Osram/Sylvania Lightify (it works)

Devices & Integrations Connected Things
#659

Hi all.
I’m in EU, and have “filled” my house with Lightify bulbs. They work fine on daily basis.

Only big problem is that I keep have A19 RGB bulbs going broke. I had several up until Christmas 2016. Then I didn’t have a single defect bulb for about 6 months, but now that last couple of months some of my A19 RGB bulbs are going defect again.
Luckly the shop I buy them from replaces them without any problem.

I cannot figure out if they are “highly sentative” to something in the current of my electricity or what the problem is. I have other kind of Lightify bulbs also and flexstrips, which is fine. It has only been the A19 RGB bulbs I have had a lot of problems with.

Any other of you experiencing this behaviour?

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#660

I had purchased several Lightify bulbs/switches on sale from Lowe’s, including a kit that included a gateway. I already had several Lightify bulbs in use connected to my ST hub, but I wanted to see if the Lightify gateway and app provided any additional/better functionality than connecting directly to the SmartThings hub. So I connected a few different types of bulbs to the Lightify gateway. First impression was not good. I kept having to reset the wifi connection on the gateway. About half the time after closing the app and re-opening, the gateway lost connection entirely. And whenever I tried to update the firmware of bulbs, it would sit showing “updating”, but wouldn’t actually do it unless I reset the wifi connection (and even then it took several tries). I was trying to update the bulbs on the gateway (as opposed to on SmartThings) for three reasons; 1 It looked like there were options available in the Lightify app that when I clicked on them said I needed to update the firmware to use them, and the whole point was to see what different options, if any, was available. 2. I THOUGHT it would be a quicker thing to update the firmware as long as they were already connected to the gateway (I was wrong). 3.The app wouldn’t delete the bulbs from the gateway properly until they were updated.

I did not see any rules or options available in the gateway that I thought made it better than SmartThings, and I didn’t see a difference in color quality. I did like the ability to set a default color/hue/brightness for when the bulb is power cycled, but that’s about it.

If you are thinking of getting Lightify bulbs for your network, I would recommend them. I like them a lot. But if you are thinking of also getting the gateway because it may be better at updating the firmware on the bulbs or may provide more/better options, my experience would say don’t bother. Just set the bulbs up directly to the ST hub and update there.

One interesting thing I noticed, though, was that when I deleted the bulbs from the Lightify app/gateway, they actually reset themselves (flashed 3 times right after being deleted). I did not have to do the 5 seconds off/ 5 seconds on 5 times thing before adding them to my SmartThings hub. Considering how long it took to update the firmware, that was a very welcomed thing.

#661

I’ve had some A19 bulbs that have lasted a good year, but had to replace some others before their time. Fortunately within the EU there is a decent statutory warranty period and big retailers take care of refund\replacements without question.

#662

My first question would be how often is the power completely cut to these bulbs and then restored?

This could happen for two different reasons. First, if you live in an area where the power grid goes out frequently.

Or second, if you are using regular light switches with these bulbs and they get turned on and off from the switch frequently.

Would either of these apply in your case?

#663

Thanks for your input :slight_smile:

We have one of the most stabile power grids in the world I think (in Denmark)
and the power switch is rarerly switched off and on.
In one lamp, I have put in a little piece of wood behind th switch contact (so the kids canot switch it off at all) and in another one, it’s perhaps switched off and on once or twice a day.

#664

Even once a day would be a lot more than these bulbs are designed for. If you check the user guide, they are intended to always be on power and have the bulb decide for itself how much current to draw.

An occasional power outage isn’t a big deal, say two or three times a year. However, if you are regularly using a wall switch to turn its power off and then on, each time it comes on it has to deal with “inrush current.” This can, overtime, damage the radio inside the bulb and reduce its working life. So it is just something to be aware of.

There are several alternatives. The most popular is probably to provide a battery operated switch on the wall next to the original switch. Then do as you have done and provide some sort of child safety mechanism to keep the original switch from being used except in an emergency. Since the battery operated switch doesn’t actually change the current flow, it doesn’t damage the radio.

The following FAQ includes both battery operated and mains powered devices, so read the descriptions carefully.

#665

I’m having a weird situation where I have 3 A19 bulbs hooked into a bathroom lighting fixture hooked into a dimmable lightify wireless switch. When I turn them off, 2 of the lights turn off without dimming and one dims. It’s awkward. I checked firmware and they are all up to date and the same. Is there a better device handler for the A19 tunable bulbs?

