GE Add-On Not Updating Status

I recently installed two different 3-way switches using the GE 12727 and GE 12728. Both the primary switch and add-on work just fine when manually turning on/off the light and ST can control the light from the app. However, I noticed that only the primary will update ST with the status of the light. No matter what I try, the add-on will not update ST and this happens for both 3-way installations. I’ve waited for hours and nothing. However, if I hit refresh in the app for the device, the status immediately changes.

I did a search and found a similar issue reported way back in 2015, but no solution. Is this still a problem?

Add on has nothing to report. It controls main switch and only main switch controls the light.
Add on is only a momentary dumb switch with no electronics inside

1 Like

True but shouldn’t the add-on communicate to the primary and the primary ultimately communicate with ST for updates? As of now manually using the primary, ST gets updated very quickly. But manually using the add-on, ST never gets an update for the status of the light. I thought the traveler wire was now acting as a data communication between the two switches.

Yup! I’m not at home to test any of mine, but I will later on today. Are you using the Classic or new app?

Try running a z-wave repair to see if that has any effect.

Still using the classic. I still have some custom DTH so I haven’t made the switch

1 Like

Same here, although I just got the latest update this morning, so we’ll see how that looks. I have some custom DTH’s to still port over, but I’m not in any rush to switch either.

You wouldn’t happen to be in the hub firmware beta would you? If not, no worries.

I’ve not seen behavior like yours before for a zwave switch, and as rare as it could be, maybe you have a malfunctioning switch, but try the zwave repair as @jkp mentions, and/or the Replace function in the Classic app within the device’s preference s section. Once you kick off Replace, just tap on/off several times (not on the add-on switch).

No I’m not on the beta firmware. I’ll try a z-wave repair this evening so I can test right after.

I just tested this.

Note that my rig is an ADT Pulse z-wave hub with ST as a secondary hub (this is not the ADT+ST combo product)

Started with 3-way light off
I opened the ST Classic app up
confirmed light said OFF in App
physically turned ON light via master switch
confirmed light said ON in App
physically turned OFF light via master switch
confirmed light said OFF in App
physically turned ON light via add-on switch
confirmed light said ON in App
physically turned OFF light via add-on switch
confirmed light said OFF in App

So, it works for me. I did not see any delay/timing difference in the switch to response in the app.

I have the GE 14294 with 12723 add-on and it works correctly. Be aware that the 12727 is an older, discontinued model, so I must ask … were these purchased new from a reliable source? If not, that increases the odds that it is just defective.

I’m not sure how doing a z-wave repair will help since the add-on switch doesn’t do z-wave. And you would think that the primary switch responding to commands and providing updates when it is used locally is sufficient to say that this isn’t a z-wave problem. Not ruling that out totally, but my gut feel is you got some old switches with faulty firmware.

[Edit: I read through the other thread and see that someone brought up the intriguing theory that miswiring could have the effect of cutting/restoring power to the master. That’s worth thinking about but in that case, hitting refresh wouldn’t fix anything. Secondly, a stupid question … if your primary was a dimmer, I’d ask how you were toggling locally at the add-on - with a single push, or press and hold? But that primary isn’t a dimmer, I don’t think, so never mind.]

@Luther, I’m not sure I follow your second question. Both primary and add-on are the toggle switch version with the primary being a dimmer. I flick up/down for on/off and hold up/down for dim up/down. I got the 12727’s 12729’s over a year ago new but just got around to installing them. The 12728’s where recently purchased new from Amazon via GE.

Edit: Correction - I mentioned 12727 in the original post, but I meant to say the 12729 toggle dimmer.

OK, I was just wondering if there was a possibility that you were dimming the light to zero and dimming the light to 100% at the add-on in which case the status wouldn’t change. But that was a grasp at a straw.

The 12729 is still an older model (not Z-Wave+) , though. But should work fine.

are you using a custom dth for the switch?

No custom DTH, just what ST selected as the default. I did notice that all of me 12729’s (3-way and single switches) are listed as Dimmer Switch but my 12727’s (all single switches) are listed as Z-Wave Switch. Should I be using the Z-Wave Dimmer Switch Generic for the 12729’s?

Yup, but use the stock DTH called Dimmer Switch. That’s what all my GE dimmers are (and have been) using.

Ok, “Dimmer Switch” is what I’ve always used too.

1 Like

Using a Dimmer switch in a 3-way, might be part of the problem.

What happens if you swap the dimmer out for a binary switch (still GE z-wave, just remove a variable).

I have a three way with a dimmer and it updates fine.

1 Like

So I’ve been doing a bit of testing, where I started with the light off. Thus far:

  • Primary on then off will register in the app almost instantly
  • Add-On on then off will not register anything. I’m guessing because the primary saw the light off and by the time it was to send an update, it was still/already off.
  • Primary on then Add-on off will register on immediately, but I did notice that after 32 minutes it will register as off; repeated with same results
  • Add-on on then Primary off not register anything. I’m guessing because the primary saw the light off and by the time it was to send an update, it was still off.

I thought maybe my traveler wire was not connected properly so I rechecked all of my wiring and everything checks out. The strange thing is that after 32 minutes the app registers that status of the light so to me that says the data is moving across the traveler wire correctly as communication between ST and the primary switch is what is displayed in the app while the add-on just send data/status to the primary. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

The 32 minutes was strange to me so when looking at the device, the checkInterval is 1920 seconds which is 32 minutes. So after 32 minutes, ST polls the primary switch, receives the status and shows that in the app.

This. I just replaced all my GE / Jasco switches with the newer Z-Wave Plus models. The older versions were know to have issues with not reporting status back to the controller, dropping off the network, and general unreliability. While I could go months without any issues, I was always playing musical chairs having to rejoin or power cycle a switch here or there to get it to work reliably. When the add-on switches did work to report status, it was always delayed.

I would just replace the switch with a newer Z-Wave Plus version.