Problems with multiple products, getting frustrated

Hubitat
#1

I purchased a handful of Inovelli products a couple weeks ago, and I am becoming very frustrated with their instability and bugginess.

LZW30-SN: I purchased two of these, and one seems to be working ok. The other I questioned whether was working correctly because its state (on/off) wasn’t reflected in Hubitat. I excluded and attempted to re-include the switch, which was met with failure. I have since returned the “bad” switch to Amazon, and picked up an LZW30 (black series) to replace it. Here’s to hoping it works ok. The other LZW30-SN I purchased seems to be working ok. If this was my only complaint about Inovelli, I wouldn’t have much to complain about. However…

LZW36: I purchased two of these at the same time as the LZW30-SN devices above, but these have caused all kinds of problems. One stopped controlling the fan entirely. It started happening a few days after installation, and within a couple more days it stopped working at all. This one has already been returned to Amazon. The other often won’t turn on the fan from the switch or via Z-Wave, but it does work after a few tries; I have not yet returned this one. The replacement for the returned unit was ordered directly from Inovelli because Amazon was out of stock, but that one is broken too. With this one, the fan works ok so far, but the light won’t turn off entirely. It turns WAY down to like 1% or something, so far down that you can’t tell it’s illuminated during the day, but after dark it becomes very obvious that the light is on. 3/3 of these devices I’ve received are either defective, or it’s just a crappy product; I can’t yet tell which.

I should also mention that following the process to upgrade the firmware via Hubitat of ALL these devices is met with, “please wake up your sleepy device,” when I try to perform an upgrade. Well, from what I know about Z-Wave, this isn’t at all a sleep device, and whether it is or isn’t I can’t seem to upgrade my devices. The amount of troubleshooting I’ve put into FRICKIN LIGHT SWITCHES is altogether ridiculous, and I’m pretty close to returning all of these things and going with another brand. I like the features of these devices, but if they don’t work, the features are worthless. At least switches without customizable LED lamps turn their load on/off correctly. :neutral_face:

Any ideas?

#2

I would be hesitant ordering from Amazon as it has been known that people return products and those products have been placed back into the stock system for ordering; thus if someone broke said switch and returned to Amazon (not documenting it’s broken), then the switch goes to another user who in turns gets frustrated at Inovelli for something out of their hands.

There will be an update coming to the canopy module that Inovelli is working. It cannot be OTA updated and must be sent back to Inovelli for replacement. I’d reach out to Team Inovelli for further details and/or replacement of the canopy.

Sounds like your fan is using LEDs. Hopefully not integrated LEDs as you would be able to swap out to a different bulb. The LZW36 and LZW31 share the same issue with different brands of bulbs. Some bulbs work with no issues; others don’t and remain lit when “Off”. The Aeotec Bypass can be installed at the canopy to help fix the issue.

Please make sure you’re utilizing @bcopeland 's latest Hubitat updater that supports the latest files. Also, I would HIGHLY recommend just buying an external Z-Wave stick and including it into your Hubitat Z-Wave network. I’ve had ZERO issues updating any of my switches/dimmers to the latest firmwares (I’ve updated over times for all devices using this method). It’s not an native Inovelli tool so there’s some quirks with the updater tool.

#3

Sounds like your fan is using LEDs. Hopefully not integrated LEDs as you would be able to swap out to a different bulb. The LZW36 and LZW31 share the same issue with different brands of bulbs. Some bulbs work with no issues; others don’t and remain lit when “Off”. The Aeotec Bypass can be installed at the canopy to help fix the issue.

This is correct, and they are integrated, but I was unable to find any warnings in the marketing materials related to this incompatibility. Sounds like these are going back to Inovelli and I need to find a competing product. (Looked into the bypass, it’s only $15, but I still don’t know if I’m willing to buy one to fix a brand-new product that shouldn’t have this problem to begin with. If Aeotec can create a standalone bypass, Inovelli can integrate one into their product somehow. I know I sound angry and frustrated and maybe even unreasonable, and it’s because I am.)

Please make sure you’re utilizing @bcopeland 's latest Hubitat updater that supports the latest files.

I am, I used the Inovelli KB article on the subject to perform, or try to perform, the update. But I don’t follow you, why would I need an alternate Z-Wave radio to perform a firmware update?

As for buying from Amazon, you make a good point. But all of the packaging for these products was sealed, so I think that’s a good sign?

As I said before, the amount of troubleshooting to get a light switch or fan controller to work should be zero outside of Z-Wave network issues and the like. This is all very disappointing.

Oh, and thank you very much for your help.

#4

That would be fantastic and I’ve stated multiple times in hopes Inovelli could create their own bypass to shave off a few dollars. The bypass needs to be installed where there is a neutral, so sometimes it would work in situations like yours (and mine TBH) that still needed a bypass in that switch location. The problem comes to switch locations that don’t have a neutral in the box and has to be installed at the light, so integrating it into the switch product wouldn’t work.

