Zigbee Fan Switch VZW35-SN - Zigbee2MQTT Bind Config Button To Multi-Tap Fan Speed

Switches General Discussion
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1

Here’s a new one for you…

I just purchased a Blue Fan Switch VZW35-SN and a Blue 2-in-1 Dimmer VZM31-SN.
Obviously, the fan switch will control the fan speed, and the dimmer will control the light dimming. I have a 2-gang box, so I want to use two separate switches. I don’t want an unused dummy switch, so no canopy module for me in this setup.

Here’s the thing… I HATE holding a button to control fan speed. Fans change speeds so gradually that I never know if I’m not holding long enough, and the speed doesn’t change, or too long, going past the intended speed.

I have 2 Blue Fan Canopy modules VZM36 already, both of which are bound to 2-in-1 dimmers. I’ve bound the paddles EP2 to the lights, and the config button EP3 to the fans. I have the config button set to multi-tap. 1 press = low, 2 presses = medium, 3 presses = high, hold = off.

This is setup with Zigbee2MQTT binding. I happen to be using HomeSeer HS4 with their Zigbee Plus Zigbee2MQTT plugin, but the bindings there work the same as any other Zigbee2MQTT hub.

I want my blue fan switch to work the same as my existing config buttons. I do NOT want to hold to increase or decrease speed. I hate that! Plus, it’s inconsistent with the rest of the fans in the house. I don’t want to have to explain to my wife that the fan in the master bedroom will not work like the rest of the fans in the house. That is unacceptable!

So, I want to either be able to set the fan switch’s paddle to work in multi-tap mode like my existing config buttons for the other fans or set either the fan switch’s config button or the dimmer’s config button (or both) to work like my existing 2-in-1 config buttons.

My basic question is can I bind the fan switch’s EP3 config button in multi-tap mode to the fan switch’s paddle similar to how I have EP3 bound to my canopy modules? Essentially binding the config to the same switch’s paddle. But the Fan Switch’s manual does not say that EP3 has that same multi-tap behavior.

I expect the multi-tap fan control behavior is in the 2-in-1’s firmware, so I probably can bind its EP3 to the fan switch paddle to get the desired behavior, but the 2-in-1 is on backorder, so I won’t be able to try it for a while.

I know I can do all this with hub automations, but I want it to work in the absence of a hub just like my canopy modules do with the 2-in-1 bindings.

Thanks for any advice here!

2

To answer my own question…
I got the Blue Fan Switch and the Blue 2-in-1 Dimer and installed them today.
I was able to bind both config buttons to the Fan Switch fan mode endpoint in multi-tap mode.
I know it’s redundant to have two switches right next to each other doing the exact same thing, but I have no other use for the config buttons, and I was able to show my wife that all the config buttons in the house work the same.

I bound the 2-in-1 EP3 and the Fan Switch EP3 to the Fan Switch EP1 for OnOff and LevelCtrl.
I set both config buttons for multi-tap speed control.
Works perfectly with either switch.
Exactly what I wanted.

3

And it turns out that the fan switch works differently that I had thought. A single click on the top paddle increases speed until max is reached, then it does nothing more. A single click on the bottom paddle decreases speed until the fan turns off, then nothing more.

I like the way this works. No need for config buttons, although, for consistency’s sake with the rest of the fans in the house, I’m glad I was able to set that up.

I had thought the fan switch worked like a dimmer where you would have to hold the paddle to change speeds, and that would’ve been an issue, but the default single-click behavior is perfect.

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You can have it either way, depending on the setting of Parameter 120:

By default, the Blue Series Fan Switch uses holds to cycle between the fan speeds (ie: if you start on Low, and hold up on the paddle, the switch will turn to Medium, then High and vice versa for when you start on High) which is a value of 0. However, you can change this behavior to have it so that each tap (up or down) of the paddle cycles between the fan speeds (ie: if you start on Low and you tap up once, it goes to Medium, tap up again, it goes to High and vice versa for when you start on High) which is a value of 1.

In addition, if you have Firmware 1.06 installed, you can set it to a value of 2 so that each up press cycles up through the speeds, if it’s on high, it cycles back to low; and a down press turns it off. If it’s off an up press returns to last state.