Z-Wave TKB Single Paddle Wall Dimmer TZ55S - Gen5 (Device Handler required)

Devices & Integrations
1

I have purchased this switch and cannot get it to fully work with SmartThings. It gets automatically detected as a generic Z Wave Dimmer Switch, and the dimming functionality somewhat works (it is slows/struggles to get confirmation, and when I get down to 50% the bulb is out, it is as if it is using half the range) and I can’t turn the light off.

I haven’t been able to find a device handler for this, can anyone help me with one?

If not, can anyone help me create my own? I have the IDE set up, and can create custom handlers, but I haven’t been able to find a guide which tells me how to work out what to do to create a custom one? I picked this switch as it was recommended on here, but I didn’t search the forums enough to realize there is no guidance for it, or device handlers for it.

2

It doesn’t have any advanced features that would require custom code, it should work fine with the generic DTH. So I don’t think that’s going to help your issues.

What specific DTH did it choose? There are several generic Dimmer versions.

http://manuals-backend.z-wave.info/make.php?lang=en&sku=TKBETZ35-D&cert=ZC08-15060003

There are a few parameter settings, so you could try temporarily assigning the Z wave tweaker in order to find out what the parameters are currently set to.

You may have already done this, but have you tried excluding it and including it again?

3

By default, it gets detected as ‘Z-Wave Dimmer Switch Generic’ if I install Z Wave Tweaker (I haven’t used this before), for scanGeneral I get:

info Version Report: Application Version: 2.02, Z-Wave Protocol Version: 4.05, Z-Wave Library Type: 03 (Enhanced Slave)
info Switch All Mode: 255: Device is included in the all on/all off functionality.
info Manufacturer-Specific Report: Manufacturer ID: FFFF, Manufacturer Name: null, Product Type ID: 0003, Product ID: 0004
info scanGeneral(): Scanning for common device attributes.

For scanAssocGroups I get:

info Association Group #1 contains nodes: [01] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #1 contains nodes: [01] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #1 contains nodes: [01] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #1 contains nodes: [01] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #1 contains nodes: [01] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #1 contains nodes: [01] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #4 has name: Wireless
info Association Group #4 contains nodes: [] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #4 contains nodes: [] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #3 has name: OnoffDimmer2
info Association Group #3 contains nodes: [] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #3 contains nodes: [] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #2 has name: OnoffDimmer1
info Association Group #2 contains nodes: [] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #2 contains nodes: [] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #1 has name: Lifeline
info Association Group #1 contains nodes: [01] (hexadecimal format)
info Association Group #1 contains nodes: [01] (hexadecimal format)
info scanAssocGroups(): Scanning Association Groups (#0 to #10).

scanEndpoints doesn’t seem to work:

info scanEndpoints(): Scanning for Endpoints (#0 to #10).
warn sync(): Device does not appear to support MULTI_CHANNEL command classes.

scanParams gets some info:

info Parameter #20: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #19: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #18: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #17: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #16: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #15: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #14: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #14: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #13: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #12: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #11: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #10: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #9: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #8: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #7: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #6: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #5: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #4: Size: 1, Value: 1
info Parameter #3: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #2: Size: 1, Value: 1
info Parameter #2: Size: 1, Value: 1
info Parameter #1: Size: 1, Value: 1
info Parameter #1: Size: 1, Value: 1
info Parameter #0: Size: 1, Value: 0
info Parameter #0: Size: 1, Value: 0
info scanParams(): Scanning Device Parameters (#0 to #20).

scanActuators and scanSensors returns nothing, which, presumably, is expected.

printGeneral shows:

Number of association groups discovered: 0 [Print Assoc Groups]
Number of endpoints discovered: 0 [Print Endpoints]
Number of parameters discovered: 21 [Print Parameters]
Number of unique command types received: 3 [Print Commands]
Number of MeterReport types discovered: 0 [Print Sensor]
Number of NotificationReport types discovered: 0 [Print Sensor]
Number of SensorMultilevelReport types discovered: 0 [Print Sensor]

printAssocGroups just shows:

info Association groups [0]:

printCommands has:

