I installed a GE Z-Wave toggle switch for a bathroom fan a little over a week ago. I can turn it on and off manually and through SmartThings just fine. The problem is in the automation.
I read a little bit in these forums about the GE switches not reporting immediately to ST, so ST polls them regularly for status. I am seeing this in the recent tab of the device. Every 15 minutes, ST reports the state (on/off) of the switch. The problem, it seems, is that automation gets canceled out somehow during each of those 15 minute pollings.
Example: Using the “Power Allowance” app, if I set the switch to automatically turn off after being on for just a few minutes, the app successfully turns the switch off when the specified time has elapsed. If, however, I set the switch to turn off after 30 minutes (or anything >=15 min, it seems), it does not work, and the switch never turns off.
The same seems to be the case for other automations. If I set the switch to turn off when the “Goodbye” routine is run, triggered by everyone leaving, the switch will only turn off if we all leave the house within 15 minutes of turning the fan on.
I have been trying to figure out why this is, and don’t understand why this regular polling should interfere with the ability for the automations to complete. If anything, it seems like the whole intention of this polling is to prevent these sorts of issues.
Here’s the most recent event log, will follow your suggestion and watch routine and app behavior shortly
Date Source Type Name Value User Displayed Text
2016-11-30 7:17:46.784 PM EST
13 minutes ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 7:02:40.412 PM EST
28 minutes ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 6:59:48.895 PM EST
30 minutes ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 6:47:33.031 PM EST
43 minutes ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 6:32:26.696 PM EST
58 minutes ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 6:17:20.472 PM EST
1 hour ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 6:02:15.883 PM EST
1 hour ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 5:47:08.642 PM EST
2 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 5:32:03.134 PM EST
2 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 5:16:56.090 PM EST
2 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 5:01:57.971 PM EST
2 hours ago COMMAND off off command was sent to Bathroom Fan
2016-11-30 5:01:57.955 PM EST
2 hours ago APP_COMMAND off
2016-11-30 5:01:48.230 PM EST
2 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 4:46:40.003 PM EST
3 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 4:31:33.712 PM EST
3 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 4:16:27.421 PM EST
3 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 4:12:55.716 PM EST
3 hours ago DEVICE indicatorStatus when on Bathroom Fan indicator-status is when on
2016-11-30 4:12:54.022 PM EST
3 hours ago DEVICE indicatorStatus when on Bathroom Fan indicator-status is when on
2016-11-30 4:12:51.680 PM EST
3 hours ago DEVICE indicatorStatus when on Bathroom Fan indicator-status is when on
2016-11-30 4:12:49.441 PM EST
3 hours ago DEVICE indicatorStatus when on Bathroom Fan indicator-status is when on
2016-11-30 4:01:21.829 PM EST
3 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 3:46:15.584 PM EST
4 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 3:33:12.998 PM EST
4 hours ago DEVICE indicatorStatus when on Bathroom Fan indicator-status is when on
2016-11-30 3:33:10.753 PM EST
4 hours ago DEVICE indicatorStatus when on Bathroom Fan indicator-status is when on
2016-11-30 3:33:07.377 PM EST
4 hours ago DEVICE indicatorStatus when on Bathroom Fan indicator-status is when on
2016-11-30 3:33:05.223 PM EST
4 hours ago DEVICE indicatorStatus when on Bathroom Fan indicator-status is when on
2016-11-30 3:33:03.403 PM EST
4 hours ago DEVICE indicatorStatus when on Bathroom Fan indicator-status is when on
2016-11-30 3:25:09.589 PM EST
4 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 3:10:03.329 PM EST
4 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 2:54:57.131 PM EST
5 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 2:39:50.886 PM EST
5 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 2:24:42.392 PM EST
5 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 2:09:33.887 PM EST
5 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 1:54:27.620 PM EST
6 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 1:39:21.333 PM EST
6 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 1:24:14.974 PM EST
6 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 1:09:08.491 PM EST
6 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 12:54:02.248 PM EST
7 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 12:38:56.036 PM EST
7 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 12:23:49.685 PM EST
7 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 12:08:43.417 PM EST
7 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 11:53:37.146 AM EST
8 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 11:38:30.878 AM EST
8 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 11:23:22.799 AM EST
8 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 11:15:13.436 AM EST
8 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off
2016-11-30 11:08:14.854 AM EST
8 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 10:53:08.624 AM EST
9 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 10:38:02.400 AM EST
9 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 10:22:56.167 AM EST
9 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 10:07:50.911 AM EST
9 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 9:52:44.679 AM EST
10 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 9:37:38.442 AM EST
10 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 9:22:32.236 AM EST
10 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 9:07:25.986 AM EST
10 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 8:52:19.740 AM EST
11 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 8:37:13.496 AM EST
11 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 8:22:07.305 AM EST
11 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 8:07:01.064 AM EST
11 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 7:51:53.730 AM EST
12 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 7:48:23.720 AM EST
12 hours ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on
2016-11-30 7:36:47.358 AM EST
12 hours ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch
While I think on it (I think I sprained my brain muscles today) have you tried CoRE?
