Help with oddly behaving Blue switches (On/Off mode). Loads won't turn off

Switches General Discussion
1

As title mentions, I have 3 switches that aren’t behaving.

If it matters, all troublesome switches have an IEEE that begins with: “040D84” and have a “2208” white sticker on the upper left of the switch faceplate. But I also have a few other switches with the same identifiers that are (currently at least) working fine in the same conditions that the troublesome switches won’t turn off.

All switches are single pole, with neutral, and are driving relatively low wattage LED loads (total of between 10-30w/ea). Each has been tested on 3 different circuits, and demonstrates the same issue perpetually.

For each problematic switch, I have: removed the switch from Hubitat, factory reset, air gapped for hours, re-paired, and updated driver/FW (and also attempted different variations of these steps multiple times for each switch, followed by Config-All and/or Refresh-All). Each is currently updated to 2.18 FW w/ driver dated 2024-05-30. All switches have neutrals, and all loads work as expected once replaced with a different switch.

The first two have the exact same symptoms. On/Off commands just randomly stopped having any effect on the load. Both switches worked fine initially (one for a few weeks, the other for just a few cycles). But then each switch just “snapped” and basically stopped working (except by stopped I mean it made it so you couldn’t turn the lights off). They are both in On/Off mode. They will register “off” (i.e. the blue led on the switch will dim like it’s “off” and Hubitat will show state as “off”) - but the load remains on (even after doing a config or refresh all, the switch will show as off even though the load is on). Again, I tried all the steps outlined above, and nothing resolved it. After days of troubleshooting, I swapped in a new switch and the circuit now works fine. When troubleshooting the switches with different circuits, I did notice some LEDs driven by them would give a very subtle but unpleasant (to my eye) “strobing” effect - which was gone when going back to a different switch.

The last one doesn’t have the exact same issue, but still won’t reliably turn off its load. And not sure if it’s notable, but this one seemingly has a faintly different LED color vs all my other switches, and fwiw sometimes the paddle seems to sorta “stick” or “catch” on this one - but if you press firmly it will click a little louder than usual and get by the “hang up.” It kinda works in On/Off mode (can’t disable audible relay). But as soon as you put it to Dimmer mode (which is how I want to use this one) it no longer turns the load off (whether tapping/holding off, giving voice command for off, or giving voice command for a low dim level - once in Dimmer mode the load stays on, and only ever changes the light output by a barely noticeable degree. As mentioned, I have tried all sorts of resetting/config options (default and identical configs to other working switches with the exact same loads) - but no dice. Once I swap in another switch, the circuit/load works fine.

I searched and read a lot of the forum trying to see if anyone else had a similar issue. But aside from the troubleshooting I’ve done, I couldn’t find any other possible solutions. Is there something I’m overlooking or haven’t tried yet that could possibly resolve this? Is there any known issue I’m not aware of that could be causing this? I’m wanting to get the rest of my switches wired in, but am now a bit concerned as to what may be causing this issue.

Thanks

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2

When you say “On/Off commands” - is that Zigbee commands from the hub or physical presses on the rocker? (Or both?!)
If both, sound like they are behaving as if stuck in “Smart Bulb” mode.
But the factory reset (if it worked) should have cleared that.

3

Hi Sandy,

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I am referring to both physical presses on the down button of the switches AND commands (sent through the hubitat interface directly).

I have factory reset each switch probably 10+ times, and left them each air gapped overnight. I ran across that Smart Bulb idea in another thread, and checked the state (it was not reporting that it was enabled), but also tried setting it to disabled and configuring again anyway. I will try setting the Smart Bulb to On/Off again a few more times to see if maybe it “catches.”

Beyond that, any ideas?

Thanks again

4

Quick follow-up. Even though smart bulb state was reporting disabled I tried enabling, then disabling multiple times (tried disable, config-all about 10x in a row with refreshes in between, and when that didn’t work tried refresh-all - state always reported “disabled”).

Of note, though (and not sure if I missed this before, or if it just started reporting) - but during all that I did happen to notice the switch state was reporting as “Non-neutral” (it actually went back and forth a couple times, but eventually seemed to stick at “Non-neutral”). This is even though there is DEFINITELY a neutral (other switches in the same box are fed from the same neutral). Also, with my multi-meter I tested the screw head contacts for Neutral & Line on the switch, and got 120v (yet the switch is saying it’s non-neutral). Then, for a sanity check, I wired in a different, brand-new, switch, and it set up fine and reported neutral with all the same wiring. And fwiw, I’ve wired literally 100’s of switches, I’m positive I didn’t somehow miswire just these 2 switches 7 different times, lol).

I know there is lots of software and config options on these, and I’m definitely a novice when it comes to that. I’m happy to try any other suggestions. Also, just to be clear on my reset protocol. I press up+config button for ~20 seconds (when the LED bar goes solid red I release both, and then the bar flashes red 3x before recycling and coming back to a gently strobing blue - I’ve done this double-digit times for each switch).

5

What is the load that you’re using?

At least the first two sound like the dimming circuitry in the switch is fried (and locked into the on position).

6

Hi,

So the loads tried were all 100% LED, and varied between circuits with: one being a single 10w LED, the second being two 9.5w LEDs (19w total), and the third load being three LEDs with a total of 31w (15w, 8w, and 8w bulbs).

