I climbed up into the attic to add those boxes and supports and was done sweating so much. When I found out the controllers didn't want to fit.. I said the usual set of bad words and then just pulled the box down from inside and pushed the set of controller wires through the strain relief. and wire nut'd as much as I could. Then I pushed the controller through the hole, followed by the box. After the box was secure again, I finished wiring... one other note.. I add a switch inside the canopy for the controller power.. no 5 clicks of a breaker box for me.
I got a bag of these and wired (with heat shrink) one per controller. Now if I have to reset them, I just drop the canopy and click that switch 5 times and I don't have to worry about any of the other controllers on the same breaker.
There was another post somewhere about adding better antennas, but perhaps this one will suffice. Although kinda unsightly, this guy put the antenna outside of the canopy. Another person bought upgraded antennas. [EDIT] The Amazon link goes to a discontinued item. Go to my second link for an available antenna.
Well some new information that I forgot to update last night. Apparently it's not just the kitchen fam but all of the Hampton Bay ceiling fan controller.
And yes the Antennae are outside of the canopies...
I've had 3 of these controllers for over 2 years now. I have never had any issues with them. I did not modify the antennas in any way and they are all mounted inside the metal canopies.
I use iris 3210-L's as my main repeaters, I wonder if that is the key?
Well, even before my Frankenwiring, I had very few problems with them. I just did my little experiment to ensure there wouldn't be problems. I have six of these running, and I bought some extra ones super-cheap from a guy that just could not get them to work for him....They all connected immediately for me. (I felt bad for him)
Have you tried csteele's idea? There's gotta be something else going on.
The only change I know of is that I secured the canopy to the fan, with the antennae outside of the canopy.
I can not with any authority state that this is when the fan stopped responding as it was responding yesterday morning, I turned the fan off to keep from getting my head lopped off by the blades while I secured the canopy, and upon reapplying power I found the fan unresponsive. Later that night, I found the other Hampton Bay fan controllers unresponsive while testing / troubleshooting. No hardware changes have been done.
Aside from initial pairing issues, which seem common with these controllers, I had zero issues with them under Smartthings.
In each room within 10' of the fan, is an Ikea Tradfri Wireless Control Outlet (Zigbee smart plug / repeater) . These are in active use for things like bedside lamps in all rooms except kitchen, where there is a smart plug, but no real application for it.
Okay. This might sound a little weird, but there were discussions about how the HB DTH would get "stale". They recommended changing the DTH to something else, saving it, and then changing it back and saving again. It's a painless procedure, and could explain why all the fans have stopped working all at the same time.
Same issue, but this guy included republishing/exclusion/inclusion. Maybe try this if the above doesn't work.
Uh, not to sound too dumb here, but you are posting links to issues with DTHs going stale in Smartthings. Is that relevant here? Are the Smartthings custom DTHs usable here? I never had a problem with the custom DTH used for the King of Fans (Hampton Bay) Zigbee controller under Smartthings, and it presented a more manageable verbage to Alexa to adjust speeds etc...
I know this was an ST issue, but I was just suggesting you try it with the HE DTH. Since it's an easy process, it's worth a shot, and it's the only I think can think of that would affect all your controllers.
The only other possibility I can think of is the fact that Zigbee shares frequencies with 2.4 ghz wifi. A new router (yours or neighbor's) can suddenly cause problems, as well as an old router that changed frequencies. If you download an app like Wifiman, it can show you local wifi devices and the frequencies they're using. There can be overlap, which could affect your Zigbee devices. (I'd recommend changing the frequency in the router - if necessary - before doing it with HE. The result, if any, will be quicker to see)
Not if you do it with your wireless router instead. Then it only momentarily affects your wifi devices. (And not necessarily with HE, but it'll take awhile for Zigbee devices to switch over, as the app warning states.)
Just changed both 2.4 and 5GHZ channels on my primary router. Need to dredge up the memory hole of hte IP of the bridge router / WAP to change it there...
IF it works, use the Wifiman app to see what frequencies are being used around your house (as you can see, I have a lot in my neighborhood), and pick the clearest channels for your new 2.4 and 5 ghz frequencies.
I am using WiFi Analyzer, but same sort of thing. LOTS of garbage noise, particulary the house next door to the office / main router. My 5Ghz gets messed with anyway and it was time to make for a better / more stable 5Ghz connection anyway. I figured since I was in there...
Anyway, I have made the edits, let everything try to play nice and see what happens.
I have a Ring Chime Pro acting as a 2.4Ghz repeater that I have no clue what channel it is on so all bets are off there...
Still no joy. I have a VERY bad feeling I am going to need to un pair and re pair these things which is about as pleasant as a prostate exam.