Not at all - I’ve had my fair share of frustration, but this Community and support helped me out in my initial welcome of the installs. I’ve been running switches for the past 14 months with little to no issues on most of them. A few quirks here and there, but I managed to fix it with Aux switches (extra cost, but well worth the WAF and feel of switches).

I recommend the extra Z-Wave stick and PC Controller software because in my experience I’ve had no issues with this setup. Again, extra cost ($30 for stick), but it just works when updating the switches. I have 29 switches to upgrade; some are in the shed in the back yard, so it’s extremely helpful to use a laptop and walk near the switch to update. I’m not relying on multiple radio hops to get the firmware upgraded. Just my $.02. Some people love and use the Updater Tool; just YMMV.

Probably safe then. The HQ Team is extremely helpful in getting replacements if needed, but we (the community) like to provide support as most of us have experienced similar issues.

1 Like
#5

I went ahead and bought the bypass. It was a purely economic decision. Replacing the fan or going with another switch vendor would have cost me more overall, but if this doesn’t work, or I continue to have major issues with these things otherwise, I think a Lutron system may be in my future.

So this goes on the neutral wire between the light and the Inovelli ceiling module, is that right?

Thanks again for your help.

#6

It goes between the neutral bundle and the switched hot feeding the light.

#7

Oh that’s right, if I recall correctly the in-ceiling module doesn’t have a neutral wire. I’ll have this installed in no time, thanks for your help.

Edit: Oh, no, it totally does. I got it installed, thanks!

Edit again: Well, that didn’t work. The LEDs are still lit very low, they don’t turn off. And when I try to open a ticket with support, I am met with the error, “Error occured while processing the SAML Response.” I guess SSO isn’t working so well…

#8

I think this would be my first of hearing a bypass didn’t work. You tied it between the fan and neutral like this:

image
image1018×1051 332 KB

#9

Absolutely not, no. But now I did and it works as expected. Thanks for the diagram, it immediately showed what I did wrong. I really appreciate it. I hope I’ve just had bad luck with these things. I really like them, but I still feel like I’ve put WAY too much time into troubleshooting switches over the past couple weeks.

Turns out it’s the OEM fan controller that doesn’t have a neutral, so that explains why I thought the Inovelli one didn’t at first. :confused:

I’ll check out using the Z-Stick method to perform firmware updates. I have one, but I don’t have a Windows laptop (and for some reason BootCamp doesn’t work on my MacBook in particular, which is also out of warranty). I have a desktop I can use, but it’s stationary because it’s, you know, a desktop. But I’ll still give it a shot.

#10

The Community is here. I’d hate for someone to beat their head against the wall instead of asking on here.

I know the CEO is using a boot camp or VM method for his Z wave stick. Oracle VM is free and may be worth checking out. I don’t think Silicone makes a PC Controller for macOS.

Yea moving a desktop around isn’t ideal, but try some of the above options. May work out for you.

#11

Just to be clear . . . that’s between the fan LIGHT and the neutral. As in that masterfully drawn diagram!

1 Like
#12

I was able to update both of my LZW36 devices’ firmware to 1.36 from my desktop, luckily they’re both within about 15’ of the machine. Also I was able to finally get a ticket logged and they recommended the same for the fan control failure issue.

My front and back porch switches, one a LZW30 and one a LZW30-SN, are a little farther, but not much; my house isn’t all that big to begin with. Even without a firmware update, the LZW30 at the front door is behaving much better than the LZW30-SN it replaced. I’ll get to those updates eventually - they’ll require a lot more teardown and rebuilding of rules and such in Hubitat, so I don’t want to break anything until I have time to fix it.

On one hand I still think I’ve spend WAY too much time troubleshooting switches over the past couple weeks, but on the other hand it’s pretty cool that they can be updated not-at-all-easily :wink: to resolve problems.

Anyway, thanks a lot for everyone’s help. I literally couldn’t have done it without you.

#13

I had this issue as well and it took me quite awhile to find out the device has to join with no security enabled to be able to use @bcopeland’s firmware updater. By default, all the new Inovelli devices (the Red Series with the Z-Wave 700 series chips) join Hubitat with security keys for S0, S2 unauthenticated, and S2 authenticated. If any of those keys are enabled, when you try to update the firmware you will get a “please wake up your sleepy device” error.