7

I have the same problem with 2 of the Blue 2-in-1 switches. The only way I could get the light to turn off was by pulling the air gap. The load is a simple LED bulb. The first switch I did an RMA, and the second switch I just noticed this morning. Here’s a video that shows the issue:

Video of light not turning off

8

Thanks for the info. That’s exactly how it is for me (except I have default Blue LED settings). Sorry you’ve had that trouble too, but glad to know I’m not the only one to have experienced the issue.

Unfortunately, I may be out of luck on an RMA opportunity since I bought my switches over a year ago (even though I only just got around to installing them due to a huge delay on a DIY reno project).

9

The worst part about this failure is that it costs $8 per switch to return and $15 for them to ship it back to me. I have 2 failed devices so far and have bought about 100 switches between two houses. I hope this does not become a systemic failure.

10

Yikes, can you shoot me a PM regarding us charging you for an RMA? I know we have some new customer service reps, so I want to make sure I have all the info to make sure this isn’t happening and correct it with you if that’s the case.

What should be happening is that if it’s a warranty issue, you should be able to file a claim online and it will give you a pre-paid label to send the switch back to us. If it is defective, then we send you a new switch (we also pay shipping).

If it falls out of the warranty timeline, it’s usually a case-by-case basis on how we handle it. 9.9/10, we will pay to have it shipped back to us by you, but if it’s something that we suspect is fraudulent, we will ask you to pay for it (but this is rare, so usually we just pay for it).

However, if it’s a case where the customer just doesn’t want the product, they would pay to send it back to us (unless they bought the re:do unlimited returns protection). From there, if the box is opened, we charge a 15% restocking fee simply because we can’t sell the product as new. If the box is unopened, it would be a full refund.

I’m surprised to see this, so let me know the situation as you shouldn’t be charged $23 each time you RMA something and I’m really sorry if that has happened and I’ll make sure to take care of it.

Edit: I just did a quick search bc this was bugging me and it looks like what’s happening in your case is you are selecting, “Exchange” during the return process. This is telling the system that you just want to exchange the product for a different one rather than there’s something wrong with your product. In other words, when you go through the RMA process, you need to select, “Start Exchange or Return” and then click, “Warranty Claim” instead of, “Do Not Want Product”. Hope that helps, for any future issues – I’ll talk to the CS rep to see if they can refund you as it looks like you have a ticket already open about it.

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11

I went back through the settings on my failed switch because I thought that I could get it going again by turning on relay click. That was not the case, but in the process, I found that smart bulb mode was turned on. This is a pantry light with a dumb LED bulb, and I don’t have smart bulbs in the house (tried them, not reliable). I turned smart bulb mode off and the switch is working normally.

This is the second time I have had smart bulb mode get turned on, and I think it is happening with the config button. I started another thread about this: Disable the config button

The only time I would use the config button is to factory reset. It is easy to accidentally hit the config button, especially where switches are on the right side of you. Happens all of the time to me and it is very annoying because one you accidentally hit it you have to tap the switch 3 times to get the light to turn on. My family does this often as well and think the switch is broken.

12

To enable the Smart Bulb Mode at the switch on a Blue, you must hold down on the top part of the paddle (on) while simultaneously tapping the configuration button four (4) times (do not let go of the paddle when finished tapping the config button). Wait for the LED Bar to flash solid yellow (and then let go of the paddle).

This was changed from prior generations to keep from inadvertently turning on the SBM. It’s hard to believe that the SBM was turned on accidentally at the switch because you have to hold down a paddle AND press config, then wait for the LED to change. I’d explore other possibilities regarding how the SBM inadvertently got turned on.

13

I had this happen again in my rental house with 2 switches, a blue dimmer and a blue fan switch. In both cases the “smart” setting had flipped. For the dimmer it changed to smart bulb mode, and the fan changed to the smart fan mode.

I had to go in remotely and switch smart mode back to disabled and then they worked again. Something is causing this, and I’m not sure what. I have not gone into the settings for those switches for months, so it is something that the renters are doing that causes them to switch. I thought it might be the config switch, but if not then some button interaction is causing it.

This is a bad experience for an Airbnb because you can’t turn lights or fans on or off. Every time this has happened though the lights are on and the renters are not able to turn them off. The fan was on and they were not able to turn it off. Once this happens to a bedroom light I expect a bad review coming.

I’m using them with Hubitat with the 2024-05-30 version drivers.

The fan (VZM35-SN) FW is - * fwVersion : 1.07
The dimmer (VZM31-SN) is not showing a version, but a date - * fwDate : 20240412

14

I figured out how to reproduce this issue. You do not need to keep the top paddle held down while you hit the 4 config buttons. I enabled smart bulb mode by simply tapping the top paddle and config together 4 times. Seems like the logic does not reset once all buttons are released.

To reiterate, just hit the top paddle and config together at the same time and release them. Do this 3 more times and your switch is in smart bulb mode.

I think this is common for me because I am hitting the config button by accident frequently. This is especially true when the config button is closest to you (like the switch being on your right side as you enter a room). It is easy to accidentally hit the config while trying to turn a light on, especially when it is dark. Once you hit that config button you have to hit the “on” paddle a few times to turn on the light (usually takes 3 times). If the user hits the config button and the paddle at the same time for 4 times then the switch ends up in smart bulb mode.