Ecolink door/window sensor

Devices & Integrations Connected Things
1

Greetings all,
new to SmartThings hub and its connected devices. Trying to configure and come up to speed with this system.

I purchased a couple of ecolink door/window sensors. To say the least, its been a struggle to get them to work. Both sensors are mostly unresponsive… The hub is located less than 15ft from both sensors. Both report as closed all the time.

anyone using these can help with some feedback. Do i need to use a device handler for this sensor?

any help regarding this is greatly appreciated.

thanks

2

which model ecolink sensor? z-wave or zigbee?

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3

First, Welcome!

Second, yeah - those Ecolinks are a challenge at times - Zwave mostly. I got rid of all of mine and replaced them all with the Iris open/close sensors.

You don’t need a custom DTH (I’m assuming Zwave), but you should pair them up right at the hub and then move them to where you want. I’ve had issues with these not reporting battery OK/Low/nothing until I did that.

As @Automated_House asked, can you be more specific on the model?

4

thank you for the quick replies.
When I set them up, both sensors were only an arms length from the hub so both were recognized by the hub rather quickly. Once they were recognized by the hub only then I put both sensors at their location. 1 at the front door, the other, at the patio door. SmartThings hub’s original location was in the bedroom. Thinking that it maybe a range issue, I moved the hub to the living room, hoping that would help but that does not seem to be the case. At present, the hub is not less than 15ft from the sensors and all is see is ‘closed’, regardless of whether the doors(s) have opened or not

Yes, the ecolink sensor is zwave plus. Model # DWZAVE2.5-eco
SmartThings hub is: 161300-2.1.9
firmware: 000.022.00014.

If ecolink sensors are not reliable, I’d be happy to replace them quickly with any other reliable brand/model. I have spent way too much time trying to troubleshoot them. =)

I did not realize iris brand works with smartthings, should I get rid of the ecolink and get those ?

5

In my opinion - YES. I replaced almost 50 Ecolink sensors with the Iris sensors. I’ve never had a problem since…

Seriously.

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6

thank you for that feedback on the Iris sensors. Realize they are currently not on sale, will buy a couple to try them out. I read somewhere they go on sale often, will watch for that to get more.

Hopefully, I can put the ecolink sensors to use reliably somewhere in the house. I’ve had them too long and they are outside the return window.

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7

Check in the IDE and see which device handler got assigned to the devices.

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8

noob question: what is IDE ? :thinking::thinking:

9

Https://account.smartthings.com

Login, go to devices and look at the details. See what Type is set to.

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ah…thank you. here’s the info…

Name Ecolink Door/Window Sensor
Label Patio slide Door - Ecolink
Type Z-Wave Door/Window Sensor
Version Published
Device Network Id 02
Status ONLINE
Hub [Home Hub]
Last Activity At 2018-10-09 1:52 PM PDT
Date Created 2018-09-29 11:08 AM PDT
Last Updated 2018-09-29 1:33 PM PDT
Data *
Current States 100 %
  • [checkInterval] 28920|
    |Execution Location|Local|
    |Events|[List Events]
    |In Use By|* [Amazon Alexa]
11

Try to reboot your hub, exclude and re pair the sensors. When you say mostly, do you mean it works sometimes and doesn’t at other times?

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Is data actually a * or did you edit it out? There’s also supposed to be a contact entry under Current States.

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i have a ton of those and they work fine… but if you connect near the hub you need to do a repair so they repeat correctly through the nearest device… i find it better to set them up in the actual location… i also have started replacing mine with the zwave plus versions… much better battery life and range, but i have one in my metal mailbox a good 200 feet away.

14

thank you for the replies and additional feedback.

@Rboy - I did perform a reboot then re-paired the sensor. One now seems to be working, the other, worked for 2 mins then went back to being ‘stuck’ status.

@Automated_House - yeah, apologies, I was copying and pasting the info, must have missed capturing all of it. Just wondering, is there anything in those details that is sensitive that should be masked ?

@Lgkahn - I am using the zwave plus version of ecolink’s sensors. how do I perform the ‘repair’ activity? Is that done through the app ?

I see there are two apps, the classic and the connect. Which one is preferred ? I did download the classic and find it more user friendly.
The 2nd sensor, somehow, I can’t help to think it might be the battery. Not sure how long it (sensor) had been on shelf before shipping out. I will certainly give it a go again tonight once I get home and see if I am able to manage it.

I have additional questions about managing the one sensor now that it appears to be working, but I will start a new thread for that. =)

edit: found a thread that stepped through where to find the zwave repair through the ‘classic’ app on iOS, going to use that tonight after I bring the 2nd sensor back on line. Will try to stop by HD or Lowes to see if I can pick up an additional battery as well, in case THAT is the issue.

15

You said it’s the plus version ? Copy paste the raw description of the paired device from the IDE.

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zw:S type:0701 mfr:014A prod:0004 model:0002 ver:10.01 zwv:4.05 lib:06 cc:5E,86,72,73,80,71,85,59,84,30,70 ccOut:20 role:06 ff:8C07 ui:8C00

17

Do you still have those 50 sensors?

18

Nope, eBay’d those a long time ago. Sorry!

19

I wonder what the deal is with these sensors. Some people have lots of issues and some people like me have none. Most of my eco-link sensors are going to 2 years without a battery change!

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20

Mine have also been going great, even the ones converted into water sensors. They are just a little big and unsightly but they do the job for me.