Fibaro 2 Dimmer (212 not 211)

[JDRoberts]

@John_Crighton

So, yes, I’d like to use S2 as a button controller and get it to talk to the hub directly

What you say about transmissions only going a single hop might scupper that though. Is that something that’s defined in the term ‘Basic Command’? From the manual it looks like S2 can be a ‘Scene Controller’ which is effectively what the Popp switch is. Have I put 2+2 together and made 5?

You’re on track. The one hop issue only applies to option two in my post above. Button controller removes that limitation because in that set up the switch (or in this case the dimmer module) talks to the hub and then the hub sends the request to the end device. So You’re fine up to four hops each way. The single hop is a limitation of Direct association in Z wave.

Zwave scene controllers vs SmartThings button controllers

“Scene controller” is actually a whole different thing then what we were talking about. Typically that means the device is using the Z wave scene command sets, not the basic command set.

But if you’re using a SmartThings “button controller” device handler you’re not using the zwave scene commands. The end result will hopefully look the same to the people using the switch, but the big advantage is that you can include devices of multiple protocols in the same “scene,” which you can’t do with a Z wave scene controller.

So for example a button controller like the Aeon minimote could use a single button press to turn on all the lights in the room, even if some of those lights were zigbee smart bulbs and some were on a zwave dimmer module.

I just honestly don’t know if the Fibaro dimmer module can be set up this way or not.

Setting Association Groups 4 or 5

BTW, for anyone who does want to try option two or three above with the Fibaro, you’re going to need a way to set association groups four and five. You can’t do that with a minimote, or just with the devices themselves. so You need something that can send the zwave instructions to do these associations.

Some controllers have an association feature in the UI which lets the controller do it that way. SmartThings as yet does not.

Fortunately @Duncan, senior Zwave engineer at SmartThings, has previously posted code to allow people to set up associations for two-way lights even if they didn’t have a minimote. It does allow you to set the Association group ID as well, so you’ll be able to use it for groups four and five.

You’ll have to temporarily Assign the Fibaro module to an accessory switch device handler, but you just change it back to the actual device handler once the association groups are set.

Anyway, just in case someone wants to use this feature, here’s the link to the thread explaining his code:

Evolve LTM-5 transmitter to LRM-AS association

I may have come to the wrong conclusion as I’m not as experienced in this area as some, but it looks like you guys were able to associate the accessory switch to the main switch without using a minimote? Can you write up a quick set of instructions on how to do this? I’d gladly tip a couple bucks in Bitcoin for your troubles!

remember that in lighting set ups, the accessory controls the master

Remember that in a lighting set up the accessory controls the master, that is you press the accessory switch and it tells the master switch to power the lights on or off. So for what we’re talking about here with Association groups , you want the fibaro module set up the way the other thread discusses setting up an accessory switch, so that the Fibaro will be able to tell the other device to turn on or off.

If someone does already have a Fibaro dimmer module or the relay set up as a SmartThings button controller, let us know. That would be especially nice functionality for UK households where there are so few switch options as yet.