New aeotec hub - zwave exclusion NOT working

General Discussion
1

So I had a V3 hub that apparently bit the dust. Waited for smartthings to get back to me and they never did. So after a week of waiting, I just decided to crack open the box with the new Aeotech hub that I bought and see if I could get it running, and I have — and I have most of my devices on it. However…

It will not do z-wave exclusion. Continually times out. Won’t force delete. Same issue.

From what I’ve seen on the hubitat community site (which I found by doing a Google search on the web for exclusion problems,) it’s come to my attention that smartthings does z-wave exclusion pretty poorly when it even works.

Someone mentioned using an aeotec z stick to do exclusions, and I was wondering if anyone has done that and how easy it is?

I have some leak sensors that are Z wave that I do not want to screw up and I really need them to be running soon. They don’t make them anymore and I can’t take a chance on bricking them.

Does anyone have any solutions for me?

My worst fear is to find out the hub that I just spent an entire day putting everything on is broken and I need to get a new one because it won’t do Z wave exclusion.

2

brand/model?

3

Not just them. Loads of other zwave things. Just those were top of mind. I don’t want to fiddle and try stuff to see if it works only to find out it didn’t and I’ve bricked them.

4

again… brand/model so we can assist

1 Like
5

ok… so you are putting the hub in z-wave exclusion and then performing the task on the device to exclude it?

1 Like
6

I had similar issues where the z-wave exclusion and force delete will not work. How I got around that was to delete from the api+ browser or the new web UI. Then I can run a general exclusion with the device and readd no problem

2 Likes
7

My guess it is not your hub. Some devices are hard to get into the exclusion mode so they never get excluded. Each Z-Wave devices has some unique way to get it into exclusion. You need to find the manual for each device to see what you need to do to get it into exclusion. That is why @jkp asked you what models you are having problems with.

Also do you exclusions right next to the hub.

Have have 2 Monoprice contact sensors that took 20 or more tries to get them excluded. And that was try to follow the printed instructions.

2 Likes
8

So far I’ve tried to exclude a few of my Zooz zen15 outlet plugs. I read the instructions. I follow the instructions. It doesn’t work. Frustrating! I have had to do it before with the previous hub (awhile ago) and did not have an issue, but this won’t work. I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that I still have the old HUB in my account along with all of the old Z wave items that I am now trying to add. I can’t delete them because they need to be excluded. Haven’t tried deleting the old hub, but I’m not sure if that would help or if it would let me considering there are things attached to it.

Somehow a zooz plug does occasionally manage to get added (2 so far), but I don’t know that it’s added until later when I look at something else and hey look there’s a zooz plug sitting in smartthings. Problem is it never deletes the original. So I’ve had to rename all of the old ones with an annnotation of “-old” and stick them in “unused” room.

I also tried to exclude a Enbrighten Z wave paddle wall fan switch. Typical GE item. Tried to exclude it more times than I can count. Won’t force delete either… That I can’t bring over to the hub and it’s not that far anyway.

For some reason, I managed to get it added, but again could not delete the original one, so I had to rename it “old” at the end of the original name, and stick it in the “unused” room.

I wish I could remember the steps of how I add any of these Z wave items because I feel like I’m just pushing buttons indiscriminately. There doesn’t seem to be any pattern for how or why things eventually get added.

Please understand I am reading the directions for each items specific exclusion method. They just don’t work smart things will just time out and then say I can force delete which, then of course I can’t. Lather, rinse repeat.

The pushing buttons indiscriminately comes after about six or seven times of trying to exclude, then delete the items. So far I’ve gotten them to add, no idea how, still can’t delete the originals. I hope that clarifies things because I’m not sure I’m making a lot of sense. I’m pretty damn tired.

The point of adding them to the unused room is so maybe someday I can actually delete them somewhere somehow and I’ll remember which ones they are by having old at the end and in an unused room

It’s 2:15 in the morning so I hope I’m making sense because I’ve been up all day doing this

9

Why did I think you couldn’t delete things out of the new API browser? I thought they dumbed it down so much that we couldn’t do it anymore.

1 Like
10

To use my.smartthings.com you need to log in, click the 3 dots on the top right and select Advanced Users then scroll down to Control Your Devices.

To use the API Browser+ see this link. SmartThings API Browser+ … Now Available to All

3 Likes
11

Shouldn’t make any difference one way or the other.

I wish I could remember the steps of how I add any of these Z wave items because I feel like I’m just pushing buttons indiscriminately.

  1. find the user manual for the device. It should be online, if nowhere else. And it’s typically linked to from the product page on the Z wave alliance site.

https://products.z-wavealliance.org/

For example, for the Zooz zen15:

https://products.z-wavealliance.org/products/2517

IMG_4326
IMG_43262048×1536 261 KB

  1. read the product manual to find out how to get the device to accept an exclusion command. This is usually a specific tap pattern.

