Hi All - I’m having an issue with one of my GE Z-Wave switches. Today I had noticed that the blue indicator light is blinking and it is preventing me from turning on the light manual or through the smart app. So far I have tried to reset the breaker, pull the air gap and to exclude it from the network. I wasn’t able to exclude it as it seems the hub is not even communicating with it. When I try to do a z-wave repair, I get “Network repair for Basement Foyer [XX]: Failed to update route.”
Oh one last thing I noticed was odd. In the IDE it shows up that the device is Offline.
Anyone run into this and have anything they could suggest? Thank you.
This is not a SmartThings issue. Your switch has died. Don’t exclude it because after you replace the device you can do a Replace in the mobile app. That will save you a lot of work having to rebuild any automations you may have that’s using that switch.
For some of my switches, “dead” really meant dead. No LED no power, nothing. For the rest, they absolutely would not join. These older models have been known to die off after a couple/three years.
Sounds like to me that you have something else going on if that many switches are having problems. I’d recommend you contact support, reboot your hub, or look for a misbehaving device in your zwave mesh.
I have a GE switch that appears to have kicked the bucket as well. About a year old, maybe a bit more. No blue light, flipping the breaker, pulling the air gap… nothing works. I checked the bulbs and they are good so I guess, it just died
Just had the same issue with two ZW4005 ver 3.0e ON/OFF Switches. They became unresponsive after the power company interrupted the power at the transformer. I was not able to recover them. I had installed these switches for customer in March 2016.
I bought two new switches with the Zwave+ features to get my customer back up and running.
Just contacted Jasco and there were no replacement options for the switches being that they were beyond the 2 year warranty. That was a bit disappointing considering how many people have had similar issues.
I have been repairing other Z-wave switches with a similar problem . If someone wants to send a bad switch to me I can see if I can repair them. If I can I charge $10 plus shipping for the repair.
You can contact me mg@cecg.com if you are interested.
I have 2 toggle switches mounted next to each other. 1 for a light, 1 for a magnet lock for a sliding door. They’ve been working fine until this weekend. The zwave toggle for the light started flashing blue. I proceeded to exclude it, flip the breaker for it, removed the wiring and plugged back in, tried to repair but to no avail. So today I replaced it. As soon as I flipped the breaker on the new switch worked like a charm. But now the mag lock toggle is flashing blue. Soni went through all the same steps minus replacing it. Guys have any words of advice here? I’m at a loss.
Shawnherl,
I have EXACTLY the same issue. I have the GE 1747 model switches. I have 3 in a box with a lutron dimmer. The 1747 started blinking I thought maybe it was having a problem with the load, so I removed the bulbs from my security light. Put one bulb into my kitchen light on the lutron dimmer to test it worked fine, removed it and put the second bulb in and the dimmer went dead. Anyway ordered up a new switch, installed it, new bulbs, all good, but when I flipped the breaker the switch next to it is now blinking.
I did notice a clicking noise from the first switch, hard to hear till you remove it.
Leave me wondering how someone cant make a reliable switch for $40-50.
The switches are…you guess it 2 months out of warranty coverage.
So I just got the dreaded blue blinking on 3 of my GE 14291 switches in the same day. First one room went out, but it’s had a history of acting a little wonky, so I figured it was just it’s time. Ran to Home Depot and picked up a Leviton z-wave switch as that’s all they had. Replaced it and was back in business in 15 mins. Soon as I turn the breaker back on, I go to turn on a hall light and the kitchen light and now they’re blinking blue, and clicking non stop. All three lights were working fine this morning, ran their automations like normal and had no problems until this afternoon.
Could a surge of sometime have caused them to start dying out? These switches were about 3 years old, so def past the Jasco warranty at this point. I’ve got twelve switches and had already contemplated moving to homekit switches (I’m an apple household other than HA), so i’m wondering if this is the time to start the switch or just replace them and keep things as is. Thanks for any thoughts anyone might have on this.
