Auxiliary Switch Options (No Load)

Both of my linear WT00Z auxiliary switches have failed. This makes me not want to replace them with the same thing. So I’m wondering if anyone can suggest another switch pair that does what I was accomplishing with these switches.

One master WD500Z (still works) which was connected to a light that had line and load. However I wanted to fake a three-way by using an open switch Bay across the room that did not have any lines to the light. I did however have a ground a neutral and power. So the linear WT00Z (now dead) switch solved this problem by allowing me to marry them together as a pair using an association command. I’m hoping that technology has caught up and there’s something that’s more reliable than these which seem to have failed in about four years of use.

Hopefully I’ve explained that accurately. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

You have the same options that you had before: either find a Z wave device at the same as Zwave generation as your master and use direct dissociation (which may be harder since it sounds like this is an older switch) or use any other device that smartthings recognizes and create a virtual three-way using the mirror option of smartlighting.

Here’s the community FAQ on that. The topic title is clickable clickable link.

The second way will work fine, but operations will then be dependent on the smartthings cloud. The advantage of direct association is that it works even if your Internet is out and the hub is not working.

Can you be more specific about how your auxiliary switches “failed”? That model has generally had a good reputation, so I’m wondering if you have an electrical issue, in which case anything you replace it with is likely to eventually have the same problem.

Nice to hear from you, and thanks for the reply.

So I’ve had the switches for around 5 years in service, new home, new wiring, built 2015.

A couple months ago I noticed one of them was acting up and not responding to presses like usual (the remote side). The master side worked fine. I was just living with it and using alexa to control the light instead of relying on the remote switch. It still lit up and sometimes after a long press or a a long hold, it would wake up and start working to control the load again.

The second remote switch was a little different and went totally bad about a month ago. No light, no power, checked the wiring and it simply just no longer powers on. Again its master side is fine. I replaced that one with a GE 3-way as it was in a configuration where the line was in both locations.

The other switch I do not have a line in the wall box for the light I’d like it to control so it is a true “remote control” type situation that the linear was good for. As I can still see that one getting power, I may try and unpair it and repair it and check the wiring to be sure. But it worked in that location untouched just fine for about 5 years to every press, every time. Just recently it started to act up. The master again is fine. It seems just the remote linears that went bad.

I had used an aeon minimote to build their association and liked that they ran locally and didn’t rely on automations, though I suppose I could always try that method with a standard GE switch and use it as an automation with the mirror function - it may be a little slower but at least more functional. Or I can buy a another linear and mess with the minimote association again and see if I can get things working. Can’t say for sure that was ever working right, I recall I had smartapp in place to make sure that when one switch was pressed, the other updated status, because it didn’t seem to be happening naturally (likely user error there). Association was hard.

I’ll also note I ran a z-wave network repair and both the remote switches responded that they were unable to route the mesh network, and the switch that had gone totally bad also reported back with a device error (the one that still gets power only reported the mesh error). No other devices in the home have errors. Also, my zwave lights were responding very slowly to zigbee motion sensor smart lighting events until I removed the bad linear remote. Once I did that, response times returned to normal.

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One reason the minimotes were discontinued by the manufacturer is that zwave association itself changed significantly with zwave plus and the minimotes can only do the old method which won’t work with newer devices.

So a minimote is fine as long as the trigger switch is zwave Classic. But not plus.

FAQ: How zwave direct association changed with zwave plus

Instead of the minimote, people now use a software method: the zwave tweaker. This is a DTH that will work with any mains powered zwave device. You temporarily assign your device to it, make any configuration changes including association groups, then go back to your every day DTH. Works very well with more detail than the minimote. :sunglasses:

Back to the main problem…

I would first try asking linear support if they have any ideas. The same model is sold under the GoControl name, which is their mass market consumer brand.

https://www.gocontrol.com/support.php

If you decide to replace it, both Inovelli and Zooz (house brand for the smartest house) have models which allow you to disable the internal relay so they can be used to control smart bulbs. That should work for your purpose if they can work with your wiring configuration.

@TheSmartestHouse @Eric_Inovelli

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Thanks for the shout-out!

@BDP – happy to answer any specific questions you have. We just finished perfecting our, “Smart Bulb Mode” that should be released on our latest firmware that’s set to launch in a month or so (it’s been in beta for a while in our community).

As for associations, @JDRoberts pretty much has you covered :slight_smile:

With our dimmer or on/off switch, you have the ability to either use another smart switch and associate them together (really only needed if you like having a matching set or you like the animated notifications at both ends of the 3-Way) or you can pick up a GE or HomeSeer auxiliary switch and use that with our switches. We’re working on our own, but it’s going to be a few months.

Anyway, best of luck on your search and I’m here to help if needed!

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Thanks for the tag @JDRoberts!

It could also be easier to put in our battery-powered ZEN34 Remote Switch to control the main switch. @BDP let us know if you have any questions or specific requirements for the product and we’ll be happy to point you in the right direction.

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Appreciate it so much guys. I have use that tweaker smartapp before with associations and settings on these and will give it a try again.

I’ve been following inovelli products for a while and I’m very impressed with what they can do. Been waiting for the right opportunity to try some.

If there’s a pair (or even a single) that can do what the linear has done I’d be all for trying them out for sure. I think the WT00Z is a fairly unique switch in what it does remotely by association without an actual matching load line (not a mirror or Wi-Fi trick), but I have to think there are other switches that are doing similar via a zwave association by now. Or maybe association is a bygone era?

Mirroring is also another option though I’m skeptical on how responsive it will be. Maybe it’s fast enough that I wouldn’t even notice. In that case the missing load line will not matter as long as I had the switch getting power and neutral so the hub could see the presses. The switch really is no more than a glorified remote control that looks like a light switch. Best way I can describe what I’m looking to do with the one location.

The limitation of association is that you need to have a matching security level and most of the newer switches will have S2, or at least S0 which will probably not match your original main switch. But you can use scene control (central scene) to accomplish reliable remote control - it was introduced as an alternative to direct association a few years ago.
Any of the Zooz switches available today will support that functionality but the recommended model to use without load is the ZEN71 (it’s the new 700 series).

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This is great, thanks. I had originally assumed that the slave switch brand would need to match the master but it’s looking like that’s not the case which is good. I wasn’t against replacing the working master linear switch (with load connected) either if I had to, though buying one switch is cheaper than two so may as well keep it simple for now.

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As long as it’s a virtual three-way using either Zwave direct association or the smartthings mirror option, they don’t have to be the same brand unless you are looking for support of some manufacturer-proprietary features like Cooper’s panic mode. :sunglasses:

If the auxiliary is connected to the master by a physical traveler wire, then you have to make sure there is compatibility between them. As @Eric_Inovelli mentioned, the inovelli switches can be physically wired to some auxiliaries of other brands, but that won’t apply in this particular case since you are looking for a virtual connection.

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