Any powered switch but also on all the time for bulbs? Generic Zwave Dimmer switch device type changes for dim color to and from smartapps, Also smartapp to bi-directionally link two switches

Lgkahn · November 5, 2015, 4:57pm

The Cooper wireless zwave switch is working OK. But I was wondering if other is a powered switch where you can set it up to be always on for hue and other bulbs but also read the switch state as a button to control things or the lights. Just like the cooper but powered instead of battery and also always providing power to the load if set that way redardleas of switch state.There is no technical reason this can’t be done? Thanks. I imagine you could jumper the switch but that would be messy.

obycode · November 5, 2015, 5:07pm

It should be easy to take any of the powered switches (ex. http://amzn.to/1MBWh0v) then just tie your light directly to the power and put nothing on the load of the switch. I do this for my garage doors and it works great (on = up, off = down).

Lgkahn · November 5, 2015, 5:09pm

I thought most won’t work without load. I also need it to be a dimmer so I can tie the dimmer state to the bulbs with dim with me.

obycode · November 5, 2015, 5:14pm

I’ve never tried a dimmer without a load, but I know the regular GE switches work fine with no load. I’m not sure why having a load would be a requirement.

Lgkahn · November 5, 2015, 5:17pm

OK I will try a dimmer since it will not be direct to lights I don’t care if it is cfl rated. Will.let you know. Side note is there a color smart app like dim with me ie color with me that I can run to keep the br30 spots in sync with color as well.as dimming. If not I will write it.

Lgkahn · November 6, 2015, 2:18am

OK.update I got a he dimmer switch and it does work without a load. It did not pass through dimming thru to the dim with me app from the switch and vice versa. I add to modify the device type to add switch level capability and also switch.setlevel messages in multiple places. I now have dimming working in both directions. But and this is a big but…due to.the switches not passing its on/off state or dimming state immediately to the hub it is not a good solution since the load is not wired to the switch and there is about a 10-12 sec delay before the lights respond.

Next I will try cooper switch and keep my finger crossed, as these seem much more immediate even with the battery one I have. I hope it works without a load

Lgkahn · November 6, 2015, 2:06pm

STill waiting for the cooper switch but in the meantime here is my device type for the ge switch with the following changes:

lgk a few changes
1. switch level capability so level changes get passed through and received from other apps
like dim with me. Now you can have this control a set of lights and dim based on this.
also reduced delays as the ge switches delay enough.
Finally, Added color control capability, rgb control tiles and associated functions,
and a color control tile… I know the switch has nothing
to do with color. But since you use this device type to control slave lamps using either smart lighting
smart app or dim with me smartapp. Once this is in place you can use the color coordinator smartapp
and make this device the master to control the slave bulbs.
*/

code here:

github.com

lgkahn/SmartThingsPublic/blob/master/devicetypes/smartthings/my-ge-dimmer-switch.src/my-ge-dimmer-switch.groovy

/**
 *  Copyright 2015 SmartThings
 *
 *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
 *  in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed
 *  on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License
 *  for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
 *
 * lgk a few changes
 * 1. switch level capability so level changes get passed through and received from other apps
 * like dim with me. Now you can have this control a set of lights and dim based on this.
 * also reduced delays as the ge switches delay enough.
 * Finally, Added color control capability, rgb control tiles and associated functions,
 * and a color control tile.. I know the switch has nothing
 * to do with color. But since you use this device type to control slave lamps using either smart lighting
 * smart app or dim with me smartapp. Once this is in place you can use the color coordinator smartapp

This file has been truncated. show original

625alex · November 6, 2015, 4:23pm

@Lgkahn, see if this app is of help to you:

github.com

625alex/SmartThings/blob/master/apps/Dim-a-Hue.groovy

/**
 *  Dim-a-Hue
 *
 *  Copyright 2015 Alex Malikov
 *
 *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
 *  in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed
 *  on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License
 *  for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
 *
 */
definition(
    name: "Dim-a-Hue",
    namespace: "625alex",
    author: "Alex Malikov",
    description: "Use dimmers to set hue, saturation and brightness of lights. Requires 1+ color light and 1-3 dimmers.",

This file has been truncated. show original

Lgkahn · November 6, 2015, 4:47pm

thanks will try it… still need modified device type but if I am seeing correctly I can use this in place of the dim with me and color with me smartapps… it does all in one… If so thanks… I was going to look at coding something like this myself…
I still am trying to figure out which cooper switches to get since they seem to be the only instant notification to the zwave controller.

