Replacing bulbs

Devices & Integrations
1

Is there a way to replace smart bulbs without having to redo smartapps, routines, and button assignments?

I have a bulb that stopped working and would like to replace a few bulbs with rgbw bulbs without losing any of my setup.

Thanks!

2

Depends on the brand and model.

If they are Z wave bulbs, no problem, just use the Z wave replace utility. The new Z Weibo can be assigned the same network ID as the old the way full and you don’t have to change any of your automations.

If they are Zigbee bulbs, it depends whether the system bases the automations on the system – assigned network ID, would you can manually change in the IDE, or on the device’s unique ID.

I vaguely remember a discussion with @tgauchat on this topic sometime ago, but I don’t recall the exact result. Hopefully someone who has done this will comment.

3

I’m sure someone will correct me if i get this process wrong.

As i recall, you change the name of the existing bulb to something like light old, add the new bulb with the original name of the bulb being replace, then delete the old bulb.

I have done this a couple of times but it’s been quite a while, so again, i’m sure someone will correct me if i left something out.

4

Thanks for the replies. The bulbs are zigbee. One if them is ge link and the others are lightify. I tried renaming and giving the new bulb the network and zigbee id from old bulb to new bulb but it didn’t work. I think I am missing a step. I never deleted the old bulb because I couldn’t get the new bulb to replace it.

5

You won’t be able to give the new bulb the zigbee ID of the old bulb because zigbee IDs are assigned by the manufacturer. So the messages won’t be sent properly.

What you want is just to change the network ID, that is the ID being used by the SmartThings network. If this is going to work, which I just don’t know one way or the other.

6

I’m pretty sure just changing the name won’t do what you want. I’ve changed the names of a few of my bulbs to make them work better with Google Assistant. When I do, the Smart Apps associated with those bulbs still work with nothing needed from me; the bulbs’ names just automatically change in the Smart App. This tells me that the Smart App is looking for some identifier other than the name.

7

I think the process here is a bit backwards. You need the old ST device to think it’s the new bulb, so try this:

1 - Add the new bulb to ST.
2 - Go into the IDE and My Devices
3 - Select the new bulb and note the Type, ZigBee ID and Network ID
4 - Go back to My Devices and select the old bulb you are replacing
5 - Click Edit at the bottom, and replace the ZigBee ID and Network ID with the new bulb’s info, then make sure the Type is correct as well for the bulb

It should now address the new bulb within any SmartApps or Routines that the old one was in. I think you can now delete the “new” device you no longer need; but it might be best to change its ZigBee ID and Network ID to that of the old bulb first. Just in case the system tries to “decommission” a device when deleting.

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8

I haven’t tried it: SmartThings will let you have two devices on your account that have the same network ID?

9

I honestly can’t remember the exact process I used at this moment. It’s been a while and I don’t have time to experiment with it at present. I have however, had to replace one of my Cree bulbs ( I had one fail). What I can say for certain is that I didn’t jump through anyt big hoops to make it happen and I didn’t have to rebuild any routines or smart lighting automations.

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10

Here is where I got that idea guys. I’m pretty sure this is exactly what I have done in the past to replace a Zigbee device. This is from a post @tgauchat made back in March of 2016.

“I do this without using the IDE, if adding a replacement device before removing the old one, just rename the old one first (Porch Light Old) and then it’s feasible just to uncheck / check the new one in each SmartApp (as you can find all the affected SmartApps by visiting the old Device’s detail screen).”

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11

Then remove, reassign the old bulb to new location. I did this when I broke down and finally replaced all my “old” GE, Osram, Cree bulbs with Hues. As I added them I put Hue in the names. Then once ST discovered them I went through put them in the proper rooms. Clicked on the old bulbs, smartapps deselected the old & selected the new. All done in a matter of minutes.

12

Just done bulb replacement today on my V2 hub. Rename method doesn’t work for my system. I tried this way.

  1. Add new bulb to your hub
  2. Go to IDE, write down Zigbee id and network id of the new one
  3. Delete the new one (from your app or IDE)
  4. On IDE, replace zigbee id and network id of the old one with new one, save.
  5. On your app (am using new version) > add device > search
  6. Reset/put your bulb into paring mode
  7. Your app will find the bulb name exactly the same
  8. Your system now works the same (no need to re-work on automations)

I did on V2 hub, new version app and Ikea TRĂ…DFRI

13

This worked for me.

I added ZZ at the end of the ZigBee ID and Network ID of the new bulb cause it gave me errors when I tried to name the old bulb the same. Then, I renamed the old bulb to match the new without the ZZ. Unplugged the old bulb, and replaced it with the new bulb. Everything works as expected. New Bulb shows up in IDE without the ZZ added.