I purchased and installed 2 GE Engrighen Z-wave Outlet Receptacles (Part 14288 on Amazon) and installed them in a 2 gang weatherproof box outside. One of them works find and the secon would connect to the network then go offline. I deleted and added to the network multiple tiimes with the same results. I then took the one out that kept going offline and installed it at an alternate location and it has joined the network without any problems.
Is this a known issue and has anyone had luck with 2 smart outlets in a 2 gang box? There doesn’t seem to be many options for smart outlets.
I have tons of these in my house. Also many many of yhe switches as well. Single and multi gang installations. With ovef 60 devices i did have one or two arrive DOA…
You may have an issue with that particular outlet or its wiring.
I took the smart outlet out of the 2 gang box that was going offline and moved it to a single gang box that is mounted about 100 feet away from the double gang box and the one that was going offline is working fine now, so the problem only occurs when both outlets are in a 2 gang box.
I’ve done quite a bit of wiring outlets and switches, so I’m quite confident wiring is not the issue.
I still want to get a second smart switch in the 2 gang box and have both work. I may try the Enerwave outlet just in case having two of the same receptacles in a box is causing the issue. These are mounted outside in an in-use weatherproof box to control string lights, so I can’t use plug in switches without compromising my weatherproof box.
Seems very unlikely that having two of the same device in a multi-gang box is an issue.
I don’t have anything in weatherproof boxes, all my stuff so far is indoors. But I’ve got a number of 2-gang, 3-gang, and one 4-gang boxes that have up to three Z-wave switches in them.
You might try again and triple check the connections, especially the neutral.
Something else to try is to swap which switch is on which spot in the box. See if the problem follows the device or not while keeping everything in the same box.
Like others I don’t have any outside but do have many multi gang boxes in my home with 2-4 GE switches in them.
Many of the outdoor gang boxes I have installed are shallow compared to the indoor ones. How deep is this box? I ask because I have had issues with switches when the box is tight. Also is this box metal or plastic? If metal that could be causing signal issues.
One other idea given your comment about string lights and compromising the wiring, have you considered a switch or micro relay instead? I have my string lights running to a switch inside my house versus plugging them into an outlet (realize you might not be able to do this) but point is they dint have to be plugged in and can be out in the load of a switch. A dual micro relay like the Qubino may be a good option where it is tucked away behind dumb receptacles. Though my earlier questions on depth and metal still apply.
I believe the antenna is a small wire on the front of the outlet so the metal box can cause an issue if the node the outlet is connecting to is behind it rather than anywhere 180 degrees in front.
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(See red wire)
Either way, if one is stable and the other isn’t, I would suspect one of two things… either it is defective, or it is connecting to a different intermediate node which for some reason is causing issues. The absolutely cool thing is that the ST IDE now shows the route to the hub!! Check if both outlets are taking the same route to the hub… I have seen devices next to each other take crazy, and different, detours to the hub.
Also, I would recommend NOT to use Enerwave. I have had a few and they were very unreliable (dropping off network, not responding, requiring me to power cycle breaker).
I am actually !patiently (programmers might get it) waiting for Jasco’s new Zigbee 3.0 outlets to be available. I believe they will have energy reporting and I am hoping to get better performance on my network by shifting a number of zwave devices (headaches galore even though things got better over the years) over to Zigbee.
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EDIT: Also check to ensure both are picking up the same DTH and settings… just in case.
