[OBSOLETE] HomeSeer HS-WD100+ and more (Simple DTH in post 27, advanced feature DTH in post 32)

IMO: I’m sure it’s part of the zwave standard. Their whole basis is around interoperability. Allowing manufacturers to create devices that wouldn’t support older controllers would go against this mantra.

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Has anyone seen an issue with the HomeSeer WS100+ switch where after an on press (or hold-on), it toggles on as requested, then off, then back on again? I’ll call it “thrashing” for lack of a better word. I’ve seen this happen now with the default Z-Wave switch device handler and now also with this custom DH. It will happen consistently for awhile, but after giving it a break and trying again later, I can’t seem to get the issue to trigger again. Until the next time it happens…

So I’ve been scouring the forums and have not been able to find a definitive answer to what I suspect is a very simple solution. I have installed the HS-WD100+ (which I love btw) and am using Darwin’s device handler. How do I associate the double and triple tap buttons with actions (e.g., turning on dimmer as well as desk light, setting all room lights to 25% for movie watching, etc…)? Is that possible using RuleMachine or another smart app that I’m missing?

Thanks in advance for answering my noobie questions!

BTW, I paired one of the HS-WD100+ with a HS-WA100 and while the dimmer works, I could not get the companion switch working. Called Homeseer and they are sending me out another one incase the first was defective. If anyone has gotten the companion switch working, I would appreciate any insight you may have, as I am wondering if I did something wrong. Thanks!

The double, triple, and hold functions for each of the up/down cases are mapped to device buttons 1-6 (mapping here). Both my handler and @erocm1231’s use the same mappings. In Rule Machine, you can trigger actions using capability Button, selecting the appropriate button #, and choose “pushed” for the button pushed or held section.

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And I knew I was missing something simple. Thank you! I’ll have to wait until I get home later to test and see if it is responsive.

I also found a good “scene controller” smart app by @Bravenel that I’ll test later. I’ll see which is more consistently reliable.

BTW, did you get any of the companion switches and if so, were you able to get them working?

I tested my WD100+ dimmer with a GE 3-way add-on switch and it worked fine for me, although I can’t recommend that anyone use a non-“blessed” configuration like this. 3-way switch wiring can be pretty confusing. Have you seen the Automated 3-way Switches: What should my wiring look like? (US Version) thread?

Yeah, I’m pretty good at wiring 3 ways and agree that they can be tricky, but I’ve done enough of them to be confident that I have the circuit setup correctly. I guess my main question is around what the companion switch needs for power. In the accompanying documentation, only the neutral and traveler go to the companion (See picture).

So the way I have it wired, I run the line and neutral (pigtailed in) to the dimmer. From the dimmer, I ran the neutral and traveler to the companion switch (only two wires going to companion), and the neutral out to load, and then run the load (bypassing the companion switch) back to the dimmer. That is how I understand the picture above. However this does not seem to be working, and I’m hesitant to wire the load to the companion switch, as that does not align with the wiring diagram.

P.S. I really enjoyed poking around your website. Some really good information there for those of us getting into this stuff :slight_smile:

Slightly tangential, but what is the point of a special three way switch (the physical device). Can you just sync the switch to the other one with a smartapp or something. So pressing ON on any of the physical switches means turn on the load, same for OFF. Does having one or more of them being special HS-WA100+ switches make a difference? Clearly I am no electrician and I have never attempted to wire anything.

In most set ups, an auxiliary switch (also called a slave, a dummy, or sometimes a " remote") essentially just acts as a remote to the master switch. The common example is having a switch at both the top and the bottom of the staircase so that you can turn the lights on at the bottom of the staircase and then when you get up to the top you can turn them off from a different switch.

There are many different ways to create communication between the auxiliary switch and the master switch. This can be done with wires (which are called “traveler wires” in the US), it can be done by having the auxiliary switch communicate wirelessly directly to the master as the Leviton Vizia series does, or it can be done by having the auxiliary switch communicate wirelessly to the smart things hub which then communicates to the master.

