: cree8/zwave-js-inovelli-lzw36-fan-switch-dimmer.yaml
  input:
    inovelli_fan_switch: cb4b3a7ce7914f333cdb1d7c2b4d7906
    button_a:
      - service: switch.toggle
        target:
          entity_id: switch.fanlight
        data: {}
    button_b:
      - service: fan.toggle
        target:
          entity_id: fan.fanmotor
        data: {}
    button_c1:
      - service: light.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: light.terrace_light
        data:
          transition: 0
    button_d1:
      - service: fan.increase_speed
        target:
          entity_id: fan.fanmotor
        data:
          percentage_step: 33
    button_d2:
      - service: fan.decrease_speed
        target:
          entity_id: fan.fanmotor
        data:
          percentage_step: 34
    button_c2:
      - service: light.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: light.terrace_light
        data:
          transition: 0

Heres the node red node for keeping the wifi canopy module in sync with the Fan/Light Switch Combo

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Real","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":4,"exposeToHomeAssistant":false,"haConfig":[{"property":"name","value":""},{"property":"icon","value":""}],"entityidfilter":"switch.fanlight","entityidfiltertype":"exact","outputinitially":false,"state_type":"str","haltifstate":"on","halt_if_type":"str","halt_if_compare":"is","outputs":2,"output_only_on_state_change":true,"for":0,"forType":"num","forUnits":"minutes","ignorePrevStateNull":false,"ignorePrevStateUnknown":false,"ignorePrevStateUnavailable":false,"ignoreCurrentStateUnknown":false,"ignoreCurrentStateUnavailable":false,"outputProperties":[{"property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","value":"","valueType":"entityState"},{"property":"data","propertyType":"msg","value":"","valueType":"eventData"},{"property":"topic","propertyType":"msg","value":"","valueType":"triggerId"}],"x":140,"y":340,"wires":[["97fe7a7250acbfff"],["98b279674d21b48e"]]},{"id":"97fe7a7250acbfff","type":"api-call-service","z":"3a01aa28c5e0e8cc","g":"b3e69747953883c1","name":"Fan Light Fake on","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":5,"debugenabled":false,"domain":"light","service":"turn_on","areaId":[],"deviceId":[],"entityId":["light.red_series_fan_light_switch_2"],"data":"{\"brightness\": 255}","dataType":"jsonata","mergeContext":"","mustacheAltTags":false,"outputProperties":[],"queue":"none","x":530,"y":320,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"98b279674d21b48e","type":"api-call-service","z":"3a01aa28c5e0e8cc","g":"b3e69747953883c1","name":"Fan Light Fake off","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":5,"debugenabled":false,"domain":"light","service":"turn_off","areaId":[],"deviceId":[],"entityId":["light.red_series_fan_light_switch_2"],"data":"","dataType":"jsonata","mergeContext":"","mustacheAltTags":false,"outputProperties":[],"queue":"none","x":530,"y":380,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"058122ef4842422b","type":"server-state-changed","z":"3a01aa28c5e0e8cc","g":"b3e69747953883c1","name":"Fan Light