FAQ: Wall plugs (Europe) (pocket sockets)

[JDRoberts]

@John010

Hi JD,

Did you say you use these TKB pocket sockets yourself? So far im very happy with them, They never disconnect and the power reporting works perfect. But what about the annoying blue light it has? Did you or anyone else find a solution for this? When off the sockets show a bright blue light. Would be better if the light goes on when the socket actually is on. Or even better not showing any light at all. I already wrote their customer service and asked this question. But their professional reply was “Who are you?” (yes, they actually put in the effort to send that as a reply).

The issue of when the indicator light should be lit on a pocket socket or Wall switch turns out to be one where different people want different things.

Some people want a “night light” mode where the LED indicator comes on when the pocket socket is off.

Some people want a “synchronize” mode where the LED indicator comes on when the pocket socket is on.

Some people want the LED indicator to never turn on, but it turns out that is against code in many places so that won’t always be available. In these jurisdictions network devices are supposed to have a “functioning indicator” to show that they are networked, but the code doesn’t always require which mode it is.

1. Can the indicator light parameter be changed, and if so, which parameter is it and what values can you use?

Anyway, if yours works differently than you want it to, then the first step is to find out whether the indicator light “parameter is configurable.” Parameter is the code inside the device that tells it when to turn the light on, and configurable means you can change it. And of course you have to find out which parameter to change and what the options are.

The good news is that on this particular device it should be configurable to switch from night light mode to synchronized mode. But you probably won’t be able to have it off all the time.

The parameter numbers and values will vary from model to model, but I believe that in this particular case you want to have parameter 1 set to the value 1.

( how do I know that? To be honest, I just remember what other people have said about it. You can try googling and see if anything shows up. You can look for a user manual, although they don’t always list the parameters. You can write the manufacturer and ask. If you bought the product from Vesternet, you can always contact their tech-support, they are excellent.

Anyway, according to the following article it is what I remember: parameter one is value one, so that’s where you should start I think.

Z-Wave - Fixing the Inverted LED Issue on TKB On/Off Switch

But if it is configurable, someone somewhere should know what the value options are. You just have to poke around until you find the information. )

2. Now configure the device to change the parameter to what you want it to be

Once you determine that the parameter is configurable, the next step is to go ahead and change it. See The FAQ for that process:

FAQ: How can I change the parameters on a Zwave device?

Many Z wave devices have “configuration parameters” which let you do a one time set up of the device. For lighting, this is typically things like the rate at which a dimmable light fades to off, whether the Indicator LED is on when the light is on or on when the light is off, etc. For a siren, it might define whether both the sound and a strobe light were triggered at the same time. For a motion sensor, it might be the duration of the inactivity period before it reports again. Other devices will have other configurable parameters. And it’s up to each manufacturer to decide exactly what parameters will be configurable for each model. Typically the options will be listed in the user guide for the device. So far, so good. But now how do you actually set those parameters what you have a dev…

And that should do it. If by chance that doesn’t seem to be the right parameter for this particular setting, then you should contact the manufacturer to find out which parameter it is and what the values are.