Unless you are very experienced with electrical matters, if you are using actual physical wires to connect the auxiliary to the master switch you should use only the auxiliary that was specifically designed to work with that master. So that’s what the auxiliary in this model line is for. This is for both safety and functionality.

Just as an example, some models require that both the master and the auxiliary be on the same neutral, while others do not. The switches could look similar to other models, and they could both be using physical wires to connect the auxiliary to the master , but they could still be using different specific set ups.

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It’s pretty common for an auxiliary to be powered from a neutral, just as the radio in the master is. But there are many different ways for these to be set up, and different models will use different methods.

BTW, Some three-way set ups are wired in such a way that the position of the master switch will affect whether the auxiliary works or not. So that when one is up at the other has to be down. It’s not that up is always on and down is always off.

Because this tends to be confusing to people, there are alternative set ups from other models where indeed up is always on and down is always off no matter what the other switch is doing.

In other cases, the auxiliary isn’t actually powered at all, it just physically closes the circuit. if this is the case, the auxiliary will not have an LED.

(Differences like these are why it is best to use the auxiliary that was designed for use with that particular model master.)

Hadn’t seen you post back if you got it working with the replacement or not?

Just in case I can share my experience with you. The diagram provided is exactly the way you need to wire it without any short cuts. What I mean by no short cuts make sure you have good solid connections to your grounds, and use the SAME neutral white wire at ALL locations. For example let’s say that in the box you have two powered circuits or even a second line coming through the box that is just passing through because the electrician is using the box as a junction only. Do not use any of those white neutrals to connect to. I found this out to be the problem on the second one I installed where I simply used an easier to access white neutral connection instead verifying I was connecting to the same neutral that came into the box for the primary power from the circuit breaker. Electrically I would have thought it shouldn’t have made a difference because all the neutrals common up back on a bus bar in the breaker panel but it did on mine. It is possible that it could have been a poor grounding as well but I re-wire nut all my connections and it started working like a champ.

Just a side note, it appears the manufacturer of these new switches could be the same as GE/Jasco who have exactly the same wiring technique; “With the type of circuit that you showed above which is the easiest to convert to Z-Wave control, Switch 1 is replaced by the Z-Wave auxiliary switch HS-WA100+ and Switch 2 where the incoming power is located is replaced with the primary Z-Wave switch HS-WD/WS100+. The auxiliary switch does not actually control the power; instead, it sends a momentary voltage signal through the traveler wire to the primary switch which in turn, controls the power to the load.”

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@dalec Thanks for your follow-up. I sent back the companion switch and am currently waiting on the replacement. I called Homeseer support and they indicated that they could not help with wiring (obviously), but that I could send it back to get a replacement in case the original was defective. Therefore, now I wait… I’ll let you know if I get it working, which I hope I do as I really like the dimmer and switch I have put in so far!

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Just wanted to give an update. Got the replacement companion switch, wired it up and it works perfectly. Very happy with the Homeseer switch, dimmer and 3 way applications. Let me know if any have questions.

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SWEET! I haven’t gotten mine yet.

What color is the led indicator light on the HS-WD100??

I’d say bluish-white. This video from HomeSeer is not the best quality, but the LED color looks somewhat representative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RSFRINNFOg

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Thanks, from the video it looks a little more white than blue. I was hoping they would blend in ok with my GE switches, so that I could only switch out the ones where I will use the actual added functionality. I think i’m just going to get one to see what they look like next to e/o.

The LED’s definitely look white compared to the GE’s. They’re also a little brighter than the GE’s.

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Thanks for the confirmation. I’m kinda picky about that, so I will probably still order one, and maybe i’ll dink around with trying to filter the led to make it closer. I really want this functionality in a few spots…

If anyone is considering them, they are running a 15% off sale right now. Brings the price down to ~$37-38/switch depending on if you’re buying singles, threes, or fives. Just got my order in the mail. Not installed yet.