[HOW-TO] Using the Z-Wave Association Tool in Hubitat

Aegwyn11 · March 3, 2021, 3:30am

Perhaps a clue? I just noticed that I tapped the paddle on a “master” switch and although the slave switch followed it, the hub did not. As I stand here, the switch LED on both master and slave indicate they are off, but Hubitat reports they’re on at a level of 99 (and obviously the Zigbee lights set to mirror the master are still on). I tried toggling the master several times and the hub just continues to be convinced it’s on. After the fourth toggle, the hub finally got the message and turned the lights off.

Ironically this master dimmer is very close to the hub, only maybe ten feet straight line (the hub is in the basement nearly directly below this dimmer).

kreene1987 · March 3, 2021, 3:42pm

I remember WAY back when the ilumin first came out there were reports of this. Essentially there is a group that casts the command to ALL of the bulbs at the same time or a group that commands them in sequence. I’d have to do some digging.

I believe group 2 and 4 FROM switch TO bulb is all that is required since you never want the bulb controlling the switch (or at least I dont!).

kreene1987 · March 3, 2021, 3:44pm

So the hubitat is getting zero logged items for scenes/presses (with logging enabled in switch settings) at all? That for sure isn’t right.

The slave should associate to the master, and any changes at the master SHOULD be reflected back at the hub.

Aegwyn11 · March 3, 2021, 4:21pm

I haven’t watched it with logging turned on…just watching the device page for the dimmer. When it works, the page updates (e.g., paddle press for off and the page says the switch is off). When it doesn’t work, the page never updates and even a refresh of the page still shows the switch in the wrong state. The slave always follows, though, regardless of whether the hub does or not.

Any thoughts on troubleshooting this would be appreciated. Don’t get me wrong…I want these dimmers to work. I already own them and they’re in the walls. Changing to either wifi switches or Lutron would cost money and time…

Indeed, I have the master sending groups 2/4 to each bulb. I didn’t create a group for the bulbs, as I thought “grouping” was a Zigbee specific thing and the concept didn’t exist in Zwave.

EricM_Inovelli · March 3, 2021, 7:40pm

That sounds like parameter 12 did not take. It is creating a loop and bogging the switches down.

For the bulbs, make sure you have the beta firmware as it makes them much more responsive. It should be 2.31.

With 2.31 you could also use the 3x toggle pairing method to get the bulb to pair non-secure. Then choose no security for the switches (uncheck the check boxes on the C-7 or have the secure option only enabled for locks and garage doors for C-3, C-4, etc). This will reduce traffic and make the setup faster.

Aegwyn11 · March 3, 2021, 8:52pm

How to I fix this? On the slave switch, I see * parameter12value : 11 and I verify that every time I change anything, so I’m not sure what else to do.

I put 2.31 on the bulbs a few weeks ago, but Hubitat is reporting them as 2.28 still. Odd. I’ll try updating them again I guess. Is non-secure pairing going to make them respond to commands noticeably faster?

EricM_Inovelli · March 4, 2021, 10:11pm

I’m not sure other than trying to reset it and verifying it took in the logs. I don’t see how group 2 could cause the switch to become unresponsive unless there is some kind of command loop.

You might have to click on “Save Preferences” for the bulbs to update the version number. Removing security essentially removes 66% of the traffic to and from the bulbs. S0 commands and reports send 3x the amount of packets.

skarden · March 5, 2022, 3:11pm

I am using firmware 1.48 for my red dimmers, LZW31-SN, I have params 1, 2, 3, and 4 on both set to 2, 2, 0, 0. I have param 12 on the master set to 15 and param 12 on the slave set to 11. I have associations going both ways on groups 2, 3 and 4.

Can I/should I remove the association for both on group 2?

EricM_Inovelli · March 7, 2022, 7:42pm

Are you having any issues with it? If so, I would say that you use either 2,4 or 3,4, but not all 3.

Make sure you set parameter 12 to 11 on one of the devices. “Association Behavior”.

jburgod · September 19, 2024, 2:56am

I am having trouble with the Z-Wave Association Tool trying to setup a 4-way (3 switches) association for on/off + dimming.

Switch 1 - Family Room Lights - Has the line & load
Switch Mode: Dimmer
Aux Switch Type: Smart Aux Switch
Switch 2 - Family Room Lights (Aux1) powered using the line and neutral from the traveler wire run
Switch Mode: Dimmer
Aux Switch Type: Smart Aux Switch
Switch 3 - Art Light One (Aux1) powered from the line and neutral of an adjacent switch
Switch Mode: Dimmer
Aux Switch Type: Smart Aux Switch

According to the documentation, I’ve configured an association for group 2 & 4. Here is a screen shot of the associates form the app:

The association only appears to get created on the “source” switch. I thought all of the switches would have an association. Here are the state variables from each switch.