Unfort. I don’t see a master zwave that works with conventional accessory switches with traveler wires.

obycode · November 6, 2015, 5:28pm

Which device type were you using that didn’t already have this? The default device type that it should have paired up as should have this already.

github.com

SmartThingsCommunity/SmartThingsPublic/blob/master/devicetypes/smartthings/dimmer-switch.src/dimmer-switch.groovy

/**
 *  Copyright 2015 SmartThings
 *
 *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
 *  in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed
 *  on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License
 *  for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
 *
 */
metadata {
	definition (name: "Dimmer Switch", namespace: "smartthings", author: "SmartThings", ocfDeviceType: "oic.d.light", runLocally: true, minHubCoreVersion: '000.017.0012', executeCommandsLocally: false) {
		capability "Switch Level"
		capability "Actuator"
		capability "Indicator"
		capability "Switch"
		capability "Refresh"

This file has been truncated. show original

Lgkahn · November 6, 2015, 7:06pm

that doesn’t work just because it has that capability it needs to specifically set the switch level in several places

The bug is in the fx below.
it current has events for level…
ie

167 def setLevel(value) {
168 log.debug "setLevel >> value: $value"
169 def valueaux = value as Integer
170 def level = Math.max(Math.min(valueaux, 99), 0)
171 if (level > 0) {
172 sendEvent(name: “switch”, value: “on”)
173 } else {
174 sendEvent(name: “switch”, value: “off”)
175 }
176 sendEvent(name: “level”, value: level, unit: “%”)
177 delayBetween ([zwave.basicV1.basicSet(value: level).format(), zwave.switchMultilevelV1.switchMultilevelGet().format()], 5000)
178 }

notice it is just basic set which is setting device.level

I had to add…

sendEvent(name:“switch.setLevel”,value:level)

had to be added by me in order to get the commands to set the switch.level which is what the switch.setlevel capability is looking for.

obycode · November 6, 2015, 7:24pm

Maybe I’m misunderstanding what you’re trying to do. The capability switchLevel is expecting the attribute level to be set:

Attribute	Type	Possible Values
level		Number	A number that represents the current light level, usually 0 - 100 in percent

Lgkahn · November 6, 2015, 7:54pm

no that just handles setting it locally in the device from the switch… passing it to any other app that registers
to be notified of changes to switch.setlevel
such as dim with me etc. needs an event sent correspondingly…

in the example of the setlevel functions I posted above it is in error as it sets device.level
not switch.level notice the difference between the setleve with integer only and the setlevel with level and time

it should be doing a switch.multilevelset not a deivce.level set.

Lgkahn · November 8, 2015, 3:40pm

Status update on project. The cooper rf9540 work great without a load. No real delay.
I had to tweak my device driver now it is more general… I will post it here.
I added color control as mentioned above. So I can have the switch as the master device for smart apps and control the on/off, dimming and color for child hue lights…
on/off and dimming work both on the device tile and the switch and changes are reflected on either.
(withing the delay of the hub less than a sec)
Color control works from the device tile (objviously no color control on the physical switch)

device type:

github.com

lgkahn/SmartThingsPublic/blob/master/devicetypes/lgkapps/advanced-zwave-dimmer-switch-w-color-control.src/advanced-zwave-dimmer-switch-w-color-control.groovy

/**
 *  Copyright 2015 SmartThings
 *
 *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except
 *  in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at:
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software distributed under the License is distributed
 *  on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License
 *  for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
 *
 * lgk a few changes
 * 1. switch level capability so level changes get passed through and received from other apps
 * like dim with me. Now you can have this control a set of lights and dim based on this.
 * also reduced delays as the ge switches delay enough.
 * Finally, Added color control capability, rgb control tiles and associated functions,
 * and a color control tile.. I know the switch has nothing
 * to do with color. But since you use this device type to control slave lamps using either smart lighting
 * smart app or dim with me smartapp. Once this is in place you can use the color coordinator smartapp

This file has been truncated. show original

pictures:

[U![|281x500](upload://wpKpydS41ej2XjgXwl5KkCxUKfT.png)

next task is to replace switches on some br30 hue floods. However there is no cooper switch or any switch I can find that has instant status update and also a wired three way config with traveler wire. Guess I will have to get a minimote and cooper accessory and configure them.

Lgkahn · November 8, 2015, 8:23pm

further updates for the other lights I installed a cooper rf9540 again and for the other switch I just used normal ge on/off switch. For some reason this is the only ge switch that has instant status reporting. Not sure why their dimmers don’t.
Anyway, I will try to associate them when I get the minimote. In the meantime I looked and could not find a smartapp that bi-directionally linked two switches ie master and slave or linked… Everthing like smart lighting and the big switch would have needed two separate instances of the smart app installed in order to do it in both directions. So I wrote a little one that does that… I didn’t try to do diming as One of the switches is not a dimmer anyway.

here it is…

JDRoberts · February 16, 2024, 8:25pm

A post was split to a new topic: Need help with a switching project

Any powered switch but also on all the time for bulbs? Generic Zwave Dimmer switch device type changes for dim color to and from smartapps, Also smartapp to bi-directionally link two switches

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