I have a Front door light controlled by a GE Z-Wave Dimmer, when I turn it on, regardless of time, it turns off on it’s own, like theres a program set to do it automatically. But there isn’t. I have a sunset turn on that turns on other lights in the house fine(family room, fireplace room), as well as this dimmer.
25940688-752e-4592-9d0a-c4f41d7d4f43 1:33:20 PM: debug Parse returned [Front Door Light New was turned off]
25940688-752e-4592-9d0a-c4f41d7d4f43 1:32:09 PM: debug Parse returned [Front Door Light New was turned on, Front Door Light New dimmed 99 %]
It’s not guaranteed to be that timespan either. I’ve seen it happen where by the time I turn it on, and open the door, it is already back off.
There is one caveat(and this may be the reason) This switch was used elsewhere(not sure where) in our previous house, before we moved(about 3 mos ago).
There is a known but weird electrical issue with older Jasco zwave dimmers, but it only occurs in some wiring setups so can be hard to diagnose. It’s purely electrical, nothing to do with ST.
The GE/Jasco switches are just very sensitive.
If the dimmer shares the circuit with another device (even if controlled by a completely different switch in another room, zwave or not) when the other device draws power it sometimes drops the GE below its expected draw and it will shut off. Typically this happens with heavier draw items like fans, microwaves, hair dryers, coffee makers, etc.
Note that the circuit isn’t overloaded and doesn’t trip. It’s just a balance issue between the different devices on the same circuit.
You may have seen this in other situations where you turn on a microwave or a hair dryer and other lights flicker. Same kind of thing. But the older GE dimmer controls don’t flicker, they just go to off.
If multiple devices are turning on when you arrive home, and one or more of them share the circuit with the dimmer, then it may just be their turning on that’s causing the dimmer to go off. You should be able to recreate this just with manual control.
Of course this may have nothing to do with your situation. It could be software scheduling, it could be a master/slave issue, it could just be a bad switch. But the circuit balance issue is one you can test for your self just manually turning stuff on, so it’s worth checking out.
Does the activity log for the dimmer indicated that it was a physical power off?
I had this and support insisted that someone turned the light off even when all members of the household were present and accounted for around the dinner table and nobody saw anyone break into the house to turn the switch off.
A refrigerator, air conditioner, washing machine, coffee maker, aquarium pump, etc that shares the circuit and kicks into a part of its cycle with a higher draw can cause the same problem without any switches being flipped, as long as they’re on the same circuit as the dimmer. Some of those are more likely than others, obviously, but you never know until you look, especially in an older house.
bamarayne
(Jason "The Enabler" as deemed so by @Smart)
6
I’m reviving this posts because I haven’t found an answer elsewhere.
I installed my first two older style ge dimmers last night. They do not require the neutral. Not a problem as I have neutrals, but there wee cheap so I’m giving them a shot.
They work just fine. Connected to the hub right away and no problems working in the app.
Here’s the problem (yes I’m using a dumb led dimmable bulb. 2 - 60 equivalent bulbs pet circuit).
The only thing on this circuit is the switch. There a couple of other lights total for the entire circuit, but this behavior occurs when only one dimmer is turned on.
If in the app and the dimmer is turned to any amount above 90%, the switch well turn off within a few seconds. It reports the updated status as well, so the switch is intending to turn off.
Any seeing at 90% and lower and the switch works perfectly.
Also, there is no difference in brightness between 90% and 99%.
If the switch is turned on manually and adjusted to full brightness, if held for too long it will turn off. If you turn on and continue to hold it will cycle… On then adjust up then of and repeat.
Seems odd, but it is the same for both switches.
Has anyone else seen this behavior? Should I just return them and but the ones with the neutrals? These are the only two I intend to install.
If it was only happening with one switch, then I would suspect a defective switch. But if it’s happening with both switches, most likely there is current variation which is causing the overload behavior to kick in.
As mentioned above, the GE switches can be fussy, so if there was a Space heater or hairdryer or something like that on the same circuit I wouldn’t be surprised.
But if there’s really nothing else on the same circuit, I think you need to test the circuit, or bring in an electrician to do so. There may be an electrical fault.
@Navat604 or one of the other electrical experts may have better advice in case I’m overreacting.
It’s a compatibility issue between your dimmer and LED bulbs. Most HA dimmers dim by changing the waveform of the input 110v for efficiency and since there is no standard for LED driver out there. You ended up having drivers that don’t charge up probably. Which caused cycling or flicker. To prove this theory. Just put in an incandescent bulb. You can also try a different brand LED but that’s a 50/50 chance.
1 Like
bamarayne
(Jason "The Enabler" as deemed so by @Smart)
9
@Navat604
I’ll try incandescent bulbs when I get home . I’ll have to go buy some. Lol
I hit this with the old GE dimmer I had on the halogen pendants over our kitchen island. There’s something else on that circuit that, when it either kicks on or off, caused the dimmer to just turn off. I replaced it with one of the newer ones and it hasn’t done it since.
bamarayne
(Jason "The Enabler" as deemed so by @Smart)
11