Switch 1:

State Variables
actualAssociation4 : [3F, 53]
actualAssociation3 : []
lastEventReceived : ConfigurationReport
actualAssociation6 : []
lastCommandTime : 2024-Sep-18 9:33:54 PM
actualAssociation5 : []
lastCommandSent : refresh()
desiredAssociation2 : [53, 3F]
desiredAssociation4 : [53, 3F]
dimmingMethod : Leading Edge
parameter158value : 0
associationGroups : 6
driverDate : 2024-02-13
parameter22value : 2
parameter79value : 0
auxType : Smart Aux
model : VZW31-SN
defaultG3 : []
lastEventTime : 2024-Sep-18 9:34:05 PM
actualAssociation2 : [3F, 53]
fwVersion : 1.02
defaultG2 : []
actualAssociation1 : [01]
defaultG1 : [01]

Switch 2:

State Variables
parameter5value : 0
actualAssociation4 : []
actualAssociation3 : []
lastEventReceived : SwitchMultilevelReport
actualAssociation6 : []
lastCommandTime : 2024-Sep-18 8:53:09 PM
actualAssociation5 : []
lastCommandSent : setParameter(158, 0, 1)
desiredAssociation2 : []
dimmingMethod : Leading Edge
parameter158value : 0
driverDate : 2024-02-13
parameter22value : 2
model : VZW31-SN
fwVersion : 1.02
parameter52value : 0
parameter98value : 1
associationGroups : 6
parameter79value : 0
auxType : Smart Aux
defaultG3 : []
lastEventTime : 2024-Sep-18 9:26:55 PM
actualAssociation2 : []
defaultG2 : []
actualAssociation1 : [01]
defaultG1 : [01]

Switch 3:

State Variables
actualAssociation4 : []
actualAssociation3 : []
lastEventReceived : SwitchMultilevelReport
actualAssociation6 : []
lastCommandTime : 2024-Sep-18 8:57:17 PM
actualAssociation5 : []
lastCommandSent : setParameter(158, 0, 1)
dimmingMethod : Leading Edge
parameter158value : 0
associationGroups : 6
driverDate : 2024-02-13
parameter22value : 0
auxType : Smart Aux
model : VZW31-SN
defaultG3 : []
lastEventTime : 2024-Sep-18 9:26:55 PM
actualAssociation2 : []
fwVersion : 1.02
parameter52value : 0
defaultG2 : []
actualAssociation1 : [01]
defaultG1 : [01]

The association does work one-way, from the source to the aux switches, but not the other way.

I’m almost certain there needs to be an association set on the aux switches two, because I have other vendor switch associations and they have associations set on both. Those are only 3-way (2 switches) virtual configurations.

I have not tried to create the associations manually, because I’m not sure if the aux switches should only have the source switch or the source switch + the other aux switch. In any case, I was hoping the Z-Wave Association Tool would do it for me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

EricM_Inovelli · September 26, 2024, 6:52pm

Hi @jburgod, so for the process to work you just need to create the same associations on the other switches (but change the destination accordingly of course). Also make sure that you change parameter 59 (I take it you are using the current gen switch) on the master switch to 3

parameter059 : [
name: “Association Behavior”,
description: “Choose when the switch sends commands to associated devices”,
range: [“0”:“Never”, “1”:“Local (default)”, “2”:“Z-Wave”, “3”:“Both”],
default: 1,
size: 1,
type: “enum”
],

In the end you should have

Group 2
Switch A → Switch B
Switch A → Switch C

Switch B → Switch A
Switch B → Switch C

Switch C → Switch B
Switch C → Switch A

Group 3
Switch A → Switch B
Switch A → Switch C

Switch B → Switch A
Switch B → Switch C

Switch C → Switch B
Switch C → Switch A

jburgod · September 27, 2024, 9:38pm

Thank you!

Now I understand. I will get the remaining associations created this weekend.

I already have p59 set on the main switch, as you indicated.

I have an additional random, but related suggestion. Based on my research, it is my understanding that the Smart Aux switches should not be controlled remotely, which does make sense. My older LZW30-SN switch has a driver option to disable remote control. It sure would be nice if the new switches/driver had that same option for the Smart Aux use case.

EricM_Inovelli · October 3, 2024, 6:51am

I think you can disable remote control by setting parameter 157 to 1 with the setParameter command. You can do it from rule machine if you want to do it in an automation. It looks like this, but P157 instead of 156:

You can do it on the remote page from here:

You need to have the latest driver for this to work.