Okay. I’ve got two of these installed, so I managed to get an order in a while back for a third. At this point, I know exactly how to install this unit.
So, I unboxed and installed a new Hunter fan in my home office. It’s got the standard black, white and blue wiring. But when I installed the Zigbee controller, it doesn’t work. At all.
I wired up the fan without the controller - works fine.
So now I have just question - is this a bad zigbee controller? Or is this an issue because it’s a Hunter fan instead of a Hampton Bay fan? (my previous 2 installs were Hampton Bay fans and they work great)
Anyone else successfully installed this zigbee controller on a Hunter fan? Anything else I should try before contacting the warranty folks?
Brand shouldn’t make a difference. It’s simply voltage being passed to a light and a fan motor. The only things to check would be that the fan pull chain is on high and the light is on.
You could try a different dip switch combination. I’ve had funky results with a few combinations on this receiver that resulted in the light turning on/off when changing fan speeds.
Look for my posts on this previously. Basically, I am betting that the Hunter fan in question might be using capacitive speed controls. The Hampton Bay controller only works with non-capacitive. However, the lights would work.
But, the other thing to keep in mind is that it depends on what is in the fan as to if the black and blue work together or separately. For instance, with the one I have, you have to first turn power on before you can turn the light on. This is because the fan has an embedded controller that presents the three wires to you instead of providing direct access. In fact, I think it has to be that way since you would probably need more than that.
Which Hunter model? I have Sophia. It is a no-go so I am focusing on BOND with the hopes it matures enough to let me do everything.
I spent a lot of hours on this, all for not, but let me know if you have any questions I can clarify…
Thanks for the help guys. It’s a Hunter Aker model from Home Depot. I linked to it in my last post.
I wired it up, no reaction at all. Then wired the fan up without it. Light and fan both came on immediately.
Tried again, same results. Also tried adjusting the dip switches too. So it’s definitely not the pull chain or the remote giving me issues here.
The only things I can figure is it’s a bad unit or something to do with the Hunter fan being different than my Hampton Bay fans. I’m fine with replacing either the fan or requesting a warranty replacement. Any other ideas on what I could test to figure this out?
The only other option I can think of is putting the controller in one of my other fans to see if it works and I really, really don’t want to do that.
i would suggest getting a cheap remote/controller combo from HD to confirm if the fan works with it and if it does, then try the Zigbee unit with 2 bulbs (one on each fan and light line) to see if they light up and then work on the next steps
Yes, that in-wall remote will work. I used for a few days and returned. Wish they would have put the Light button on top.
I opted for a Homeseer switch and used single/double/triple taps to turn the lights/fan on/off.
Doesn’t have to be zigbee. I simply set up Smart Lighting to trigger things based on button presses.
I did also have 12/3 wiring in place, so I control the lights directly from the Dimmer at the wall, and have the light line out of the receiver capped off. The button presses trigger different fan speeds. And turning the light on via remote triggers my wall dimmer to turn on.
No any Zigbee switch will work with SmartThings and therefore could be used to control the fan through maybe a smartapp or core. You will have some delay though and may have issues using them if your hub is offline or the cloud is down. If you want realtime control you need to get one of the RF based remotes that talks directly to the fan controller rather than relies on SmartThings. Bradlee detailed each remote that is compatible with these controllers in post 569 with links to Home Depot for each of them.
You can set up whatever controls you want in SmartThings to control the fan through SmartLighting, WebCore, etc. If you install an in-wall switch make sure power to the fan bypasses it - if you wire it “normally” the switch will cut power to the light/fan and you won’t be able to control it except by turning that switch back on.
It’s been stated lots of times that a Zigbee repeater in the same room is almost a requirement to get this controller working. If you’re going to put a smart switch in the wall, it might as well be a Zigbee switch instead of buying a Z-wave switch AND a Zigbee outlet as repeater (assuming the location of your switch works to get a signal to the fan). I don’t think I’ve seen this suggested before so maybe I’m missing something.
Since the switch doesn’t need to control a load an “accessory / add-on” switch that has its own radio would work and is probably cheaper. (Counter to #2, there may not be any Zigbee switches that fit this description). Here’s a post about a similar situation (with different hardware at the fan) that lists a few options: Programmable z wave, in-wall remote switch - #3 by JDRoberts
I definitely would have liked to use a Zigbee repeating switch at the wall instead of a Z-Wave switch. But I couldn’t find any Zigbee switches that also triggered button taps.
I went as far as ordering a few Orvibo 7 button zigbee scene controllers to pair with the fan receiver. This works great as a simple 7 button remote, but I cant get the darned thing to act as a true scene controller and activate the correct indicator LED.
Lots more discussion here - all these apply, except instead of a smart bulb you have a dumb bulb and and a dumb motor attached to a smart controller, so switches with multiple press options to control the two devices might be simpler.
I’m finding that the selection of Zigbee switches is pretty limited. This is my first time dealing with switches, so I’m trying to get up to speed before I get my fan controllers installed and then have to pull out my phone to turn things on and off…
Wi-Fi can drown out zigbee as they both operate in the same band. Since the usual solution for Wi-Fi/zigbee interference is just to move the zigbee device a foot or so to the left or right, and that’s not something you can do with a fixed location device like an in wall light switch, Z wave and wifi have tended to be more popular for that particular device class.
Professional installers can usually solve the problem, so you do see Zigbee light switches intended for the commercial projects, but they just tend to be more trouble than the average residential DIY person is willing to put up with. The more they boost their Wi-Fi signal, the more trouble they have with their zigbee light switches.
Again, it’s not impossible, but it’s the reason you just don’t see very many products in this category.
