Hi,
I just picked up two red dimmer and am new to hubitat. I have a situation where I’ve got two independent switches controlling different lights, but I’d like these two switches to be fully in sync (i.e. all lights on/off and dim from either switch).
Question 1 - What’s the best way to sync dimmers up?
From what I could tell the Z-Wave association feature is maybe what I’m looking for. There’s also a number of hubitat apps, but I think I’d prefer something that didn’t have to thru the hub.
I’ve got a 3rd dimmer that I’d like to include in this setup as well, but I bought only 2 dimmers to try out before I install these in other places in my home.
Question 2 - Z-Wave association not working
I followed the guide on this article and It looks like the linked app is not compatible with Hubitat anymore because I get the following error in my logs:
app:1622020-10-29 04:14:08.470 pm debugchild app: Kitchen #1 Association Group 2
app:1622020-10-29 04:14:08.466 pm debugthere are 1 child smartapps
app:1622020-10-29 04:14:08.457 pm debugUpdated with settings: [:]
app:1672020-10-29 04:13:59.698 pm errorjava.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Command 'setAssociationGroup' is not supported by device. on line 71 (installed)
app:1672020-10-29 04:13:59.635 pm debugInstalled with settings: [overrideLabel:false, sCapability:Switch, dSwitch:[Kitchen #2], resetAssoc:true, sSwitch:Kitchen #1, dCapability:Switch, groupNumber:2]
app:1672020-10-29 04:13:55.644 pm debugwill set default label of Kitchen #1 Association Group 2`
Which looks like an error on this line below. That groovy file looks to be really old (2 years), so is it possible that it's no longer compatible with hubitat. How do I go about resolving this issue?
https://github.com/InovelliUSA/Hubitat/blob/master/Apps/z-waveat/zwave-association.src/zwave-association.groovy#L71
So you should have one switch control the load (be set as destination i believe?). The others will be the originating to control the associated switch; this should be for 3/4 way switches. If you’re talking about turning on another set of lights that another dimmer controls separately, you’ll need to configure scene control.
For example, if you want to turn on the hallway light from your bedroom at night, I would configure button controller or rule machine like this: If up button is pressed twice on the bedroom switch, then turn on the hallway light.
Let me know which configuration you’re looking at performing.
This is my setup below. Dimmer 1 and 2 have loads attached to them that go out to light fixtures. My goal is to have “3 way control” from Dimmer 1 and 2 of all the fixtures a-g. I can’t connect these fixtures electrically as they’re on different circuits, but would like these to act as if they were all on the same 3 way switch.
----- A/C Power ----- [ Dimmer 1 ] ---------- Light Fixtures a, b, c, d
----- A/C Power ----- [ Dimmer 2 ] ---------- Light Fixtures e, f, g
How would the solution change if I were to add Dimmer 3 in to the mix and have the system act as a 4 way switch controlling fixture a - i?
----- A/C Power ----- [ Dimmer 1 ] ---------- Light Fixtures a, b, c, d
----- A/C Power ----- [ Dimmer 2 ] ---------- Light Fixtures e, f, g
----- A/C Power ----- [ Dimmer 3 ] ---------- Light Fixtures h, i
Hmmm… so not sure if direct association would work. I’ve never seen a group of switches be origination and destination. E.g. switch 1 (originator l) to switch 2 (destination) and then switch 2(originator) to switch 1 (destination).
However, we can setup a rule for if switch 1 toggles on then turn switch 2 (and 3) on. Same with if switch 2 toggles on then turn on switch 1 (and 3). One thing I haven’t figured out is to match dim levels.
I tried setting up two different associations and that seemed to work fine for on/off but I was seeing really weird behavior with dimming (maybe there was some kind of a feedback loop?). Can any z-wave experts chime in on if this is possible to do via association?
I think this can be done using the hub. I would need to disable “local dimming” and have the up/down button hold trigger send up/down commands to all 3 switches, right? What sort of response time can I expect with that?
I use toggle on triggers to trigger on two bath fans when I turn shower light on. Response is less than 1 sec to turn on fans. I do not disable local relay because I’m doing this with black series switches.
Yes, you can associate two dimmers with each other but you need to set the configuration parameter 12 (Association behavior) to 11 to prevent a loop from occurring. I think the best way to set the associations after you change that config one one of the dimmers is to use group 3 & 4:
The manual has a description for the groups. Group 2 is used for on/off control like a switch (although it can also be used to turn on/off a dimmer). Group 3 & 4 use a “dimmer command class” (simplifying the technical terms here). For a real time sync and a final sync when the button is released, I find group 3 & 4 ideal.
@EricM_Inovelli I’m trying to add a 3rd switch to sync in this configuration. Is this possible?
I’ve got 3 independent Red Dimmers (Kitchen Main, Island and Sink). I’m trying to get Main and Island to control all 3 sets of lights and be in sync (I don’t really need to control Main and Island from Sink). Previously I was able to get Main/Island to be in sync with your help (and using association behavior 11).
Simply adding the new switch to the existing groups for Main => Island and Island => Main didn’t work.
So, I tried to create a second association for Main like this, without any luck either.
I had set the default brightness level to 25% but not yet configured the new dimmer’s low/high points. The association behavior was working but I just wasn’t seeing the new light turn because the level was too low. Holding the dim up button brings the level up for all 3 lights.
I’m now wondering if my original configuration was correct with Main => Island + Sink. Is it possible for a group to have 1 source and multiple destinations? That’ll simplify my setup a bit.
You can have multiple destination devices in each association setup. If you have any associations that go both ways (see below), make sure you change the “Association Behavior” parameter on one of them to 11. If you don’t, you can create a z-wave loop that may cause problems with those devices.
