Phantom Activation/State Desync (Island Light)

Configuration Z-Wave
1

Hello everyone,

UPDATE: After leaving HA off for the night, the light still turns on.

I’m troubleshooting a persistent and unusual issue with a single Z-Wave switch controlling my Island Lights. I have exhausted standard automation/scene checks and am about to shut down my Home Assistant instance for a hardware-vs-software diagnosis.

Any insight before I commit to the HA shutdown test would be appreciated.

The Issue

The Island Light switch frequently:

  1. Turns ON at random hours (11 PM - 3 AM) with no discernible trigger source in the log.
  2. Becomes State Desynchronized: The switch is physically ON, but Home Assistant reports the entity as OFF (see attached log snippet).
  3. Refuses turn_off commands: When in the desynced state, it fails to respond to my “All Lights Off” button.
  4. Requires a Cycle to Respond: To turn it off, I must first send a light.turn_on command (which the switch accepts and turns on, but it was already on), and then the subsequent light.turn_off command works. This suggests the turn_on command is acting as a necessary “logic reset.”

Steps Taken So Far

  • Automations Disabled: All Home Assistant automations and scripts that referenced the light.island_lights entity have been disabled or removed.
  • Scenes Removed: The device has been removed from all scenes.
  • Associations Cleared: Verified that no Z-Wave associations/bindings exist to or from this device.
  • External Checks: Checked Google Home/Alexa/Native app routines—none exist.
  • Physical Reset: Performed a full Air Gap Reset (physical power cycle) on the Z-Wave switch itself.
  • Power-Loss State: I have attempted to check/set the device’s power-loss recovery, but the issue persists, indicating the setting may not be holding or is not the full cause.

My Next Diagnostic Step

To definitively determine if the phantom activation is hardware (switch, wiring, power flicker) or software (a very deeply hidden service call or corrupt setting in HA):

  • Plan: I will shut down the Home Assistant server completely overnight.
  • Hypothesis: If the light still turns on, the switch is faulty, or the power is unstable. If it stays off, the issue is within HA.

Has anyone encountered a Z-Wave switch that requires a turn_on command to “unlock” it from a desynced state? Any specific Z-Wave configuration parameters I might be missing?