Fibaro Dimmer 2 FGD-212 supported? New type!

[mischa]

Just bought two of these dimmers. It all works as advertised, but every now and then my lights start to flicker in a rhythmic pattern. The strange thing is that both dimmers flicker in perfect sync. It looks as if the dimmers cycle through some sort of program. I made a call to the webshop where i bought them. He only could say that it was the start up sequence which you see after installing, but that's definitely not the case. Both dimmers are used for halogen lamps (90 and 125 Watts respectively) so there should not be a need for a dimmer bypass. Both dimmers are installed behind a pulse switch, next to each other, so they're only 10 cm apart. Maybe that's causing some high frequency interference?

I have heard that there are some problems with flickering lights when using a vacuum cleaner of a power drill. Has something to do with frequencies that those machine produce.

Not sure if there is a solution. Maybe you can send Fibaro an E-mail. But don't aspect a customer friendly response.
Wanted to buy some bypass modules for the dimmer 1 7 months after a bought the dimmer modules, the where not available anymore.
So send a E-mail and complained about this. There reaction: Sorry for the inconvenience, but we can't help you.

[Cubes]

Just bought two of these dimmers. It all works as advertised, but every now and then my lights start to flicker in a rhythmic pattern. The strange thing is that both dimmers flicker in perfect sync. It looks as if the dimmers cycle through some sort of program. I made a call to the webshop where i bought them. He only could say that it was the start up sequence which you see after installing, but that's definitely not the case. Both dimmers are used for halogen lamps (90 and 125 Watts respectively) so there should not be a need for a dimmer bypass. Both dimmers are installed behind a pulse switch, next to each other, so they're only 10 cm apart. Maybe that's causing some high frequency interference?

Similar issues here with pretty much all of my FGD-212 dimmers. Everything oscillates or flickers at random intervals but only for a minute or so. Then it's all fine again for 20 minutes. Tried all sort of lightsources with and without bypasses. No change.

Highly annoying and not sure how to fix it. Spent quite a bit on those dimmers and don't feel like replacing them all with another brand but this behaviour can drive a person crazy.

[Dave]

Just bought two of these dimmers. It all works as advertised, but every now and then my lights start to flicker in a rhythmic pattern. The strange thing is that both dimmers flicker in perfect sync. It looks as if the dimmers cycle through some sort of program. I made a call to the webshop where i bought them. He only could say that it was the start up sequence which you see after installing, but that's definitely not the case. Both dimmers are used for halogen lamps (90 and 125 Watts respectively) so there should not be a need for a dimmer bypass. Both dimmers are installed behind a pulse switch, next to each other, so they're only 10 cm apart. Maybe that's causing some high frequency interference?

I have heard that there are some problems with flickering lights when using a vacuum cleaner of a power drill. Has something to do with frequencies that those machine produce.

Not sure if there is a solution. Maybe you can send Fibaro an E-mail. But don't aspect a customer friendly response.
Wanted to buy some bypass modules for the dimmer 1 7 months after a bought the dimmer modules, the where not available anymore.
So send a E-mail and complained about this. There reaction: Sorry for the inconvenience, but we can't help you.

I have the same problem, some of the lights flickering very little, and around 50% dimming level a buzzing noise (i use LED lights, with the total wattage below 40 Watt).
I found the version 1 bypass modules here: http://www.fibaro-center.nl/fibaro-modu ... dules.html
Just in case u still looking for them.

I can say, it helps a little, but doesnt completely solves the problem here. Without the Bypass the lights would not even completely turn off.

[Dave]

Just bought two of these dimmers. It all works as advertised, but every now and then my lights start to flicker in a rhythmic pattern. The strange thing is that both dimmers flicker in perfect sync. It looks as if the dimmers cycle through some sort of program. I made a call to the webshop where i bought them. He only could say that it was the start up sequence which you see after installing, but that's definitely not the case. Both dimmers are used for halogen lamps (90 and 125 Watts respectively) so there should not be a need for a dimmer bypass. Both dimmers are installed behind a pulse switch, next to each other, so they're only 10 cm apart. Maybe that's causing some high frequency interference?