Real","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":4,"exposeToHomeAssistant":false,"haConfig":[{"property":"name","value":""},{"property":"icon","value":""}],"entityidfilter":"fan.fanmotor","entityidfiltertype":"exact","outputinitially":true,"state_type":"str","haltifstate":"on","halt_if_type":"str","halt_if_compare":"is","outputs":2,"output_only_on_state_change":false,"for":0,"forType":"num","forUnits":"minutes","ignorePrevStateNull":false,"ignorePrevStateUnknown":false,"ignorePrevStateUnavailable":false,"ignoreCurrentStateUnknown":false,"ignoreCurrentStateUnavailable":false,"outputProperties":[{"property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","value":"","valueType":"triggerId"},{"property":"data","propertyType":"msg","value":"","valueType":"eventData"},{"property":"topic","propertyType":"msg","value":"","valueType":"triggerId"}],"x":140,"y":460,"wires":[["141a36787a3087b3","1e01ecd73445a539"],["667442cdffab269e"]]},{"id":"141a36787a3087b3","type":"switch","z":"3a01aa28c5e0e8cc","g":"b3e69747953883c1","name":"Switch","property":"data.new_state.attributes.speed","propertyType":"msg","rules":[{"t":"eq","v":"high","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"medium","vt":"str"},{"t":"eq","v":"low","vt":"str"}],"checkall":"true","repair":false,"outputs":3,"x":350,"y":440,"wires":[["3a56795bfb6c1992"],["ad783a33b3397031"],["a4630faa9e894a97"]]},{"id":"3a56795bfb6c1992","type":"api-call-service","z":"3a01aa28c5e0e8cc","g":"b3e69747953883c1","name":"Fan fake High","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":5,"debugenabled":false,"domain":"fan","service":"set_speed","areaId":[],"deviceId":[],"entityId":["fan.red_series_fan_light_switch_2"],"data":"{\"speed\": \"high\"}","dataType":"jsonata","mergeContext":"","mustacheAltTags":false,"outputProperties":[],"queue":"none","x":820,"y":440,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"ad783a33b3397031","type":"api-call-service","z":"3a01aa28c5e0e8cc","g":"b3e69747953883c1","name":"Fan fake medium","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":5,"debugenabled":false,"domain":"fan","service":"set_speed","areaId":[],"deviceId":[],"entityId":["fan.red_series_fan_light_switch_2"],"data":"{\"speed\": \"medium\"}","dataType":"jsonata","mergeContext":"","mustacheAltTags":false,"outputProperties":[],"queue":"none","x":870,"y":500,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"a4630faa9e894a97","type":"api-call-service","z":"3a01aa28c5e0e8cc","g":"b3e69747953883c1","name":"Fan fake low","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":5,"debugenabled":false,"domain":"fan","service":"set_speed","areaId":[],"deviceId":[],"entityId":["fan.red_series_fan_light_switch_2"],"data":"{\"speed\": \"low\"}","dataType":"jsonata","mergeContext":"","mustacheAltTags":false,"outputProperties":[],"queue":"none","x":890,"y":560,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"667442cdffab269e","type":"api-call-service","z":"3a01aa28c5e0e8cc","g":"b3e69747953883c1","name":"Fan fake off","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":5,"debugenabled":false,"domain":"fan","service":"turn_off","areaId":[],"deviceId":[],"entityId":["fan.red_series_fan_light_switch_2"],"data":"","dataType":"jsonata","mergeContext":"","mustacheAltTags":false,"outputProperties":[],"queue":"none","x":590,"y":580,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"1e01ecd73445a539","type":"debug","z":"3a01aa28c5e0e8cc","g":"b3e69747953883c1","name":"","active":true,"tosidebar":true,"console":false,"tostatus":false,"complete":"data.new_state.attributes.speed","targetType":"msg","statusVal":"","statusType":"auto","x":430,"y":680,"wires":[]},{"id":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","type":"server","name":"Home Assistant","version":2,"rejectUnauthorizedCerts":true,"ha_boolean":"y|yes|true|on|home|open","connectionDelay":true,"cacheJson":true,"heartbeat":false,"heartbeatInterval":30}]

