Room with three dimmers, one master and two slaves with group association

Configuration Z-Wave
1

The room has three switches, one of them directly connected to the light, with two secondary switches thats meant to control the same light using group association. All switches are of type Fibaro FGD-212 Dimmer 2.

I know this works in theory because I have set a group association on another dimmer in an adjacent room, so it can toggle the light both in its own room and the one im struggling with. But thats obviously not what I want. In that case, the groups association was:

Endpoint: Endpoint 1
Group: On/Off(S1)
Node: Dimmer (Target room)
Target endpoint: None

But when I do the same to the secondary switches in the big room, it doesnt work. The problematic switches do print something in the event view though, which im not sure what to make of. It sets something, and a second later resets.

2023-09-04T17:54:42.194Z - value updated
Arg 0:
└─commandClassName: Configuration
└─commandClass: 112
└─property: 13
└─endpoint: 0
└─newValue: 1
└─prevValue: 0
└─propertyName: Force Auto-Calibration

2023-09-04T17:54:43.186Z - value updated
Arg 0:
└─commandClassName: Configuration
└─commandClass: 112
└─property: 13
└─endpoint: 0
└─newValue: 0
└─prevValue: 1
└─propertyName: Force Auto-Calibration

Toggling the light while watching the debug log shows the following:

Turn on then turn off the light using the dimmer in the adjacent room (works, but not what i want):

2023-09-04 20:02:08.874 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 011] Metadata updated: 49-1-Power
2023-09-04 20:02:08.900 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 011] Value updated: 49-1-Power 3.3 => 0
2023-09-04 20:02:09.161 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 009] Metadata updated: 49-1-Power
2023-09-04 20:02:09.178 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 009] Value updated: 49-1-Power 11.2 => 0
2023-09-04 20:02:13.761 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 011] Value updated: 38-1-currentValue 0 => 7
2023-09-04 20:02:14.153 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 009] Value updated: 38-1-currentValue 0 => 7
2023-09-04 20:02:18.199 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 011] Value updated: 38-1-currentValue 7 => 0
2023-09-04 20:02:18.467 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 009] Value updated: 38-1-currentValue 7 => 0
2023-09-04 20:02:18.829 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 011] Metadata updated: 49-1-Power
2023-09-04 20:02:18.844 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 011] Value updated: 49-1-Power 0 => 1.3
2023-09-04 20:02:19.157 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 009] Metadata updated: 49-1-Power
2023-09-04 20:02:19.173 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 009] Value updated: 49-1-Power 0 => 5.6

Turn on then turn off the light using one secondary switch in the main room (doesnt work, and this is what I hope to fix).

2023-09-04 20:02:23.168 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 025] Value updated: 112-0-13 0 => 1
2023-09-04 20:02:24.246 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 025] Value updated: 112-0-13 1 => 0
2023-09-04 20:02:27.178 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 025] Value updated: 112-0-13 0 => 1
2023-09-04 20:02:28.251 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 025] Value updated: 112-0-13 1 => 0
2023-09-04 20:02:28.830 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 011] Metadata updated: 49-1-Power
2023-09-04 20:02:28.846 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 011] Value updated: 49-1-Power 1.3 => 0
2023-09-04 20:02:29.154 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 009] Metadata updated: 49-1-Power
2023-09-04 20:02:29.170 INFO Z-WAVE: [Node 009] Value updated: 49-1-Power 5.6 => 0

It feels like it should be related to these dimmers not actually being connected to a light, which confuses them. I’ve looked through the configuration parameters and tried toggling a few of them but nothing seems to change the behavior.

Any hints for me? :slight_smile:

2
3

Hm, so the link appears to contain an automation blueprint that I can import into Home Assistant. But from the looks of it, it doesnt alter any z-wave group associations at all. But it might be another way to sync the dimers. I tried importing it and setting a few of the entities that the dimmers export, but the light value doesnt propagate. Probably related to the secondary dimmers not wanting to have a current level, or somehow always resetting to zero. If I can figure that out, this might work as well.

Is this what you wanted me to do? Sometimes hard to tell with only links and no context. Maybe you can elaborate?

4

One thought: You are seeing a “Force Auto-Calibration” event. I have discovered that my Fibaro double dimmers will not work at all unless they have a load attached to them at power-up. Is it possible that these ones aren’t doing anything (e.g., not even acting as remotes) because they have no load? I’ve actually had to swap a few for the double-relays, which do not have that behavior.

Unfortunately the only way to test that is to wire in a load and then power them up to see if they start working again.

-David

5

Yeah, that is the idea, I use it to sync a zigbee led with a wifi dimmer; works as a charm :wink:

6

Direct associations in zwave have a few benefits over home assistant automations, in that they are faster as the switches directly communicate with eachother (bypassing home assistant and the zwave controller) and the association will still work even if home assistant and the zwave controller are offline.

I am less familiar with fibarao, since I have ge zwave switches. The GE switches have 2 association groups. Group 2 is direct association, ie the associated switch mirrors the actions of the switch you are controlling, and group 3, which creates associations with double taps (including double tap dim up and down for dimmers)

I would agree with the other poster and also based on the posted logs that the auto load sensing built into these switches, with no load connected, is likely resulting in an “error” state and not allowing them to be used the way you have them installed. I would either try hooking up a dummy load (may get away with it temporarily). Or, keep messing with the config parameters, as these switches have quite a few - I would try setting config parameter 35 to 0 and see if that disables the auto-calibration.

Screenshot from 2023-09-06 08-48-23
Screenshot from 2023-09-06 08-48-23655×556 68.4 KB

I posted some additional association instructions in the link below as well

7

Tried setting the auto calibration config parameter, but the behaviour didnt change. Also found this thread, rather old but I think it might still be valid.

So right now Im rather confident that the current setup wont work. I either need to find a why to put a load there, why maybe those bypasses could be used for. Or find an alternative newer zwave device that can act as a pure remote controller device. It’s odd, the electrician said this would work, so these wall switches doesnt lead to anything, presumably to save on wiring.

Is there such thing as a zwave dimmer thats meant to operate without load?

Edit: Looks like the stuff in Fibaros “remote” category is meant to do this, like this one: https://manuals.fibaro.com/walli-controller/

8

I have an inovelli red switch with no load i use to control a wifi light dimmer, they have a “smart bulb” mode that when set is meant to be used without controlling the load.

Not sure what country you are in as device availability varies