Similar issues here with pretty much all of my FGD-212 dimmers. Everything oscillates or flickers at random intervals but only for a minute or so. Then it's all fine again for 20 minutes. Tried all sort of lightsources with and without bypasses. No change.

Highly annoying and not sure how to fix it. Spent quite a bit on those dimmers and don't feel like replacing them all with another brand but this behaviour can drive a person crazy.

BUT,,, this can help:
Configuration parameter (20) that adjusts the impulse length applied to the bulbs (play with this parameter, it can help alot with LED lights).

See here the complete story:
http://www.vesternet.com/resources/appl ... rk2AjbhCRs

Not sure if it's the same parameter number with the Dimmer v2.

[Cubes]

Cheers Dave.

Unfortunately the flickering occurs regardless of lightsource. Currently I'm testing with 3x25W halogen lights to make sure the load is sufficient. The problem isn't LED specific.

Dimmer v2 also does not seem to have an impulse length parameter. Currently #20 specifies your type of switch.

I'm still at a loss.

[Dave]

I think there must be a parameter to fix this (u check the whole manual which they include, they describe each parameter in it), u could also try the Bypass2 but i guess it wont make a difference as your load should be suffient (but trying doesnt hurt, buy at a shop and ask in front if they accept returns if it wont help).

[bbqkees]

Unfortunately the flickering occurs regardless of lightsource.
I'm still at a loss.

Do you have POE network devices at home?

[Cubes]

Unfortunately the flickering occurs regardless of lightsource.
I'm still at a loss.

Do you have POE network devices at home?

Yes, I have Ubiquiti POE access points. Is that relevant somehow?

[Cubes]

I think there must be a parameter to fix this (u check the whole manual which they include, they describe each parameter in it), u could also try the Bypass2 but i guess it wont make a difference as your load should be suffient (but trying doesnt hurt, buy at a shop and ask in front if they accept returns if it wont help).

I did check the manual and list of parameters, thought the oscillating might be a response to an error frame so disabled the visual error replies but no luck. Not sure what else to look for.

I've got lots of bypasses (because the ridiculous Fibaro idea that an associated dimmer should still have a load otherwise it won't pass the load calibration) so naturally I tried one, no result.


Another strange think I noticed is that every night at 10PM sharp, the lights start oscillating for a minute.

[bbqkees]

Unfortunately the flickering occurs regardless of lightsource.
I'm still at a loss.

Do you have POE network devices at home?

Yes, I have Ubiquiti POE access points. Is that relevant somehow?

Can you do a test and turn the POE injectors off for some time?

[Cubes]

Do you have POE network devices at home?

Yes, I have Ubiquiti POE access points. Is that relevant somehow?

Can you do a test and turn the POE injectors off for some time?

I could, but the dimmers aren't connected to the POE network in any way. Only the Pi is.

[Gravityz]

I think he means Ethernet Over Power

you know those power plugs you can use to extend your ethernet over the powerlines.

i also have a FGD 212 v2 and sofar i do not notice any strange things or flickering
i have 4x 20watt halogen on it

[Bikey]

I also experience the flickering with this dimmer, but that only started recently after having worked for months without issues. I think that this has to do with the error messages that seem to appear at the same time: "OpenZWave: Alarm Level: Secure"
Doesn't anyone know what that means, and how to fix that?

[Cubes]

I think he means Ethernet Over Power

you know those power plugs you can use to extend your ethernet over the powerlines.

i also have a FGD 212 v2 and sofar i do not notice any strange things or flickering
i have 4x 20watt halogen on it

Could be, but he mentions POE injectors. Homeplugs aren't referred to as injectors.

Think I've narrowed it down to the CAB signal, which I'll try to eliminate by using an online UPS. Will report back later this week.

