Leviton DZ15S-1BZ Keeps dropping from the Z-Wave network

Devices & Integrations Connected Things
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I am having a very difficult time setting up 5 new Leviton Switches in an already established Leviton Z-Wave Networks consisting mostly of the Vizia rf+ models from years ago. I’ve installed the DZ15S in the thick of what should be a robust and stable network. I am having problems with all 5 of these switches dropping off the network. Here are the facts:

  1. I added each one and checked that it was correctly added in smartthings. Each time they appeared to be functioning correctly.
  2. After adding each switch I did a ZWave Repair. No problems.
  3. I finished up the 5 switches, all working well, even Alexa was happy, and went to bed.
  4. When I awoke the next day, some of the switches were miss-reporting status, so I did another repair. No joy. Alexa, however, was still able to turn them on and off reliably.
  5. Now today, I wake up and Alexa can’t control them and they appear off-line completely.
  6. I went around and manually operated each switch which caused them to reconnect temporarily. Now they are all off-line again. (Just the new DZ15S-1BZs, everything else is just fine).

I have to run around the house and manually switch all my switches to keep them on-line. It’s almost as if they go into some sort of sleep mode and need to be woken up. Is that a default setting?

I hope someone out there has encountered and solved this issue, because I don’t want to have to remove them all and start over (took a long time to deal with wiring and tight junction boxes!)

6/30/2018 8:06 PM Update: More weirdness. When the switches are on-line, they do not report status correctly in Smarthings App, and cannot be controlled from the app. Oddly, Alexa seems to work just fine, even though it is discovering the devices via SmartThings. More and more this is appearing like a problem with the Z-Wave Switch Generic device driver, or perhaps Alexa can tolerate lack of correct status updates from device. The plot thickens.

  • David
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have you tried running “repair z-wave network”?

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THanks for the reply JKP, but yep, see the above again, I hit send by mistake too quickly. Complete details are in the original post now.

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Problem solved! I had followed the incorrect procedure for adding these switches to the Z-Wave Network. I needed to follow the proceedure for “Network-Wide” inclusion not “Traditional” inclusion. To achieve the fix I followed these steps, working from the switch closest to the ST hub and out from there:

  1. Delete the switch from the SH Hub using the SH IDE (the app won’t exclude a switch it can’t communicate with.)
  2. Factory reset the switch by pushing and holding the top paddle for 14 seconds until the light flashes red/amber. Release.
  3. Use the SH App to “Add Device”, then got to manual add and select “Switches/Dimmers”, then “Leviton Z-Wave.”
  4. Press the top paddle for 7 seconds until it starts to flashe amber.
  5. Immediately press the top paddle again. You should see the led flash green, then go out, then flash green three times slowly. It will take a few seconds. This indicates the device has been included into the network.
  6. The SH App will eventually, a few seconds after the three flashes, show the new device and allow you to rename it.
    It’s a bit confusing because the there is a sizable delay between the switch showing inclusion and the new device appearing in the app. Be patient!
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Hello, I’m having similar problems as you did, but even with the network-wide inclusion pairing procedure. Can you tell me:

Smartthings Version 2.17.0 does NOT have Levition Z-Wave as a choice, but only Z-Wave dimmer variants e.g. DZ1KD (so NOT DZ15S)

Also, when you successfully pair, did ST default the name to the generic “Z-Wave Relay”, which is what I get, or did you get specifically “Levition DZ15S”???

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My Leviton DZ15S switches are listed as “Z-wave switch generic”

I’m using a V2 SmartThings hub and mostly use the “classic” SmartThings app

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I wanted to resurrect this thread a bit. I just bought one of these switches and couldn’t get it to work with an ADT Security Hub so I returned that and just got a regular v3 Smartthings Hub. Once I set it up I tried again. I can’t even get the switch to pair with the hub. I moved the hub closer, still no dice. Should I just abandon z-wave products and get a zigbee or wifi version instead? The only reason I bought this one at the store is because it talked about being Smartthings compatible on the box. I keep going throuhg Add Device > Leviton > Switches > Z-Wave Switch/Dimmer and it never works. Any suggestions beyond this thread? It sounds like they’re kind of iffy to begin with, so thats why I wondered if I should just try a different switch that others have found more reliable. Even another brand is fine with me. I have no other devices even hooked up to Smartthings yet. But I would like to add my smart Kwikset lock as well. Thanks!

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Try adding via the Scan button (I’m assuming you’re using the new app).

As I said above, I’ve got 3 Leviton devices running. I had some early problems with them randomly dropping offline. That was resolved by upgrading the firmware.

My go to brand for smart switches and dimmers is Zooz. They’re significantly less expensive than Leviton and have been solid performers.

I bought one of Levitons for their interchangeable faces as I needed black for one spot. And I’ve got two Leviton dimmers with matching add-ons that I plan to use in one of two rooms that have two doors so I can dim from either entrance.

As far as Zigbee vs Z-wave, if I had it to do over, I’d do more Zigbee and less Z-wave. When I got to more than about 20 Z-wave devices, I started having problems with random very slow response to commands and occasional lost commands. I won’t rehash here, there are a couple of longish threads I started about a year ago.

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