If you set up a piston ( kind of like a routine but has triggers so one thing causes another) and see what that does as far as going beyond 15 minutes, and enable debugging it might provide a little more insight. Maybe it will even solve problem if lucky.
Ill think about this some more tonight, maybe someone else will chime in too, and get back to you at the latest in am if no solution by then. My brain is mush at the moment or I’d probably be more help right now
I created a new routine called test that simply turns off the switch and triggered it manually. Ran successfully within a few minutes of fan being turned on, and ran successfully an hour after turning on.
I created a new routine called test2 that also turns the switch off, but is configured to run at a certain time of day. Again ran successfully within a few minutes of fan being manually turned on, and I’m in process of confirming success ~45 Min after turn on. EDIT: confirmed.
Both also show success in event logs.
It seems that any automation with a timer involved, set for more than 15 minutes, will just fail to activate. Automations independent of timers seem to work fine. There is no mention of these >15min timer-related apps in the online event logs for the device.
Not sure if this is relevant to diagnosis, but I have timer based automation of other devices in the home that have never had issue, so I’m fairly certain of two things:
This quirk is unique to this switch
And
I am not slipping into a magical dimension in which time jumps around in a non-linear fashion
I will check out CORE tomorrow
I read a bit on it months ago, and never got around to trying it out, so now I suppose I have good motivation.
Thank you for your help!
EDIT:
Most recently, I confirmed the 930pm scheduled off from routine test2 executed successfully on switch which was manually turned on at 903pm, but also noticed a 30 Min time limit executing on the already off switch at 948pm. This is 30 Min after the first 15 min polling report of the unchanged on switch. I have not seen this before. How bizzare. Log below:
Date Source Type Name Value User Displayed Text Changed
2016-11-30 9:48:46.312 PM EST
9 minutes ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off false
2016-11-30 9:48:34.072 PM EST
9 minutes ago COMMAND off off command was sent to Bathroom Fan true
2016-11-30 9:48:34.053 PM EST
9 minutes ago APP_COMMAND off true
2016-11-30 9:33:40.038 PM EST
24 minutes ago DEVICE physical switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off false
2016-11-30 9:30:00.954 PM EST
28 minutes ago COMMAND off off command was sent to Bathroom Fan true
2016-11-30 9:30:00.886 PM EST
28 minutes ago APP_COMMAND off true
2016-11-30 9:30:00.703 PM EST
28 minutes ago DEVICE digital switch off Bathroom Fan switch is off true
2016-11-30 9:18:33.685 PM EST
39 minutes ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on false
2016-11-30 9:03:27.477 PM EST
55 minutes ago DEVICE physical switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on false
2016-11-30 9:03:21.712 PM EST
55 minutes ago COMMAND on on command was sent to Bathroom Fan true
2016-11-30 9:03:21.532 PM EST
55 minutes ago DEVICE digital switch on Bathroom Fan switch is on true