I have a Homeseer setup and have a small system (very few light switches installed). I am looking at the Red dimmers to add and want to understand the functionality.
In the wiring instructions under the using more than one Red Dimmer it states “The downside is that this is expensive and also will require you to associate Z-Wave switches together,which
may not be supported by all HUB’s. In addition, the LED bars will not sync.”
The last part about the LEDs not syncing confuses me. Is the lack of syncing true IF you can not associate the AUX position switch with the main switch? The way I read it, that feature is just not available regardless of association. I am not a newbie with HA features but I would think if the switch is associated with the main switch it would follow the LED status of the main switch.
The way the wiring is shown this looks like it is just a virtual switch and will control whatever light it is associated with in the controller. If that is the case can this be used in a 4 way (middle switch) configuration assuming I can get or have power in that box?
The LED indicator (that shows the dimming level of the light) is based on the dimmer itself, not based on the remote dimmer it is controlling.
For example:
Dimmer A is connected to the light
Dimmer B is connected to nothing, but is associated with Dimmer A
Changing the brightness on Dimmer A does not cause the LED indicators to change on Dimmer B (Dimmer A does not inform Dimmer B of its brightness level)
If the relay is disabled on Dimmer B, it can still control Dimmer A, but the LEDs on Dimmer B will not change because its internal brightness level is not changing.
Since the associated (remote) dimmers would be communicating via zwave (wireless), they dont even need to be on the same circuit. As long as you have both line and neutral wires available in the box, it should work (you would not want to connect the load/traveler wires up to this switch though)
Possible workaround to LED sync (a bit more advanced)
You may be able to get the brightness LEDs to sync up by doing the following (assuming you are using 3 dimmers in a “virtual” 4-way setup, with only 1 dimmer connected to the load
Dimmer A (connected to load): Associate to both Dimmer B and Dimmer C
Dimmer B (not connected to any load): Leave relay enabled. Associate to both Dimmer A and Dimmer C
Dimmer C (not connected to any load): Leave relay enabled. Associate to both Dimmer A and Dimmer B
Hub: Create a switch “group” that consists of Dimmer A, Dimmer B and Dimmer C (so any changes made to this group will affect all 3 dimmers). I am not sure if this is possible in Homeseer
Since all switches are associated with each other, any change made locally to 1 switch will also be sent to the 2 other switches. Any changes made to the switch “group” would also be sent to all 3 dimmers. This would theoretically keep all 3 dimmer LEDs in sync with each other.
Thanks for the quick, detailed reply! That is great news.
2 more questions to anybody that has done this type of setup or knows how it works.
Is there a noticeable delay in activating the light using the virtual switch?
This is a newbie Z Wave question - if the 2 switches are associated and in close range, can the virtual switch still activate the light directly to the main control switch without using the hub/controller (if the hub/controller goes down)?
I have noticed no additional delay when using my switches in this manner. Keep in mind that there is always a slight delay with these switches (doesnt matter is you are controlling an associated switch or not) because the switch needs time to determine if you are trying to double/tripple tap in order to call a scene.
Yes, a zwave device should always attempt to communicate directly with the device it is associated with (if your hub were to go down, both switches would still work). If it is unable to reach that device directly, it may then have another zwave device relay the command.
I tried following the “possible workaround” but couldn’t get it to work, and noticed some weird things happening after setting it up.
I will admit, I am brand new to z-wave and smart switches in general. But after wiring up my 4-way with 3 dimmers and setting the associations mentioned, I would try to turn off the lights or dim, and it would start dimming then stop. Then I could let go and try turning off the lights again and it would do it again.
Then everything would freeze up for about a minute, then suddenly the lights would finish turning on/off.
To me, seems like there’s a “infinite loop” of associations, which is what’s causing the issue.
For example, if I turn off the lights at A, it sends those commands to B and C, which then B sends commands to C and A, then A sends those commands back to B and C, and so on and so forth, causing an infinite loop.
Oh man, as someone new to z-wave and associations, this confused me more.
First, I thought group 2 was for on/off and 4 was for dimmer, so what is group 3?
Could you put this in words for a 4-way (3 dimmer) setup?
I actually just pulled the images from a previous post of mine. It should all be spelled out in these posts, but let me know if you need additional clarification.