#666

I’ve gone through a lot of this thread and there is some great info. However I have a pretty basic question. I’d like to use these bulbs just to change the color temperature of the light. I have GE zwave+ dimmers throughout my house. I know these bulbs don’t want to be on a switch, but I want to continue to use the hardwired switches.

In my reading when power is cut, they go back to a factory setting of 2700k and full brightness I believe.

However a few posts up, user dc1515 reported:

FYI - After a week or so with this installed I have noticed that it returns to the same state it was in when power is restored (flip the switch and it will turn on if it was on previously, and it will remain off if it was previously off).

Can anyone provide any guidance on this? I’ve read you need the lightify gateway if you want the ability to reset the default color. Is that still the case? Also, if I do get that gateway just for the sole purpose of saving the color temperature, can I still use my ST setup to control the light?

Thanks

#667

Hi, yes you still need the gateway to the do the update ( you shouldn’t do but for some reason it doesn’t update over ST hub). Once it’s updated you can then use the ap to select the default ON state.
Edit: when you transfer bacteria to ST it wipes the new default values :frowning: so it’s only good for updates.

No once you have done your updated and settings you need to reset it and re add it to your ST hub, apparently it should slot back in to it’s old slot. I’m yet to confirm this as I’m updating mine at the moment :hushed: fingers crossed.

Edit: it does slot back in, it looks like it hasn’t found it but once they flash you then can go to your things and your be able to control them.

#668

Borris,
Thanks for info. I actually got around to messing with it today and came to the same conclusion as you. I used the gateway to update the firmware on everything. Then I set the default power on state. Since I want to use this bulb in smartthings, I then had to remove it from the lightify app to be able to add it in smartthings (can’t have them in both at the same time).

When I removed it from the lightify app I kind of got the feeling it wasn’t going to work because it flashed and then went back to it’s factory default setting, not my new default setting.

Sure enough, adding it back to smartthings and my new default state would not work. Upon shutting the power off, it went back to the original factory defaults.

Then I tried using webcore to add a statement. If the light is switched on, set the color temperature. This worked, but most of the time it blinked at the factory default prior to moving to the setting I wanted. So not great.

However, I dug around some more… found this device handler:

This appears to be working fairly well for default setting!! I can cycle the power with the switch, and the bulbs come on at the default setting.

2 Likes
#669

Thanks I’ll give it ago, but I’m am in UK so may not work. I use webCoRE and z wave switches to turn the lights on and off so it’s not much of a issue as depending on the time of day I set the Kelvin level. But it would be nice to have the extra features on the gateway.

1 Like
#670

I just bought one of these - BR30 Tunable White and it seems as though the light is flickering at a very high rate causing a less than optimal lighting. Has anyone seen this before?

#671

You have it on a dimmer switch or just set too low? Sometimes the percentages aren’t proportional to the light output. I have one brand that operates 0-20 and another that don’t even turn on till 20%.

#672

good catch. it is a dimmer switch. but i turned it up all the way

#673

Some dimmers are not compatible with led, just temp hot wire it and see if it fixes your issue. New led dimmers use timers at full voltage vs old school used rheostat’s which lower the voltage.

#674

maybe i will move it to a socket with non dimmer switch to try

#675

Most smart bulbs, including that model, are not compatible with analog dimmer switches whether the dimmer switch itself is smart or dumb. The two devices confuse each other and you can end up burning out the bulb, the switch, or both. :disappointed_relieved:

Smart bulbs expect to always be receiving maximum current, and they adjust the draw as needed themselves.

See the user guide:

Lamp dims via wireless control and will not operate with a dimmer switch, remove all existing dimmers and replace with a regular switch, leave lamp in ON position

https://support.smartthings.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/115002288643/LightifyBR30RGBW.pdf

#676

Hi,

I’ve a number of lightify bulbs (typically E14 and E27) that were added to my setup when i first got the hub. Recently, I’ve been looking at whether my devices run locally or in the cloud.

I notice that all my Lightify devices are using the ZLL White Color Temperature Bulb DTH, which runs in the cloud, but the ZigBee White Color Temperature Bulb DTH runs locally. I cant remember how/why I ended up with that setup.

I’m not at home at present, so can’t try them out, but does anyone know if the ZLL DTH provides any benefits?

#677

I have an odd issue, two identical bulbs with the same firmware. One bulb fades/transitions nicely when turning on and off, while the other doesn’t, it simply turns on and off. Device handlers for both are the same and the model number is 73674 (tunable white)

#678

The wave-form of the Dimmer output is often not as good as a sinus, trouble for the electronics behind the dimmer.

Try the bulb in an other lampholder / fixture without a Dimmer to compare.

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