Frustration with Z-Wave Yale Locks

Configuration Z-Wave
1

I’ve reached my point of frustration with my 3 Yale Assure 2 locks. I have YRD450-ZW3 zwave modules in them (from eBay). My issue is that they are not updating the state, when locked or unlocked directly at the door. I can unlock them through HA and they work wonderfully, but if I unlock using the code or fingerprint, that is not updating HA. Here is what I recently changed:

  • Replaced my ZWave controller with Zooz ZST39 800 Series (updated firmware to FW 1.50, SDK 7.22.1)
  • Repaired all devices (2 of the Yale locks had to be reset because they would not exclude from the prior controller)

My HA instance is a VM in proxmox, so when I initial pair the locks, it is not easy to move the USB stick close to the lock. I bought a 60’ USB extension cable, ran that through my house and paired the various locks directly to the controller in S2 mode.

When the lock is unlocked locally, without fail, I can open up Z-Wave JS UI add-on, go to the device, and hit Refresh on the Door Lock v4 section, and low and behold, it updates from Locked to Unlocked. Once I do this, if I then manually change the lock state, it updates a few times, but eventually it stops updating.

I forced one lock to route through a nearby Inovelli Z-Wave switch (also S2). None of the locks are “that far” from the controller:

Garage: Maybe 50’, through one exterior wall
Front Door: Maybe 50’, through a few interior walls. Longest distance from an S2 device to the front lock is perhaps 20’.
Side Door: Maybe 40’, through a few interior walls. Longest distance from an S2 device to the side lock is perhaps 30’.

Here’s my ZWave JS UI network map filtered to the three locks:

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I see reviews online that people like these and find them to be reliable, which makes me think I need to change something, but I"m about at the point where the something to be changed is the locks themselves. Any ideas to increase the reliability? Thanks!

2

Check your Z-Wave, Associations. These get setup during inclusion and is how a device knows where to send updates to. You can view and edit them under the node settings > groups tab.

3

All three are set like this (which matches the other z-wave items in my network):

image

4

Not only Yale, but all Zwave locks in general need a buffering repeater/extender within 20 feet of the lock. This is a very known issue, I’ve had many times, I’ve seen it on this forum and other forums many time.
You must drop a ZWAVE outlet near the lock, that’s the cheapest and easiest. Or a ZWAVE extender, all issues will be resolved.

5

In one case (the garage lock), I have an Inovelli Z-wave switch within 3’ of the lock. I went ahead and ordered 2 Zooz 800 series extenders to test with. Via the magic of Amazon, I should have that ready to test tomorrow.

6

Try updating your locks firmware.

7

Hi hoyt,

ZWave is a mesh type network that gets better with more devices, You have 6 peripheral devices, half are on battery and likely route at lower power and less often (if at all). You need more stuff in your mesh. Put 3 more smart plugs and plug them into wall sockets to help with routing the signal around.
I recommend one device per room minimum for a good mesh.

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8

When you connect to the Yale locks with their app, I believe the firmware is auto updated. I know I’ve opened the app before and seen that. I just checked and the two Assure 2 Touch locks are at 1.4.12 and one non-touch is 1.3.20.

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9

Sorry if it wasn’t obvious, but that screenshot is a filtered view of my z-wave network, set to just the 3 nodes in question (and their connections). I actually have about 25 devices, 12 Inovelli Red switches, 2 Inovelli bulbs, 8 Zooz plugs (ZEN15s and ZEN20s), a random GE switch and these 3 Yale locks. All of this is over the area of about 1500 sq ft, with two switches and 1 lock in a detached garage 50’ from the controller.

10

I have about 80foot to my garage and 3 cars park between. As a result I have to put 3 plugs on the outside wall of the house and another in the attic to have reliable to the garage. My garage also has 3.

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11

Zooz repeaters should be here tomorrow. I guess I figured the hard wired Inovelli switches would be enough, but if this addresses the issue, I’ll be satisfied.

12

Zooz repeater arrived (ZAC38). I installed it <10’ from the front lock. Included into my network, set as a repeater for Front Lock in Z-Wave JS UI:

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Same behavior though. I unlock the front door and no update. I then hit Refresh in Z-Wave JS-UI and it updates to unlocked.

EDIT: I broke down and did a factory reset of this one, pulled the 60’ USB cable back to the front door, re-included it and reset the repeater to the Front Extender. Right now it’s reflecting the state change correctly. I’ll roll the USB back up and keep an eye on it a few times this evening to see if that “sticks.”

13

Update: it’s still not working correctly. I unlocked the front door, grabbed a package, locked the front door and HA says it’s still unlocked.

I don’t get it. These are highly unreliable…

14

Here are some more things you can do to troubleshoot.

  1. Reseat the batteries
  2. Make sure the batteries are good
  3. Try using the Z-Wave PC Controller software. https://homeseer.com/updates4/SmartStick-G8-Updater-7.22.2.zip. If the issue persists in the Z-Wave PC Controller then you know the issue has something to do with the lock itself.
15

I appreciate the help, but I’ve come to the conclusion that these things are garbage and I need another solution. The locks currently have repeaters within 10’. They only report the status after I go into Z-Wave JS-UI and force a refresh. Then they work for a few hours before stopping any updates. My requirements (in order of importance) appear to be making the list of options short:

  1. Local control only (zwave, zigbee, wifi are fine, not bluetooth)
  2. Ability to set codes via HA
  3. Supports fingerprint

The Schlage Connect Z-Wave locks seem to get great reviews, but I’m not a huge fan of the look and they don’t support fingerprints.

The Aqara U100 looks perfect, but it seems to require the Aqara hub, which I assume means it’s a cloud device.

ULTRALOQ seems ok, but reviews state that inclusion/ exclusion can only be triggered from the app and not the device itself. So what happens if they go bankrupt and the app is no longer supported. Also, can’t set codes via HA.

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16

You are not alone, I have the YRD622 for about 8 months, and since day 1 have the same issue with manual lock / unlocks not being detected reliably. I had previously gone through all of the zwave troubleshooting items discussed here to no avail.

I do recall when troubleshooting that the AlarmType value (in Notification V4 section in zWave JS) will indicate the lock unlock status, and whether it was manual or by zwave command. Here are the values:

21 – Locked Manually
22 – Unlocked manually
24 – Locked by command
25 – Unlocked by command

I attempted to read the alarm type and determine it was locked if value was 21 or 24, and unlocked if 22 or 25. This improved reliability but there were still cases when the lock was changed manually and this register was not up to date.

Our lock is updated via zwave most of the time, so this issue is more of an annoyance than a show stopper. But I’m still interested in resolving at some point, so it works 100% of the time, and without the complexity of having to read the alarm register.

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17

I ordered new locks and they seem a bit better (Schlage ZWave), but the update seemed quite delayed still, a few seconds sometimes. The locking mechanism is somewhat loud and the aesthetic of the keypad isn’t as nice (though having a backup key doesn’t seem like a horrible idea).

I put one of the Yale locks on my desk after being replaced by the Schlage, and pulled the USB Z-Wave stick out on the USB extension to be within 2’ of the lock. I’ve unlocked and relocked it several times over the last day and the update into HA is immediate. I ordered more z-wave extenders (Aeotec 7s this time).