One by one, my GE switches have died the “blinking blue death.” The most recent one died after a power outage in my town due to someone hitting a pole with a transformer on it. I will no longer buy GE switches. Instead, each time one takes its final nap, I’m replacing them with Lutron Caseta switches. I’ve never had a Caseta switch die on me, and I actually like them better anyway.
I’ve had about 2 out of 50 or so to go bad in a 4 year period. The one that’s blinking now works sometimes. It’s outdoors so I think it might have moisture in the bulb.
Give them time and they seem to start working on their own!
Due to electrical work I was doing in my house where I had to shut off breakers - I had two GE Switches fail - I removed them and replaced them with Minoston switches. Then a few days later I created a little test setup so I wouldn’t have to install them to see if I could get them working and lo and behold they worked as switches and I was able to include them in my SmartThings system. I had a use for them elsewhere in my house and installed them in those places and for the past month and a half they’re working fine.
This week I had to shut off power to an electrical panel powering one of the relocated ZW4005 switches. Upon restoring power to the panel I got the blinking blue light and the switch didn’t work as a switch or as a z-wave device. I was able to do a Force Exclude to remove the switch from the SmartThings network. The next day (without me doing anything) the blinking blue light became a solid blue light and the switch worked as a switch. The following day after bringing the SmartThings version 2 hub close to the switch I was able to include it in my SmartThings network.
My conclusion: - you remove power from the switch and it gets stupid. Give it time and the stupidity fades and the switch returns to life. Worst part - shut off a breaker and the switch is likely go stupid again. The real stupidity is the design of these switches so that they behave the way they do.
Sure it’s not tied to some update being pushed out?
Same exact thing just happened to me. Replaced one blinking switch and the new one seems fine, but then the 2nd one started blinking just after.
And then one of the new ones did the same …
I’ve had a power outage knock out one of my GE Smart switches. Switch had exhibit the constant relay clicking on/off. Literally had to go through a buy THREE NEW GE SWITCHES before finding one that worked. The first new one had same clicking issue. The second new switch had the blinking blue LED. And yes, I power off and even did a air gap reset for each new switch. Literally had two bad switches right out of the box.
Was beginning to believe it was a faulty wiring, but how so since been working fine for last 5 years before the power outage?? Finally my third new switch worked right away after install.
I just had my 3rd or 4th case of a switch or outlet causing zwave trouble (massive slowdowns, unresponsive devices, etc). The device stops working and appears to start interfering with zwave traffic. In the last couple cases, a Homeseer switch was no longer working and the led was flashing. Minutes ago I replaced a Jasco zwave outlet as the relay was clicking on and off repeatedly in my bedroom. Before I discovered the issue I was having issues with Alexa controlling devices with massive delays if it even worked at all. Immediately after removing the outlet, everything was very responsive. Same thing that happened the past few times. All replacement devices are Zigbee as I am now convinced zwave hates me
EDIT: The snapshot below is from the faulty outlet. 267,034 messages from it are likely why my zwave network was on its knees… I rarely use that outlet so I wonder how long that was going on. If only the IDE highlighted such cases…
Sadly, this isn’t uncommon. And Samsung removed the replace option in the new app, so you can’t even easily replace the switch. Now, you have to delete it and add it in, and recreate scenes and all again. Yay!
It is awful how simple failures cause a large expense for the customer and many companies don’t care. There is a detailed video on “The Signal Path” on YouTube explaining what is likely to have failed and what the necessary repair is. You will need to have a bit of electronics experience and be comfortable soldering in order to repair your own switch. Basically the problem is in the low voltage power supply for the controller in the switch. In my case, and many of those described in this thread, it was likely caused by a surge or pulse on the mains. This could have come from the power company or something switching off/on on your premises.
If you are comfortable with electronics repair and mains voltages and want to fix your switch, give a watch to the video TNP #1 - Teardown & Repair of a Z-Wave GE ZW4005 Home Automation Wall Relay Switch on YouTube. Good Luck and be careful!
