Adding shade to ST without disabling the remote

Hi. New to Smartthings and trying to add a shade with a somfy motor. It seems that whenever I add the shade to ST that the physical remote is removed from the shade. I am able to add the remote back but it disables the shade from ST.

I have followed the manufacturers instructions but the zwave integration in the manual is only for the remote and not for the shade motor.

Hoping someone can help me get both ST and the remote working with the shade.

Thank you.

What if you pair them both to ST and then set your automation to control the shades as the button presses of the remote?

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Brand and model number of the remote? (It should be on the back of the remote or inside the battery compartment)

Andrew’s answer is correct. You have to add both the shade and blind to ST first, THEN follow the manufacturers instructions to add the remote without hard resetting the remote.

Ive done this with about 10 Graber (Springs Window Fasions / Somfy) roller shades.

What @JDRoberts says however (brand and model number required) is critical for exact instructions.

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I am just guessing, but that remote is not only a remote it is a primary Z-wave controller (or a secondary).

Is it going to work with SmartThings?

Depends on the model, that’s why I asked. Some will, as @nathancu mentioned. Some won’t, as you suspected. Some will, but may require a different process than the user manual describes. :sunglasses:

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@JDRoberts, have you ever heard about MOB.IQ, a sub-brand of Mobilus, a shade, window, etc. company, like Fakro, from Poland.

If you know their remote, what is a primary or secondary controller, I would appreciate some input, how to pair with ST. :wink:

Should be pretty straightforward, it’s a “portable remote control“ (that’s a zwave device class). It uses 12 different association groups to control four different sets of devices. you should be able to add the shades to smartthings, add the remote to smartThings, and then use the Tweaker to set the associations.

Smartthings won’t know about the button presses on the remote, though.

See the supported associations list:

https://products.z-wavealliance.org/products/2368?selectedFrequencyId=1

None of that should require any custom code except the temporary use of the tweaker.

Alternatively, you can probably set it up as a button controller using the method for the minimote for one of the four devices, but that will definitely require custom code. However, I don’t think you can capture The button presses for all four of the groups.

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Hi folks. Been away this week. Sorry for the late reply. Thanks for the quick responses.

Some more details. The remote model is a somfy VCZ1. The shade just says signature series from budget blinds.

I do agree that adding both should make them work. What seems to be happening is that after programming the shade and then the remote it removes the shade from smartthings. Then when i go back to program the shade it removes the remote. I cannot find a way to do both.

@ZebraBlinds Neal - I know these aren’t Zebra / Graber. (Buy from Zebra next time - their product support team is incredible.) That VZC1 looks like the same one you guys ship with your Graber roller blinds. I think it’s just a specific order thing and making sure you reset the blind but not to full factory reset after it’s added to ST correct?

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  1. Reset remote. Press and hold the pinhole button at the back for about 15 seconds. Will cycle through green, amber and red and finally no lights
  2. Add shade to ST (Press and hold button on the motor for 3 seconds while ST is searching for zwave devices)
  3. Add remote to ST (Press and hold the pinhole button at the back for 3 seconds while ST is searching for z-wave devices)
  4. Once remote and shade are both added to ST. Press and release the pinhole button on the remote, it will start flashing
  5. Press and hold the button on the shade for 3 seconds

Now both ST and the Remote will work with the shade. Also, on a future note, signature series is usually way over priced (from horror stories we’ve heard of no support etc, we’ve also learned premiums are extremely high on them).

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Those step by step instructions worked perfectly. @ZebraBlinds Neal thank you so much for those. @nathancu thanks for getting Neal involved. @saosinx88 thank you for getting this moving. Being new to ST I am so greatful for this great support system. You guys are awesome.

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I just got my blinds install that I ordered from Zebra and followed the same recipe. However I can’t get the remote to pair. Blinds paired perfectly. Is there a new driver?

[EDIT] Never mind - I figured it out. The buttons don’t add as anything useful but need to be there to associate. Got it all working perfectly.

FYI - I also got the blinds to work perfectly with my HousePanel dashboard app for those who use it.