[Webweazle]

On page 21 and 30 of this manual (http://www.fibaro.com/manuals/en/FGD-21 ... T-v1.0.pdf) of the fgd-212 you can see how the device acts on receiving a so called "alarm frame" from any other zwave-device in the network. You should check the mode of the device. Maybe it is still configured in mode 3 (alarm flashing), which is the factory default.
---------------- snip ---------------
GROUP 40 - Dimmer 2 operation - Alarms
40. Response to General Purpose Alarm
Available settings:
0 - No reaction
1 - Turn on the load
2 - Turn off the load
3 - Load blinking
Default setting: 3 Parameter size: 1 [byte]
---------------- snip ---------------
Every zwave-device is capable of sending alarm frames. I had some trouble with flickering light caused by the multisensor6 (aeonlabs) and the Motion sensor (fibaro). Everytime I made some bigger movement on my sofa the lights start flickering (with a slight delay). Made me crazy. After changing Paramter 40 from 3 to 0 everything was fine.

[Duc998]

Anyone come up with a fix?

I had one dimmer v2 in the lounge and it worked ok on its own. Over the easter weekend I've installed another 3 and getting the random flicker. Will be ok for 30mins or even an hour and then they seem to flicker in sequence.

I've turned off all alarm frames etc. Have a bypass v2 installed as well.

Seems strange how they can work fine for a long period of time and then flicker randomly. Something seems to be wrong with the setup or as someone mentioned it seems to go through some program. Hopefully its just a setting problem.

Just saw this in the OZW log. I didn't initiate any command at the time of the log? At this time it was flickering then it turns off.
2016-03-28 22:14:48.274 Error, Node004, ERROR: Dropping command, expected response not received after 1 attempt(s)

[spring75]

Hi, for me the problem is not related to the above mentioned 'alarm frame' setting, but to the so called 'ripple control' system used by the electricity distribution network. This system is used to remotely switch on and off all kinds of public services like street lights etc.

A good way to check if it's ripple control related is to see if the flickering happens on fixed intervals. For me, my dimmers start flickering exactly every 15 minutes, on exactly the whole hour, :15, :30 and :45 time slots.

I already had contact with Fibaro and they acknowledged this to be 'expected' behavior, as this version has no ripple control filter built in.

I am still waiting for an appropriate solution, apart from their 'suggestion' to solder your own filter, as described here: https://johnarthur.wordpress.com/schema ... schematic/

They also asked me to send them a photo of the QR code on the dimmers. They're kind of slow with replying to email so I'm very curious to what will come out of that.

I will post an update after receiving their answer.

[Gravityz]

do you have it connected 2 wire or 3 wire?(eg connect dimmer directly to Neutral N)

i noticed that a lot of features regarding power measurement behave differently on a 2 wire connection.

maybe good to try to hook it up 3 wire if you have 2 wire.

[Duc998]

Gravityz I've got the 3 wire. I went through the pain of running the negative down to the switches so I can install the dimmers behind the switch for easy access in case I need it. I didn't feel comfortable with the 2 wire setup.

spring75 I'll try and time it. Seems to me the more dimmers I switch on the more change I'll get the random flickering. For the filter can we just by one? That's a little over my soldering skills.

Now my kids think the house is haunted lol.

The other issue I seem to have since adding the other dimmers is the response time on a few at the switch. Some of them wont switch on or I have to hit the button a few times to switch them on. If I switch on from domoticz and review the switch log I see it will switch on and off within a few ms
2016-03-29 09:09:34 Off
2016-03-29 09:09:29 On
2016-03-29 09:07:49 Off
2016-03-29 09:07:46 On

I have over 20 nodes, 16 with permanent power all within a 10m radius. So timeouts / missed commands should not be an issue.

I think I might try rebuilding all the nodes exlude/include and see how it goes.

[Duc998]

I've worked out the flickering issue.

Its the off peak ripple control that kicks in at 10pm. I noticed the previous night it started at 10pm and again at 10:15pm then again at 10:30pm.

More info here.
https://www.clipsal.com/Trade/Support/Notes/Ripple

So now I'll have to search for a ripple tone filter.