Reliability of ROUTINES?

SmartApps & Automations
1

Hi all

Has anyone else noted that routines have not been reliable for some time?

I’ve had quite a few set up for years. They worked fine, but within the last few months I’ve noticed they’ve become unreliable - missing execution of the steps. As an example, I have a routine to turn on 4 lamps and one to turn off the same 4 lamps. When I run then, I often find that one of the lamps has not turned on or off. I also have a number of alarm routines set up which will not execute properly, resulting in my sirens running when the alarm is disarmed, among other issues.

Both my zwave and zigbee networks should be strong, with multiple repeaters along their pathways.

Thanks!

EDIT: Happening with both manual and automated routines. Reminds me of the early days of the platform…

2

Various changes have been made with routines. I would advise deleting an unreliable routine and recreating it.

1 Like
3

I find routines very reliable.
Very occasionally (once every few months) my ‘goodnight’ routine will leave one light on.
Other than that I have had a few cases where a hub restart caused by a firmware update will interrupt one of my ‘turn off after x hours’ routines.

4

I have a goodbye routine that turns off two sockets, five lights and tv when leaving the living room. Occasionally it might run and leave one bulb on. Same room “cinema” routine will sometimes miss a colour change on one light.

I dunno if I’d class this as an issue with the routine though, maybe more with the devices or the mesh network. I’ve recently changed zigbee channel to channel 20 and had 60.12 hub firmware update so fingers crossed that is better.

2 Likes
5

I have a routine which turns off the home security at a specific time, it’s worked for years until Wednesday when it didn’t work, alarms went off and scared the c### out of me. I deleted the routine and recreated it, it’s working so far.

1 Like
6

Various changes have been made with routines. I would advise deleting an unreliable routine and recreating it.

I’ve tried re-creating a basic one - turn 4 lamps off - same effect. It frequently misses 1 of the lamps. Run it too soon after the one that turns the 4 lamps on and it misses multiple lamps.

7

I dunno if I’d class this as an issue with the routine though, maybe more with the devices or the mesh network.

I don’t think mine is a mesh issue. I’m noticing this on z-wave devices (at least), and I have multiple repeaters in the chain to the devices that are affected. In fact, one of the devices which won’t turn off is mains-powered.

8

This is my most significant issue. I don’t use SHM, instead I have programmed routines to cover all of my home security operations. I can’t properly arm the system, I can’t properly disarm it, etc. With some of the devices for these operations being virtual, I’m more inclined to think it’s an issue with routines than with the mesh network.

9

Maybe interference with wifi or other stuff. I recently changed zigbee channel to see if it helps. Too soon to say so far

10

I’m noticing this with zwave devices, but since you mentioned it - how does one change the zigbee channel? Never came across this with my V2 hub or any devices…

11

I have a schedule that changes the lights and thermostats throughout the day .( like Morning, Day, Evening and Night. )

And several times per week I can see a slippage, the routine just doesn’t work, for no obvious reason and no way to debug it.

The support requested to recreate a schedule and send a log, but there’s nothing in the log. Nothing happens. I’m not sure how to proceed with this issue.

12

I attempted to switch the Zigbee channel from 11, but it resulted in the complete unavailability of all Zigbee devices. It was not possible to revert to channel 11 from the first attempt.

However, I managed to reconnect the devices by randomly switching channels until I had a chance to set the channel back to 11.

13

I switched from channel 24 to 20.
After doing so i exercised all battery devices where possible (button contact sensors etc) and they all came back apart from tuya zigbee thermometer and leak sensors. To get those back on line I put them in pairing mode, scanned for new devices and original devices came back, routines were retained

1 Like
14

You can change the hub zigbee (and thread, they are linked) by logging onto the advanced web app {AWA) then going to hubs , select the hub , scroll down to where there is a dropdown list for zigbee channel. This changes zigbee and thread channels together, dunno about zwave.

15

Is it possible that your hub was one of the first ones to have its firmware updated on Wednesday? Hub restart (as part of firmware update) is one of my cases.

16

No, my hub is still on 0.59.9.

This issue has been ongoing for a while for me. How long, I can’t be sure, but I would say at least a couple of months.

It seems to be most frequent with more complex routines, those with multiple steps. Almost as if things are happening too fast, and not all of the signals are being sent or received.

For example, I am sitting here playing with two MANUAL routines. One which turns on 4 lights, the other which turns the same 4 lights off.

I hit the ON routine - all 4 lights come on.

After about 20 seconds, I hit the OFF routine - the green check appears in the app, but in this instance, NONE of the lights turned off.

I hit OFF again - all 4 lights turn OFF.

After waiting a couple of minutes, I run ON - all 4 lights come on.

Wait 15 seconds, hit OFF - only 3 lights turn off, one remains on.

Wait 20 seconds, hit OFF - the one light is STILL on.

Wait 20 more seconds, hit OFF - the one remaining light finally goes off.

I’m running these manual routines all within the app (iOS), not through the widgets.

17

I’ve had the same problem for a couple of weeks. One light of 4 is often left on. For a quick fix, I copied the routine and set it to run a minute later. Using both routines, all 4 lights get turned off.

1 Like
18

To be fair, this does align closely with what I’ve experienced. It typically happens when the routine is controlling a lighting group of 4 lights and also a separate lightstrip not in the lighting group , sometimes one lightbulb won’t get dimmed or colour changed. I had the routine running from a button press on a bilresa or I could invoke it from Alexa.

I found the Alexa route more reliable than the button press. Which seemed counter intuitive. I haven’t been using the button option for a while now for this reason.

19

I tried an alternative method with the same results. Since the MANUAL routines don’t run locally, I thought maybe creating something more local would be more successful. Created a virtual switch (local) with an automated routine to turn lights off when switch is off, on when switch is on. It continues to leave one or two lights on when commanding them to off. This should rule out the cloud as a contributor.

Interestingly, it seems to turn all the lights ON most of the time but misses them when turning them OFF.

20

My hub is still on 059.8 so unlikely to be the cause.

1 Like