How To Setup Z-Wave Association from Motion Sensor to Switch via ZWaveJStoMQTT?

I have a few multisensors (Aeotec MultiSensor 6 and Zooz ZSE40) that I’d like to configure through association to turn on lights in the room automatically. I’m running ZWaveJStoMQTT and have looked through the Groups feature on the sensors, but I only have Group [1] Lifeline on those devices and the Inovelli switches show more Group options, but I haven’t yet figured out how this should be properly configured.

Can anyone provide some quick tips on how Z-Wave Association in ZWaveJStoMQTT should be setup?

I’ve tried to use HA’s automation to manage the light trigger, but it just takes far too long for the light to come on. This is why I’m exploring having a direct connection between the two devices to trigger. From what I understand, both of these sensors should support this functionality.

In order to use zwave association, the association needs to be set on the initiating device, and unfortunately both the Aeotec and Zooz do not have any other association groups besides “group 1”, which is just the lifeline group that associates the device back to the zwave controller. There is no way to set a direct association with them to a different device since there are no other groups to specify.

CORRECTION - see post below from Freshcoast - it looks possible to specify more than just the controller in the group 1 association.

Since the Inovelli devices would be the “receiving” devices, the fact they have association groups unfortunately would not help.

Most of the time, one wouldn’t want to set a direct association with a motion sensor anyway, because it would trigger all the time, every time. You generally want to specify conditions in an automation (time of day, light level, presence, etc) before the sensor triggers a light to come on. I think an older jasco motion sensor allowed direct association, but I’m not sure if there are others on the market now that would.

I have several zigbee motion sensors that almost instantly trigger the zwave devices though. An automation should work fine through Home Assistant, and there should be minimal to no delay, definitely not one that is noticeable. If you have delays, it sounds like you have other issues with the zwave network that need to be sorted out. One issue with Inovelli switches is they sometimes flood the network with power management reports, slowing everything down. If you don’t need those reports, I would go in the config parameters and disable them, or set them up to not send constantly.

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For devices that do support other groups the configuration should look something like this (this is an Aeotec Wallmote 4 switching four different Fibaro dimmers):


Also note that all devices must use the same security level, unless the settings of the device allow you to specify another security level for the target group.

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For the ZSE40 in particular, you should be able to associate the lights with Group 1. It accepts up to 5 nodes, including the controller, so you’ll only be able to control 4 individual lights. When motion is activated, it sends both Basic CC Set and Notification CC Report commands. The associated device should react to the Basic CC Set, where motion is 255 (light turns on) and no motion is 0 (light turns off). The 700-series version of the ZSE40 has a Group 2 for this purpose. Remember to manually wake-up the device after adding an association.

That said, I’d agree with Tim. You don’t get very good control with the direct association, and there shouldn’t be much delays when using HA (the advantage is that HA could be off and it still works). Have you confirmed that the devices are reporting motion in a timely manner? My Vision ZP3111 (same as ZSE40 500-series), without tuning the default sensitivity, has a significant delay before it reports motion. The “motion off” interval is also only configurable in increments of 1 minute.

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Thanks I didn’t know some devices would allow you to specify additional devices in group 1, and thought it was strictly reserved for the controller.

I updated my post.

Yeah, depends on the device. Some only allow one and use other groups. I went looking to see if there was any guidance on this, the Z-Wave Plus V2 Device Type spec recommends allowing up to 5:

DT:00.12.0006.1
It is RECOMMENDED to support 5 lifeline destinations.

It will most likely work, but lifelines are typically reserved for coordinators, so I’m not sure it should be used for regular associations.

I clicked everywhere and just can’t find the “Control Panel” shown by Edwin_D.
I have the current Z-Wave JS and Home Assistant, both installed a week ago.
Do I need to install something else?

I was able to create a working automation for a leak sensor to close a valve. But I need this association thing, because I want it to work without HA running.

You need to switch to zwavejsui for the control panel to set direct zwave associations. The stock zwavejs does not have it. See this guide

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Thank you very much, I was able to get the Control Panel installed by following that page.
I was even able to associate Group 2 of my leak sensor with the water valve.
But I now have 2 problems:

  1. The action is reverse - the sensor closes the valve on moist->dry transition, opens on dry->moist
  2. I don’t want the sensor to ever open the valve. I only want it to close it when it becomes moist.

But I can’t find any options to solve them…
I only see the following dialog when adding a group

Found a solution to the “reverse action” problem - the “New Association” dialog is missing a vital parameter and sets it backwards, but it can be fixed later by clicking the sensor in the main screen and changing the “Group 2” parameter as shown below:

(Then it’s necessary to wake up the sensor for the controller to be able to update it (as it is for any other setting change) - mentioning this for the benefit of novices).