LZW31-SN Red Dimmer - Hubitat - Issue turning on

Switches General Discussion
#1

@Eric_Inovelli @EricM_Inovelli
Sometimes it seems that the switch “misses” a “turn on at level xx” type command.

In my morning “wakeup” routine, I send a different dim level command every minute (slowly increasing in brightness over about 15-30 minutes). However, it seems that if the dimmer misses the FIRST one (which theoretically turns it ON also), it never comes on. I’ll see the LED status strip flash with a new dim level, but the light remains off. In the past when the switch was in this state, even pressing the paddle up didn’t necessarily turn the light on–I had to turn it off then on again.

How can I get the ON command to be sent with EVERY dim command even if the hub (mistakenly) thinks it is ON already? Or, is there possibly some firmware matter involved?

This is a rather rare but random event. No clue how to reproduce it on cemand.

The firmware is 1.47, 0=1.47, 1=1.41

Thanks,

…Rob

#2

What hub are you using?

#3

It’s in the name of the thread. Hubitat

#4

Hmmm… So is it always the first command?

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#5

Well. I can’t guarantee that.

But, if the first command didn’t fail, the light would illuminate. If intermediate “dim level” commands fail, I wouldn’t likely notice (it would just skip an intermediate dimming level).

I only notice when the light stays off.

#6

This should not really be a problem, at least not from the driver level. If you’re using Inovelli’s driver, they’re sending a switchMultilevelSet command in setLevel(). This will turn the device on if it’s off, which I believe is also per Z-Wave standard (no explict “on” via some other means needed). It’s also Hubitat convention unless you have pre-staging enabled, but that’s not an option in this driver. If you’re using another driver, your options may vary, but this is all still pretty common for Z-Wave.

So, my hunch is that the hub doesn’t have much to do with this — likely something with your bulbs or the LZW31-SN configuration. If it is the hub:

  • Your “routine” is, presumably an app. Does that app have any “optimization” settings that might be enabled? (If you’re not controlling the device directly but are doing so via a Group, then checking the same options in the Group app would be worthwhile).
  • Enabling logging, if available, for the app and looking at those logs to see what the app is doing when may help;
  • Enabling logging for the dimmer and checking “Logs” or the “Events” page/history to see what actually happened may also help (Inovelli’s logging options don’t exactly follow Hubitat convention, but “Events” is always an authoritative source of what actually happened as far as what the device reports back and what the driver parsed out of that is concerned; these are normally also logged, and Inovelli also logs when commands are sent with info logging but not the actual event/change until/unless the device reports back)

If it’s the dimmer:

  • Your “minimum level” parameter may need to be adjusted up if the light is, in fact, off when the level is set to something. Keep in mind that behavior is not always symmetrical with respect to coming from lower or higher levels. For example, if you’re dimming from 100%, you may find that you can get down to 18% before the bulbs turn off. But if you’re dimming from off, perhaps you’ll find you have to go to 22% before the bulbs turn on. If you set this parameter to a custom value, I’d un-do that and then try a few times in both directions to get a good feel for what yours may need to be set at to reliably turn on the bulbs even when telling the hub/driver “1%.”
  • Maybe some bulb incompatibility? If you have others to try, that may help. (Or using neutral if available and you aren’t, a bypass if you can’t, or other troubleshooting along those lines.)
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#7
  1. It works 98% of the time.
  2. It is just a Rule Manager app. In a “repeat” loop. It calculates a “dim level” once a minute, making it get slightly brighter each time.
  3. If the lowest level isn’t bright enough for the light–it would become bright enough in subsequent minutes.
  4. When it is acting that way, I can press the dimmer switch paddle and it won’t come on–until I first turn it off then back on.
  5. I’m using the Inovelli driver.
#8

My suspicion is still the minimum level issue. Beyond that, I think you’ll need logs and/or event history, as above, to troubleshoot more if you think it’s an app/driver issue.

#9

Why do you suspect that?

When I can press the top paddle and hold it indefinitely and the light won’t turn on.

Or, I my app sends it “dim” levels all the way to 100%?

The final amounts aren’t at all dependent on the “minimum” setting…and the lights still stay off.

Given that the switch itself doesn’t act right, I do kinda wonder if it’s a random firmware matter.

#10

I didn’t catch that the paddle never works in such cases. I’d go back to the bulb compatibility idea, then. Have you tried any others? Have you checked yours against the community list?

Do you think it’s a hardware issue? I suppose I was distracted by the implication that it might be a hub issue…