With having to struggle through figuring this out on my own, here are the detailed steps to update the LZW36 firmware:

  1. Install @bcopeland’s binary firmware updater
    There are two versions of @bcopeland’s Z-Wave Firmware Updater. (Optionally, install both. These are both in @bcopeland’s Z-Wave Firmware Updater repo: https://github.com/djdizzyd/hubitat/tree/master/Drivers/Z-Wave-Firmware-Updater).
  • Add new Drivers code
    – Z-Wave Binary Updater source code URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/djdizzyd/hubitat/master/Drivers/Z-Wave-Firmware-Updater/zwaveBinaryUpdater.groovy
    – On Hubitat navigate to Drivers Code -> New Driver -> Import -> paste URL for binary firmware updater provided above -> Import
    – (Optional) I suggest you modify Line 5 to identify this is the binary updater: replace “Z-Wave Firmware Updater” with “Z-Wave Binary Updater”
    – Click Save
  • (Optional: Install the other firmware updater version, leave the name as “Z-Wave Firmware Updater” so you can identify the difference)
    – Z-Wave Firmware Updater source code URL: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/djdizzyd/hubitat/master/Drivers/Z-Wave-Firmware-Updater/zwaveFirmwareUpdater.groovy
  1. Exclude your LZW36 from your Z-Wave network, then re-include with all of the security checkboxes unchecked.
    If your LZW36 is already joined to your Z-Wave network, it is probably connected with S0 and/or S2 security unless you intentionally deselected these when you did the inclusion process for the LZW36. To update the firmware, it must be joined with no security enabled.
  • Run the Exclusion of the LZW36:
    – Navigate to: Hubitat -> Devices -> your LZW36 device -> Remove Device -> press the physical config buttons on specific LZW36 device and confirm exclusion
    – Work through any failures and perform general exclusion and factory reset LZW36 if needed.
  • Run the Inclusion of the LZW36, making sure to uncheck security keys when joining
    – Navigate to: Hubitat -> Devices -> Discover Devices -> Z-Wave -> Start Z-Wave Inclusion -> press the physical config buttons on specific LZW36 device
    – WHEN SECURITY KEY PAGE POPS UP: Deselect S0, S2 unauthenticated, and S2 authenticated checkboxes
    – Confirm successful inclusion of LZW36

  1. Use @bcopeland’s Z-Wave Binary Updater to update LZW36 firmware
    – All Inovelli firmware is hosted at: https://files.inovelli.com/firmware/. You can bookmark this URL to navigate the directory trees to other devices in the future.
    – For the LZW36, you will want to go to: https://files.inovelli.com/firmware/LZW36/. Most of the time, you will be updating from the “Beta” folder, unless Innovelli’s manufacturer certifies a new release when building a newer version of the physical device.
    – As of this post, the latest release for the LZW36 is version 1.36 in the Beta folder. From this URL, you will want to right click and copy the URL for the “LZW36_1.36.gbl” link: https://files.inovelli.com/firmware/LZW36/Beta/. Currently, for the latest version, your copied URL will be: https://files.inovelli.com/firmware/LZW36/Beta/LZW36_1.36.gbl.
    – Switch your LZW36 device to use the “Z-Wave Binary Updater” firmware by navigating to:
    Hubitat -> Devices -> your LZW36 device -> click the dropdown under the Device Information, Type header that currently should say “Inovelli Fan + Light LZW36” -> select “Z-Wave Binary Updater” per the naming we used above -> Save Device
    – Update the firmware: paste the URL copied above (for the “.gbl” file) into the “binaryFirmwareURL” field, leave the “firmwareTarget” value at zero (“0”), and click “Update Firmware”
    – Wait until it completes!!! You can open the logs in a new tab/window to watch the details or just wait for the Device page to report a status of: “New image was successfully stored in temporary non-volatile memory. The device will now start storing the new image in primary non-volatile memory dedicated to executable code. Then the device will restart itself.”
    – Switch back to the Inovelli device firmware. Switch the same field from “Z-Wave Binary Updater” back to “Inovelli Fan + Light LZW36” and click “Save Device”.

  2. (Optional) If you want this device to receive encrypted commands again, you will have to Exclude and Include this LZW36 again but this time, keep the checkboxes selected for those keys. If you do not do this step, this specific device won’t have the keys to decrypt the S0 or S2 encrypted traffic, so your Hubitat will send unencrypted commands to the LZW36. Depending on your specific preferences, this may or may not be acceptable. Personally, I rejoined my LZW36 with encryption after upgrading the firmware, but I will have to redo the entire process to remove the security keys every time I want to upgrade the firmware. That is acceptable to me as I do not expect to upgrade firmware often.

(Note: As a new forum user, I’m limited to 2 clickable URLs in a post, the rest I pasted as code so you can easily copy/paste).

2 Likes
#14

Well, I think I’ve put enough time into these devices to confidently say that they’re crappy and I won’t be supporting Inovelli with my money ever, ever again. These fan & light switches simply do not work. Not to mention Inovelli support just stopped responding to my emails and never sent the replacement switches like they should have; I’ve had to request replacements from Amazon because Inovelli support dropped the ball so hard.

Thanks for all the help, but Inovelli sucks. These are hands-down the worst devices I’ve had my hands of in a decade. Even the Boxee Box worked better than this.