I use a couple of ZBMini’s, and like them because they are small and operate very stable in my Zigbee network. And you can pair them with a Philips Hue hub, which is not the case for many other cheap Zigbee products. But there are some remarks.
The maximum pulse duration, when used with a pulse switch, is rather short. So if you hold the pulse button for > 1/2 second, the light switches on and directly off again when you release the button. You get used to it, though, but it affects the W.A.F.
To pair them again, for example when you switch to another Zigbee hub of change the wireless channel of your network, you have to physically access the ZBMini to reset it. There is no way like holding the button for 5 seconds or something like that. [correction: I read it should be possible by powering off the mains group it is connected to, for > 10 seconds, then it should start re-pairing.]
There is no ‘regular’ switch input. Normally, wiring in a home connects the manual switch between L and the light, or in case of home-automation switches, between L and the smart switch. However, the ZBMini is designed to make a contact between S1 and S2, so if you have a multi-gang configuration that you cannot change, and you only have a wire available that is connecting to L when the buttons are pressed, you can officially not use the ZBMini. However, you can connect L to S1, and then the switch (connected on the other end to L) to S2. (see Sonoff ZBMINI Review | Blakadder's Smarthome Shenanigans) This works, I can tell by experience.
Would it be possible to configure the ZBMINI to not actually trigger the relay but instead ‘send’ a zigbee command. And then if that command fails only then to trigger the relay.
I have smart Zigbee bulbs and I want to use my usual light switches to toggle them without de-powering them. However if the zigbee controller goes down I want the light switches to work as normal dumb switches.
Before anyone suggests transitioning to dumb bulbs - I like having the smart bulbs for brightness and colour temperature control.
Happy to flash with Tasmota/ESP home if it still works with ZHA
The zbmini doesn’t support direct binding, at least with their firmware. What you’re looking for is totally possible, but I’ve found hardware support is hit and miss. The Philips remotes work great as a source, as do Philips bulbs and the zbmini as a target. My sengled bulbs only work well for on and brightness, but won’t turn off. I was never able to get binding to work with zha, and have since switched to zigbee2mqtt.
I’m looking to set up my traditional switches with smart bulbs this way, too. I initially planned to use the ZBMINIs for that purpose, but suddenly realised it might not work. That’s how I ended up on this thread. Hoping there would be a way to send a switch toggle zigbee event from the ZBMINI without triggering / toggling the relay.
I did something similar with an Enbrighten / Jasco switch, so something may be possible with the ZBMini relays too. I wanted to automate the fan on my fireplace, which has a toggle switch through to a outlet:
| Power from the panel | -> | Traditional toggle switch | -> | 3-Prong Outlet | -> | Fireplace Fan |
I wired it up so the load wasn’t connected to the switch. I then bypassed the switch in the box through to the device I was powering. The Jasco Switch has line and neutral but not load connected. Then, I put a Zigbee power switch on the outlet, and set up an automation to trigger it based on the switch. The Jasco switches also have a status light, so I also set it up to keep the switch status in sync.
| Power from the panel | -> | Zigbee Switch |
| -> | 3-Prong Outlet | -> | Zigbee Smart Plug | -> | Fireplace Fan |
The downside for a light bulb is then you have no way to truly turn it off without unscrewing it. If you have a bulb that requires flipping power to reset, you won’t be able to.
Hi, I recently had a freak event on my network that set all my devices offline and I had to re-pair them all. All that is except my zbmini, which is embedded above a heavy pendant light. So I cannot get to it without a friend and two ladders. I thought that in the event of going offline, the zbmini would simply pass power through it when the wall switch is on. Have I misunderstood or simply misconfigured the device?
Your wall switch goes to the zbmini, right? In which case, I would try flipping the power at the breaker to reset it. Perhaps the firmware crashed during your outage.
I’ve only installed 2 out of the 4 zbminis I have. I’d originally purchased them for a case like yours, to go up in the ceiling where a neutral wasn’t wired to a switch. To test, I installed two of them in light switch boxes. However, one of them has been flakey. It seems like it changes its zigbee NWK ID (the short one) and requires re-pairing every few months. Since it requires pressing a physical button, it can’t be easily reset without access. If it supported something like a “flip the switch 10 times quickly to reset”, I’d feel more confident about a permanent install.
I’m using an genuine Sonoff 3.0 USB-Dongle together with ZHA and some Zigbee repeaters to build the ZB network in my home. Multiple Sonoff devices, also ZBMINI switches are part of that network. Some of the switches are connected to rocker switches for a stairwell illumination. As the ZBMINI is set to “autodetect” switch mode by default, the rocker switch like turn on/off is uncomfortable. If you press the switch too long (>250ms) it turns off the light after releasing the switch.
So i investigate the cluster settings, but there is none to select a switch-mode. Maybe this information is simply missing in the Cluster-Library of that device? I’ve also tried around with the other settings. Most of the information attributes like Version, Firmware, Hardware-ID, etc. do not return a value other than “None”, so i even don’t know how to get that information.
Somebody elsewhere told that he could set the WiFi-version of the MINI to a dedicated mode, using the ewlink app. The app seems not to be able to communicate with Zigbee, or i can’t get it to work.
Just put one in my downstairs toilet, behind a conventional up/off - down/on switch.
But now the ‘conventional’ switch act as a toggle. IE If an automation turns the light on when the switch is up/off, turning the switch down/on turns the light off.
I think I’d prefer it if the light just stayed on. And vice versa.
Is this possible?
That’s not possible - the zbmini essentially acts as a three-way switch.
An alternative is to instead install something like an Enbrighten light switch. However, they just act like buttons and don’t physically toggle. I ended up switching to those because they were much easier to install (even at a higher cost).
A third option is something like the Third Reality toggle switch that fits overtop of an existing switch Amazon.com - but again, those convert a physical switch to a button.
so fundamental use case, yet no hardware to do this properly exists. We want to constantly power the smart bulbs -so they act as repeaters- and still be able to toggle them via traditional switches. A device that does the obvious thing - listen for the switch toggling and JUST propagate the signal to hass - simply does not exist. Anyone from the device manufacturers listening? You dont need to toggle the relay, the bulb can be toggled via the hub. After all thats why its called smart home, right? Frustrating!
Has anybody tried to rip off the relay? And solder the junctions?
FYI dont try this with the soldering. As soon as you turn off the light in the smart bulb, its circuit doesnt allow enough current to pass to keep the sonoff alive.
Hey @cweinhofer, sorry for the bump two years later. I’m also trying to wire multiple ZBMinis to the same switch but failing. I think I’m misunderstanding wiring them in series.
Would you be able to shed some light on the setup that worked for you? I’m wondering if I’ve got S1/S2 mixed up.
Current behaviour is all lights come on with the switch but the first two in the loop cycle on/off while the last stays on.
Thanks!
Wiring the switch in series doesn’t appear to work for me and instead I’m left with a floating input which causes the relay to switch on and off repeatedly. I’ve now wired the switch in parallel and all appears to be working as it should.
