Z-Wave + integrated blinds/shades: Custom Graber Virtual Cord Shades

SmartThings discount has been extended to the 4th of July due to the long weekend.

Thank you for the pictures, glad it’s at least only outputting 15VDC, that being said, it’s still very concerning that they used a USB connector although I can’t fathom why since it’s not standard USB which is 5V (aside from some exceptions in the QuickCharge or similar specification which I doubt this complies to).

Be very careful these power supplies aren’t left laying around, someone is going to have a bad day with their phone/tablet/multitude of other standard USB powered devices as this will surely destroy them if they are accidentally plug in to this power supply.

Is there going to be a solar power supply?

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Solar power kits are bing considered, but not expected anytime soon. Can’t provide an ETA as of yet.

Video showing multiple shades being controlled. One is a solar shade the other a cellular. Please note the speed of each type of shade is constant, so all cellular is the same, all roller/solar are the same however between types it will be slightly different due to a difference in resistance.

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Trouble shooting video updated in original post:

Oh no! I have connected my shades to smartthings but now it won’t go up and down by more than 3 inches. What do I do?
Ans:

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Unboxing & Installation of a Roller/Solar shade without a valance. (also updated in the first post)

Differences between a roller and solar shade
Roller shades are made of fabrics such as cotton, silk, polyester etc and come in light filtering or blackout. Blackout shades also come in Vinyl. Solar shades are made of a mix of fiberglass, vinyl, and other materials and also come in light filtering and blackout. Light filtering solar shades also have an openness factor (ranging from 1% - 25%), this basically means how much you can see through the shade and how much light it lets in. The shade in the video is a 1%. Normally 5% provides the ideal balance, anything higher and you will lose significant privacy at night time when your lights are on.

Hey Neal, Thanks for the overview… Whats % filtering is available by default. The reason I ask is because there was no option of selecting the % filtering when Inwas picking shades from Light Weaves.

Hey Ash, the roller shades that you ordered doesn’t have a % and there is no default % for it; since its simply designed to let light in while providing privacy. Once again those are made of fabrics such as polyester, cotton, silk etc. The blackout roller shades come in a polyester blend as well as 3ply vinyl/1 ply fiberglass.

The following are the roller shades:
US
Light Filtering: https://www.zebrablinds.com/virtual-cord-lightweaves-z-waves-smart-motorized-graber-roller-shades
Blackout: https://www.zebrablinds.com/virtual-cord-lightweaves-graber-blackout-z-waves-motorized-roller-shades

Canada
Light Filtering: https://www.zebrablinds.ca/graber-virtual-cord-blackout-smart-z-waves-motorized-roller-shades
Blackout: https://www.zebrablinds.ca/lightweaves-graber-virtual-cord-smart-z-waves-motorized-roller-shades

These are the solar shades and come with a % rating:
US
Light Filtering 1% - 7%: https://www.zebrablinds.com/virtual-cord-smart-z-waves-motorized-solar-shades-1-to-7
Light Filtering 10% - 25% : https://www.zebrablinds.com/virtual-cord-graber-smart-z-waves-motorized-solar-shades-10-to-25
Light Filtering 3% - 5% Performance Plus: https://www.zebrablinds.com/virtual-cord-motorized-performance-plus-solar-shades
Blackout: https://www.zebrablinds.com/virtual-cord-lightweaves-graber-blackout-z-waves-motorized-solar-shades

Canada
Light Filtering 1% - 7%:_ https://www.zebrablinds.ca/graber-virtual-cord-smart-motorized-z-waves-solar-shades-1-to-7
Light Filtering 10% - 25% : https://www.zebrablinds.ca/graber-virtual-cord-z-waves-smart-motorized-solar-shades-10-to-25
Light Filtering 3% - 5% Performance Plus: https://www.zebrablinds.ca/virtual-cord-motorized-performance-plus-solar-shades
Blackout: https://www.zebrablinds.ca/graber-virtual-cord-blackout-z-waves-motorized-solar-shades

Note: The performance plus solar shades have an aluminum coating on the street facing side so that more light and heat is reflected out.

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They are supposed to be a bit quieter than the normal somfy motors, but glad you like them! :grinning:

Edit: Nice home BTW

Not sure if you know but is there any parameter with the motor I can change? I would like to have the speed a bit slower.

As far as I am aware and from the documentation I currently have, it’s not. But let me double check on Monday.

So the speeds are not adjustable. Final answer from Graber.

Trouble shooting video updated in original post:

Oh no! My shade is possessed! Pressing up makes it go down and pressing down makes it go up, What do I do?
Ans:

Thanks for trying to get the info and also your awesomeness by keeping me in the loop with my order.

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Least I could do. How are the shades? Especially the WAF :grinning:

The shades are really good. It beats my expectation for sure. We have tall windows and the old blinds were a pain to adjust. Especially the one facing west with sunlight in midday. Now it’s almost fully automatic. Just waiting for a bunch of lux sensors. WAF is high on this for sure. First thing in the morning is to have all the shades Up. This is her favourite device in HA.

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Coupons updated in coupon thread:

Neal, quick question – is it possible to get these with two roller shares in the same box? I have a large-ish window, and would like to be able to have both light filtering and blackout shades on it.

Also, I would really like to hardwire power for these, and have minimal amount of wiring visible. It sounds like for that to work, I would need to run low-voltage wires to each shade. I wouldn’t use either the battery packs or the wall-wart adapters (WAF on those is below abysmal :slight_smile: ). Given those constraints, does it matter whether I chose battery-powered, or line-voltage-powered motors? Which corner of the shade should the power be coming to?

Well the roller shades inherently aren’t available with 2 shades on a single roll, what you can do is buy 2 shades install them side by side and use 1 valance such as a square corner valance, a round corner valance or a wood valance to cover both. If a cassette valance is what you are looking for it would be 2 separate valances on 2 separate shades since the cassette valance is built into the shade. I hope that helps.

In terms of power, the motor and it’s wire will always be on the right side. For home wiring we do sell multi motor transformers that can handle 8 cellular or pleated shades or 10 roller/solar, roman and natural shades. They are meant for home run wiring.

It helps. Great thanks!