GE Switch with Add-On (3-way) status issue

There is no way that the hub is polling the switch. If that was the case, the more devices you add to your mesh, the slower it is going to get. The data flow would become massive, and then throw in the cloud time lags!

If this is actually how their switches I’m truly amazed that the state of the switch ever changes.

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Last update, I give up. Jasco says their device isn’t sending unsolicited messages to ST. This implies ST is polling. Hope someone from ST staff sees this and comments.

Jasco:

Thank you @mobious for staying on top of this. I have emailed ST support, giving them some background and linking to this thread. Hopefully they can shine some light and explain which end is having the problem. Hopefully, if it’s truly on Jasco’s end, ST Support can give us some more specific/pertinent information that can be taken back to Jasco to combat their, what seems to be, pass-the-buck response.

I’m using the newer version of these switchs. 12722 for the on/off and 12723 for the addon. I get an update on the switchs status within a few seconds regardless of which one I use. This is on a hub v2, I know this doesn’t help but there must be a hardware difference between the first and second gen switchs.

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@2l82try1

I’m using the newer switches, 12727 and 12728 (toggle switch vs paddle on/off).

I have the old and new switches acting the same way but pressing refresh instantly update the status so I think we need a new device type for the GE/Jasco switch. I have my Emerwave dual relay with the same status problem and @erocm1231 fixed it with a new device type.

Just so u guys don’t think im crazy :wink: I made a quick video.

Also this is how my garage was wired

I’m assuming you tied the white going to the aux switch to the neutral bundle in the main switch box?

I tend to agree… But either way, HOW the update is sent isn’t the point. Whether the switch is polled or sends and update, the status should be correct whether triggered by the primary or the addon.

I have the same issue where I’m automating a second light based on the first light–works perfectly from my 12722 (primary), but works VERY intermittently from the 12723 (addon). Super annoying!

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Yes the hub itself polls Z-Wave switches and dimmers that don’t send us status reports, and only reports state changes up to the cloud. It aims to poll each one every 10 seconds, though no more than one per second. Unresponsive devices get dropped down to a longer interval.

The GE/Jasco devices also send a node info broadcast when you tap (not hold) the primary switch, for add/remove purposes. This isn’t sent specifically to the hub, but if we’re in direct range we hear it and bump the switch up to the front of the polling cycle. That’s why you sometimes see a quick response but not always.

If you don’t get a state update for a Z-Wave switch within 20 seconds, some things to try are:

  • Hit Refresh in SmartThings to make sure it’s marked as responsive by the polling system. (Note that if refresh doesn’t work, polling won’t either)
  • Make sure there’s not excessive Z-Wave traffic (eg. Pollster) as hub-based polling defers to cloud-based commands
  • Reboot the hub and wait 10-30 seconds for polling to fully initialize before trying again.

Thanks @duncan, that makes sense. The secondary light does always turn on within 10 seconds at this point. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to have it update in under a second, sometimes not! The secondary is just a decoration, so it’s not crucial, but would still like if it were more responsive.

@duncan thanks for replying. Your response is way better than the switch vendors. Thanks again for taking the time fill us in on the logic.

@duncan, thanks for the response.

I haven’t tried this in a while since I knew this was an issue. I just tried it again and it appears to now be working?! When I use the slave switch, within 7 seconds, it appears to update. Sometimes even quicker than that. I’m not sure what’s changed but I’m not complaining!

Thanks for looking into this.

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@duncan
You wrote:

The GE/Jasco devices also send a node info broadcast when you tap (not hold) the primary switch, for add/remove purposes. This isn’t sent specifically to the hub, but if we’re in direct range we hear it and bump the switch up to the front of the polling cycle. That’s why you sometimes see a quick response but not always.

Update: 3/15/2016 Is there a way to see broadcast messages in the logs?

As far as inclusion and exclusion for dimmer switches, it “seems” like the broadcast message on a tap might not be sent until the dimmer switch has finished ramping up or down. Is this true?

Short press on either ge or linear dimmer seems to wait until switch has fully dimmed up or down. Long press does not update status reliably quickly.

No, currently the hub does not send the node info broadcast to the cloud.

It is sent immediately on tap but the hub waits until the dimming is finished before reporting the status to the hub so it knows what the final level is.

How about just on/off switches?