LZW31-SN red dimmer changing settings by software doesn't take, but on switch does

Switches General Discussion
#1

Hi,

Got a 10-pack of LZW31-SN red dimmers that I’m setting up around the house.

This has happened twice now, once while using zwave2mqtt, and once again after I migrated my setup to zwavejs2mqtt. I’m hosting those apps in docker on a Raspberry Pi 3b, using an Aotec Z-Wave Stick gen5 (not plus), talking to Home Assistant in a VM. Home Assistant’s not really involved here, just mentioning it for completeness.

Both switches were being wired in 3-way configurations, with neutral wire, and with one or more dumb switches in the circuit.

I attempted to set the settings for Neutral wire plus 3-way dumb switch via software. By all evidence, the software says it successfully set the settings. When I interrogate the switch using the software, it reports back to me that it’s set correctly.

But clearly the settings weren’t changed based on the circuit behavior. Classic case of flipping the dumb switch leaves the LZW31-SN powered, but the dumb switches don’t control the circuit.

In both cases, I went through the manual settings on the switch to set up those 2 key settings (neutral and 3-way dumb switch) and then things started working as expected.

I haven’t tried digging much deeper with other tools to diagnose.

Sharing in case this helps anyone else.

3 Likes
2 different circuit...same dimmer problems
4 Way Switch with GE add on switches
#2

Glad you posted this. This seems to be taking place with some regularity. A couple of us have long suspected that the settings weren’t “taking” but this somewhat confirms it.

#3

Yes, thanks for posting up. We now have enough “edge cases” to where this seems to be more of a documented bug that probably requires some manufacturer support… Thanks for posting up and I am glad it’s working for you now!

#4

@EricM_Inovelli can you add this to the list on GitHub?

Edit: thanks @lars for posting this and everyone else for confirming

#5

Yes, I can add it. What firmware version is on the 10-pack? I thought that we already fixed this.

#6

All 10 are showing firmware version 1.48.

#7

If these settings aren’t actually changing, then it would explain the 4 hours of troubleshooting I went through yesterday trying to get my LZW31-SN setup as a three-way with neutral wire + aux switch and smart lights. I’m on firmware 1.52.

I know the wiring was correct because when I tried a Honeywell/Jasco 39348 switch in its place, it worked perfectly in that three-way configuration. I also tried with the smart switch on both line and load sides, to the same effect of not having the aux switch respond correctly.

I ended up punting and just having two LZW31-SN setup independently using Node-RED to bind them together.