In the case of zen15, you have to plug the device in, then quickly hold and release the button on the device 3 times.

  1. now that you know what to do for the specific model, issue the general exclusion command from your hub. Immediately after issuing it, but definitely within 10 seconds, do what you need to do with the end device to get it to accept that command. Again, in the case of the Zen 15, that will be pushing the button three times. But the sequencing matters. You have to first issue the command from the hub. Then press the button. ( also remember that the end device always has to be powered on for any of this to work.)

You will probably get a message from the app that a device was excluded, but it may be OK if you don’t.

  1. now you are ready to add the device to the new hub. Read the user manual again for the instructions for including it. Sometimes this will be the same as the instructions for excluding it, but sometimes it will be different. For some devices, it might mean scanning a QR code.

  2. add the device through the app depending on the method for that specific model. That might be finding the brand-name in the app and then following the directions there. It might mean using the “scan nearby“ function. If it requires a specific tap pattern on the device, most field techs will do that first before issuing the command from the app. For many devices, it probably doesn’t really matter whether you start from the app or you start from the end device as long as you do both within about 10 seconds. But There are some devices that have QR codes that really prefer to have the end device start its process first, so I myself tend to Always start with the end device for inclusion unless the user manual gives other instructions.

Now you’ll have to wait a little bit, in some cases as much as one minute, but eventually the app should tell you that a new zwave device was added.

———
That should be the general process for any zwave device with the understanding that you always have to look up the precise method required by each individual device as they can vary quite a bit.

2 Likes
12

Zwave devices do not come with a unique identifier from the factory, the way that Zigbee devices do. Instead, a device is assigned a new ID by the hub when it is added to the network. Consequently, the hub has no way of knowing that the old entry and the new entry are the same device. So it’s never going to delete the old one. You have to do that manually.

3 Likes
13

The functions offered through the new web interface have been changing rapidly over the last couple of weeks, in a good way, with more functionality being added.

You’re probably already doing this, but make sure you’re checking out The “advanced“ page in the new web interface. a lot of the technical functionality is there.

My.smartthings.com/advanced

15

Zen15 exclusion

Screenshot_20230813-101348
Screenshot_20230813-101348864×408 97.1 KB

16

Yeah, that’s the method for excluding a device from the same hub that it already belongs to. That’s why it says it will disappear from the device list.

However, the people who wrote zwave specifications understood that you might not always have the original hub available. Maybe the hub itself broke. Maybe you bought the end device used. Maybe it’s a new device, but the people at the factory didn’t clear some old test network information before shipping it.

The good news is that any certified Z wave hub can issue a “general exclusion” and any nearby Z wave device, even if it was never connected to that hub before, can respond to it. That’s why this is a two-step process: the hub Has to issue the exclusion command, and then you have to do something physically with the end device to get it to accept that command.

In this case, the OP originally had Z wave devices connected to one hub. Now they are trying to move them to a different new hub. The exclusion is being issued from the new hub as a general exclusion. So that’s why the device is not going to be deleted from the list of devices: the new hub has no way of knowing that it’s the same device as the one that was connected to the old hub. :thinking:

1 Like
17

Having only one hub per location, I never knew that excluding a device with a new hub would leave it on the old hub.

Thanks for pointing that out.

1 Like
18

I hadn’t, but thank you for mentioning it, and I will check it out. Yesterday was just adding devices through the app. I was saving all the crap for last lol.

1 Like
19

OK so you missed the part where I said that I did do their steps first, multiple times. After that, it was just indiscriminately pressing buttons to get something to work. Lol. I lucked out with the indiscriminately pushing buttons part. Their part: Still not working.

So even going through the iterations of how to delete that zen 15 plug , it never finishes the exclusion process. Just spins and spins and spins in exclusion mode, then times out. Then suggests I force delete.

I’ll try it with another one today and let you know exactly what it is I’m doing. And what it does.

1 Like
20

Yep. I did mention I was using their method. Wish it worked.

21

I didn’t miss it, I just wanted to make sure that you understood that sequence is important and timing is important.

To exclude you need to start the exclude from the hub first, then you have 10 seconds to complete pushing the button on the zen15 3 times.

Once the exclude is done, to do the include, you push the buttons on the zen15 three times quickly, then you have about 10 seconds to do the add from the app.

People that report they have just been randomly pushing buttons and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t frequently either are being random about the sequencing or are not getting things done quickly enough.

I don’t recommend randomly pushing buttons with smart home devices: quite often you can accidentally mess up some parameters that will prove important later. I know it can be frustrating, but it’s usually better to be methodical.

If you’ve methodically tried the method in the user manual twice, and it still didn’t work, contact the manufacturer’s support or come here for more help. I know it can be hard to wait for a response, but You’ll save yourself some aggravation, and can prevent possible damage to your network.