I have 2 Inovelli Red Series dimmers (LZW31-SN) and I am using a Hubitat C5.
Both switches are installed in a 3-way configuration, with a dumb switch as the other switch (parameter 22 = 3-way toggle). Wiring is ok and the switches were working fine, except that the lights would go off for a fraction of a second and then back on, at apparently random intervals. That issue happened at different levels of dimming. The interval ranges from a few seconds to a few minutes. I read that firmware v1.57 and energy reports OFF would fix it, so I upgraded the firmware (from v1.35 to v1.57).
After the upgrade, I set parameters 18 and 19 to 0 (energy reports) but both switches still show the flicker. Also, both switches turn off with a 3-4s delay when pressing the toggle. Turning on is instantaneous and turning off has the delay, despite parameters 1-4 being at the default values (the above is true whether I switch from the paddle or from Hubitat).
On top of that, the switches are behaving weirdly. One of them controls a heavy load (10 LED can lights from Feit - 15W each at full power) but the other one controls a transformer for LED strips.
In the sequence Inovelli switch On + Off, it works
In the sequence Dumb switch On + Inovelli Off, the Inovelli blue led turns Off, but the light stays On. When I turn the light Off from the dumb switch, the light goes Off and immediately turns back On. I can then turn it Off from the Inovelli switch and it works, or I can turn the Dumb switch Off, then back On, and then the Inovelli switch will turn Off. The above pattern happens consistently.
I tried setting parameter 52 (Smart Bulb Mode) to 1 then back to 0. I tried the command button 8x rapidly - it flashes red, and if I do it again it flashes green. One more thing: I cannot exclude the switch from ZWave (it shows a red light when the Zwave exclusion expires).
With Firmware v1.35, things were working fine, except for the flicker, so I must have some v1.57 parameter set incorrectly. Now I still have the flicker, with an extra headache. Any help would be welcome!
Thanks a lot @Bry. The release note for the 1.61 is quite succinct (“Fixed: Dimmer sending duplicate reports in certain scenarios while being controlled by certain hubs.”)
My dimmable transformer is listed as Triac ELV/MLV, so I thought it was compatible with the Inovelli. If not, could you suggest compatible dimmers?
Also, I must be missing something, as the dimmers worked fine (except the flicker) in v1.35 and started their weird behavior in v1.57. As I made quite a jump. I would need to analyze all the interim firmware releases to understand which parameter might be incorrect, so I was hoping someone would have had a similar issue.
I tried excluding the device (Devices – Add Device – Start Z-Wave Exclusion, then press config button 3x on the switch) but the switch blinked red at the end of the exclusion. Tried Full Reset (pressed the config button for 20 seconds until the switched showed solid red, then released), followed by exclusion, but also red.
These were Inovelli refurbished dimmers when I got them and maybe I got duds. I have other Inovelli dimmers which have worked flawlessly in 3-way configuration, with no flicker.
The firmware changelog is succinct; however, it’s my experience that they don’t always list everything that has been corrected. Someone at Inovelli would be the best authority to determine if the 1.61 firmware addresses your issue.
So here is the thing with the transformer compatibility. If you’re transformer uses a Triac, then that is a MLV dimmer. I’m quite some time ago, we asked the manufacturer about MLV and ELV compatibility for the LZW 31-SN. They advised that MLV transformers work compatible but ELV were not. Nonetheless, Inovelli states that the dimmer is not compatible with any transformer. So in my mind, that puts it in the if “it works, great” category.
That being said, if you can’t exclude that device, it makes me wonder if it might be faulty. That’s entirely possible if you got a refurb.
Let’s see whether anyone at Inovelli gets me more information on 1.61. My number 1 priority is still to resolve the flicker. If I cannot fix that, it’s enough of an annoyance that I will replace these dimmers. The most common solution was to change parameters 18 and 19 to stop sending energy reports in v1.57, but it does not work for me, and now I have the additional issue that switching the light on from the dumb switch means that I must switch off from the dumb switch as well.
@anthonyc you can find the change logs here . The changes in = 1.61 Fixed: Dimmer sending duplicate reports in certain scenarios while being controlled by certain hubs.
Thanks @Lance_Inovelli. I had indeed seen the change log. My lights are still flickering randomly and I have a Hubitat hub. Would v1.61 address this issue?
There were no other changes made in the firmware than correcting the duplicate reporting. So I would say probably not. With out scrolling back you have tried turning off any ower reporting?
Good point - I changed Parameter to 100% (default is 10%). The parameter is “The energy level change that will result in a new energy report being sent. The value is a percentage of the previous report”. There is no “Ignore” setting, so I used the max value.
Well, I guess these dimmers were refurbs for a reason. Between the flicker, the impossibility to remove and the fact that the 3-way has a weird behavior, I will replace them with new dimmers.