Dimmer fades off but goes instant on

[halsafar]

I have two Z Wave dimmers.

Using the physical buttons they function fine. A click on/off will fade the light to off or to last set brightness.

Using Domoticz I added each dimmer as a Dimmer. Created a group and added both dimmers to the group. I set their Level to 50%. When I turn the group off the dimmers dim nicely. When I turn the group on it jumps immediately to 50%.

Any idea what I did wrong?

[gizmocuz]

And what seems to be the issue?

[halsafar]

Sorry. The problem is that turning it back on it does not fade on. It just comes straight on to its set value. If turning it off through domoticz fades it off nicely, why does turning it back on not?

[jvdz]

Have you set the parameters properly in the ZWAVE dimmer?
Which dimmer are you using and how have you configured it?

Jos

[halsafar]

They are GE 12724 3-Way Dimmer Switch.

In Domoticz, when I click on them in under the ZWave controller no extra configuration options appear. Unlike my other GE switches (non-dimmer) some extra options appear such as inverting the blue led night.

[jvdz]

Sounds like this device isn't defined in config "/home/pi/domoticz/Config/manufacturer_specific.xml" file.You could adding it yourself by using one of the already defined devices for GE.

Jos

[halsafar]

The line:

Code: Select all

<Product type="4944" id="3031" name="12724 3-Way Dimmer Switch">

Already existed, I changed it to:

Code: Select all

<Product type="4944" id="3031" name="12724 3-Way Dimmer Switch" config="ge/dimmer.xml">

I then restarted Domoticz.

Nothing changed, do I have to re-add the device to the Z-Wave controller or something?

I also notice my TZ45 Thermostat has no config but it is defined in manufacturer_specific.xml with a config option.

[jvdz]

Probably this should also work:

• Stop domoticz
• create backup copy of zwcfg_0x**********.xml located in the same directory as manufacturer_specific.xml
• edit zwcfg_0x**********.xml and remove the information of the device
• Start Domoticz

This should add the new information for the device, or else indeed Exclude and Include the device to reset everything.

Jos

[halsafar]

Sweet, thanks jvdz that worked just fine.

Should I do a pull request on github to fix up that line in manufacturer_specific.xml or is there another mechanism you guys use for keeping that file updated?

[jvdz]

These changes should be made at the OpenZWave forum/github as their updates are used by this project.

Jos

[halsafar]

Made the PR:
https://github.com/OpenZWave/open-zwave/pull/811

Thanks again for the help!

[halsafar]

So it turns out the main reason this is happening I think is because I put the dimmers in a group.

They are added to Domoticz as a dimmer. If I just press on/off it functions identical to the physical on/off. If I slide the dimmer slider around it instantly goes to that brightness, which in the case of the slider is what you want.

It is when I add them to a group and turn the group on is when it jumps instantly to the brightness level. When you add a dimmer to a group it makes you set a brightness level. When you turn the group on it just does a set level on the dimmer so it instantly jumps to the brightness.

Goal/Use case:
- Press play in KODI, dim lights from whatever level.
- Press pause, fade lights on to a 'nice on the eyes' level.

[jvdz]

The Fibaro and ZWAVE.ME dimmers have parameters to slow down the dimmer level change. Doesn't the GE dimmer have an option like that in the ZWAVE settings?
You could always use a Dummy switch which will trigger a LUA script or Blockly and have that do the On and Off operation on your dimmers.

Jos