Here’s the node red node for rebooting the Wifi Fan Canopy if it ever comes offline.

[{"id":"f3f8cc02529ccb7a","type":"group","z":"76653493.fb3d1c","name":"Terrace Fan Reboot","style":{"label":true,"stroke":"#bfdbef"},"nodes":["9d9a24ba534ea333","dab855b7fe079df0","547900aa0924d4cd","2906094552d429d4","da3978cd1e1b00b0","fd84119bfae6dd21","2e7862dd4774a80f"],"x":34,"y":3439,"w":1492,"h":82},{"id":"9d9a24ba534ea333","type":"server-state-changed","z":"76653493.fb3d1c","g":"f3f8cc02529ccb7a","name":"Fan unavailable","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":4,"exposeToHomeAssistant":false,"haConfig":[{"property":"name","value":""},{"property":"icon","value":""}],"entityidfilter":"fan.fanmotor","entityidfiltertype":"exact","outputinitially":false,"state_type":"str","haltifstate":"unavailable","halt_if_type":"str","halt_if_compare":"is","outputs":2,"output_only_on_state_change":true,"for":"0","forType":"num","forUnits":"minutes","ignorePrevStateNull":false,"ignorePrevStateUnknown":false,"ignorePrevStateUnavailable":false,"ignoreCurrentStateUnknown":false,"ignoreCurrentStateUnavailable":false,"outputProperties":[{"property":"payload","propertyType":"msg","value":"","valueType":"entityState"},{"property":"data","propertyType":"msg","value":"","valueType":"eventData"},{"property":"topic","propertyType":"msg","value":"","valueType":"triggerId"}],"x":140,"y":3480,"wires":[["da3978cd1e1b00b0"],[]]},{"id":"dab855b7fe079df0","type":"api-call-service","z":"76653493.fb3d1c","g":"f3f8cc02529ccb7a","name":"Turn off Power to Fan","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":5,"debugenabled":false,"domain":"switch","service":"turn_off","areaId":[],"deviceId":[],"entityId":["switch.terrace_fan_power_switch"],"data":"","dataType":"jsonata","mergeContext":"","mustacheAltTags":false,"outputProperties":[],"queue":"none","x":560,"y":3480,"wires":[["547900aa0924d4cd"]]},{"id":"547900aa0924d4cd","type":"delay","z":"76653493.fb3d1c","g":"f3f8cc02529ccb7a","name":"","pauseType":"delay","timeout":"5","timeoutUnits":"seconds","rate":"1","nbRateUnits":"1","rateUnits":"second","randomFirst":"1","randomLast":"5","randomUnits":"seconds","drop":false,"outputs":1,"x":760,"y":3480,"wires":[["2906094552d429d4"]]},{"id":"2906094552d429d4","type":"api-call-service","z":"76653493.fb3d1c","g":"f3f8cc02529ccb7a","name":"Turn on Power to Fan","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":5,"debugenabled":false,"domain":"switch","service":"turn_off","areaId":[],"deviceId":[],"entityId":["switch.terrace_fan_power_switch"],"data":"","dataType":"jsonata","mergeContext":"","mustacheAltTags":false,"outputProperties":[],"queue":"none","x":980,"y":3480,"wires":[["fd84119bfae6dd21"]]},{"id":"da3978cd1e1b00b0","type":"delay","z":"76653493.fb3d1c","g":"f3f8cc02529ccb7a","name":"","pauseType":"rate","timeout":"5","timeoutUnits":"seconds","rate":"1","nbRateUnits":"5","rateUnits":"minute","randomFirst":"1","randomLast":"5","randomUnits":"seconds","drop":true,"allowrate":false,"outputs":1,"x":340,"y":3480,"wires":[["dab855b7fe079df0"]]},{"id":"fd84119bfae6dd21","type":"delay","z":"76653493.fb3d1c","g":"f3f8cc02529ccb7a","name":"","pauseType":"delay","timeout":"5","timeoutUnits":"seconds","rate":"1","nbRateUnits":"1","rateUnits":"second","randomFirst":"1","randomLast":"5","randomUnits":"seconds","drop":false,"outputs":1,"x":1200,"y":3480,"wires":[["2e7862dd4774a80f"]]},{"id":"2e7862dd4774a80f","type":"api-call-service","z":"76653493.fb3d1c","g":"f3f8cc02529ccb7a","name":"Turn off Fan Light","server":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","version":5,"debugenabled":false,"domain":"switch","service":"turn_off","areaId":[],"deviceId":[],"entityId":["switch.fanlight","switch.terrace_fan_power_switch"],"data":"","dataType":"jsonata","mergeContext":"","mustacheAltTags":false,"outputProperties":[],"queue":"none","x":1410,"y":3480,"wires":[[]]},{"id":"4afd04e8.07ab4c","type":"server","name":"Home Assistant","version":2,"rejectUnauthorizedCerts":true,"ha_boolean":"y|yes|true|on|home|open","connectionDelay":true,"cacheJson":true,"heartbeat":false,"heartbeatInterval":30}]

preed88 · May 3, 2022, 4:15pm

Its a super nice feeling to randomly see that blueprint being used elsewhere (I’m cree8). I need to go ahead and fix it so that it stops generating HA errors.

On topic, I did have some trouble with my LZW36 last year, but lately it has worked pretty consistently. The only thing I notice now is that the canopy module produces a loud buzzing when the 3 lzw42 bulbs are on at full brightness.

Its unfortunate that the manufacturer is not easy to negotiate with, but I’ll chime in like many others and state that the transparency provided here is 2nd to none, and really endears me further to the product line.
I hope that Inovelli eventually gets larger so that it has more power in these negotiations, but that the transparency never goes away.

Cheers!

vreihen · May 3, 2022, 5:21pm

…or able to hire an in-house firmware engineer and stop using (and being held hostage by) their vendors’ overseas programmers. It isn’t rocket science to develop firmware these days, and I’d bet that eliminating the language barrier and 24-hour time zone delay in getting responses would surely speed development…

kreene1987 · May 3, 2022, 6:14pm

Under the same name on HA forums, I think I threw a recommendation out there, but there’s been a weekend since :D.

preed88 · May 3, 2022, 6:18pm

Its been on my mental agenda for months actually, since the previous guy in that thread mentioned it. Typical procrastination behavior out of myself