Command types [3]:
Command: [commandClassId: 0x20, commandClassName: BASIC, commandID: 0x03, description: zw device: 13, command: 2003, payload: 00 ]
=> Example: BasicReport(value: 0)
Command: [commandClassId: 0x26, commandClassName: SWITCH_MULTILEVEL, commandID: 0x03, description: zw device: 13, command: 2603, payload: 00 ]
=> Example: SwitchMultilevelReport(value: 0)
Command: [commandClassId: 0x70, commandClassName: CONFIGURATION, commandID: 0x06, description: zw device: 13, command: 7006, payload: 14 01 00 ]
=> Example: ConfigurationReport(parameterNumber: 20, scaledConfigurationValue: 0, reserved11: 0, size: 1, configurationValue: [0])

printEndPoints just shows:

info Endpoints [0]:

printParams has:

info
Parameter #20: [id:20, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
info Parameters [21]:
Parameter #0: [id:0, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #1: [id:1, scaledConfigurationValue:1, size:1]
Parameter #2: [id:2, scaledConfigurationValue:1, size:1]
Parameter #3: [id:3, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #4: [id:4, scaledConfigurationValue:1, size:1]
Parameter #5: [id:5, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #6: [id:6, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #7: [id:7, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #8: [id:8, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #9: [id:9, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #10: [id:10, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #11: [id:11, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #12: [id:12, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #13: [id:13, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #14: [id:14, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #15: [id:15, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #16: [id:16, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #17: [id:17, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #18: [id:18, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]
Parameter #19: [id:19, scaledConfigurationValue:0, size:1]

I am trying to understand what this means - does the above mean much to you? Does it sound like this switch maybe able to be coerced into working correctly?

4

I just twigged a little about the parameters, and can see ‘Night light’ mode was on, I turned this off, and now I can turn the light on and off from the app (it is very slow to do it), however, brightness no longer works. On top of that, the switch itself (a physical one, not the app) doesn’t seem to do anything (it didn’t seem to do anything before either).

I assume this is all down to device handler issues and not just a faulty switch?

5

If the switch itself didn’t do anything when pressed manually then either the switch is faulty (it can happen) or it’s wired incorrectly.

After printing the report you do need to change the DTH back to the original one, as the tweaker DTH won’t give you functionality, it just give you the report. So make sure you’ve done that. But in any case that doesn’t impact physical operation, so if manually pressing the switch doesn’t work there’s a problem with the switch itself. :thinking:

To be honest, it sounds like it might just be a bad device.

I rely on a screen reader (I’m quadriparetic) so I can’t look into all the details of your tweaker report, but hopefully someone else will notice if there’s anything there.

If you happened to buy the switch from Vesternet, their tech-support is usually very good, so you could get in touch with them as to why the switch is not responding to manual presses.

6

The physical switch does seem to do something after resetting all the parameters, but it is so slow it is basically not useable, like multiple seconds to respond, the light pulses up and down constantly, cuts out before dimming down (despite being connected to a dimmable driver connected to dimmable bulbs). I may contact the seller (eBayer unfortunately) and show them this video and see if I can (ideally) be refunded, or if not, I could always try a replacement to see if this one is just faulty.

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7

What type/brand of light bulbs and driver you are dimming?

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8

You shouldn’t dim power before driver, you should dim after driver. Also some LED bulbs have limits how low you can dim.

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9

Driver
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08BQL3VMW

LEDs
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NHRW5K6

My understanding is they are both dimmable. The vague guide I was following is this:
https://community.smartthings.com/t/under-cabinet-lighting-project-has-gotten-out-of-hand-wife-is-more-pleased-than-expected/59838/43

In terms of dimmer/driver placement, I originally wondered about this, but the thread linked to above states it goes mains → dimmer → driver → LEDs. Looking on the back of my dimmer switch, it does say 230V AC, which surely means it would require to be before the driver? If it was placed after the driver it would be getting 12V DC?

The switch is obviously more than just a potentiometer, it has all the ‘smart’ stuff in it, which presumably is set up to work with the power listed on the back (230V AC)?

I have ordered another dimmer which I will test tonight, it may give a clue to whether the fault is with the dimmer, or the LEDs/driver/order of components. I am trying this one next:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08VJ4CVWZ

11

Okay, so I got the new switch, it is a lot faster at turning on and off, and reliable. However still no dimming. So I ordered a different driver/transformer and that fixed it. Specifically, the issue is the dimmer switches are trailing edge (not leading edge), which means they need a suitable driver, my previous one was leading edge only. After hunting around for a trailing edge one and struggling, I ended up ordering this:

https://www.ultraleds.co.uk/premium-tagrar-professional-dimmable-power-supply-for-12v-led-strip-lights-150w-12-5a.html

It all seems to work great, I purposely have been going for drivers with decent power, as my understanding is these will last longer, not making buzz/humming noises, so far so good on that front. For reference the wiring does indeed go:

Mains -> Dimmer Switch -> Transformer/Driver -> LEDs

A little video showing it in action:

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