I have some GE dimmers which are old enough to just be Generic Z-Wave Dimmers. To my awareness, there are no built-in or custom drivers which apply to them.
My question is, can I somehow fake a double tap to turn it on to 100%? I'm not trying to do any complicated scene setting or anything. I just want to get it to 100%. My wife is having a hard time adjusting to dimmers (holds the button down too long when turning them on) and this would help with the WAF.
I'm open to the answer being a custom driver, app, or whatever.
Hi,
I guess that depends on the dimmer itselves. Do you see the model it comes up with under the device page in the Data part of the table? Maybe a driver that checks for number of taps within a periode could be used as a workaround, if the dimmer does not support different tapping and hold scenarios by default. Just a thought here...
What model dimmer are they? There might be one out there you could use. The problem with Z-Wave (not Plus) devices is that they usually do not tell the controller what is happening if someone is manually pressing them. So that could prevent a driver or rule from doing anything because the dimmer may never even send it back.
Some models needed to be "double tapped" as a trigger for them to report back in the first place. One way to check for it would be to enable debugging on the device with the generic driver then open up the Logs window. If you see activity from the dimmer when you do a quick tap, you stand a chance. Also check press-and-holding the dimmer to see if it logs the level going up (or down) and check a double tap to see if it logs that.
Not to be discouraging... but I have replaced most of my original Z-Wave dimmers with Z-Wave Plus ones specifically because they were never getting the reporting correct and it was impacting Rules.
I have a custom app (Dimmer Button Controller) meant to simulate multi-taps on devices that do not natively support this, with my intent being to emulate the Hue Dimmer (where presses 1-5 of the "On" button can cycle through up to the same number of scenes) on Hubitat with arbitrary button devices, like a Pico (or even a Hue Dimmer, which doesn't actually send different events for multiple presses; this is apparently implemented in software on Hue, too). However, that might be overkill for your situation.
I'd suggest following the advice above first to make sure your dimmer doesn't actually natively support double taps. This is a poorly documented "hidden" feature on a lot of GE switches/dimmers, but (due to that fact) I'm not sure how long it's been around. There are some community drivers for the Plus versions, but I'm not sure if the "classic" one support this. (Though if you do have one of those, I might recommend replacing it when you can--most modern dimmers natively support this feature, and you'd get the benefits of Plus like better range and bandwith, through-the-mesh pairing, and it's likely yours don't support instant status reports from physical changes, which these would, so you'd be able to fully avoid polling and the problems that may arise from that.)
If yours doesn't, this would be pretty easy to do with Rule Machine with a "Button Device" (not "Button" trigger, though if this is the oly button number you want to control, the difference would be minimal). For your button 1 pushed actions, something like this would work:
IF (Private Boolean is True) THEN
On: Dimmer
Set Private Boolean False
Cancel Delayed Actions
ELSE
Set Dimmer to 100%
Set Private Boolean True
Set Private Boolean False --> delayed 0:00:05 (cancelable)
END-IF
This would let you do two taps within 5 seconds (easily adjustable); the first would just turn it on, while the second would set it to 100%. I wouldn't really "double tap"--I'd start by giving it a second or two between taps and seeing how quickly you can go before it might cause problems (you can probably go lower, but I just wouldn't start there; with my custom app, I notice issues with some devices if I go faster than about 2-3 times per second). Using a local variable instead of Private Boolean (in a similar fashion) might make this a bit faster, but you might need to give both the rule and your Z-Wave device some time to finish doing their thing.
Just a tip, off toppic a bit, the Xiomi Button(small round one) actually have 5 different functions.
Hold and x-taps, 1 through 4. All linked in the driver as button 1-5 where the hold is #5, 1 tap = button 1, 2 taps=button two, and so on.
Really neat and easy to set up in the Hubitat Simple Lighting app too.
Add one above the normal switch, that’l be easy for her, and she will feel special.
Though it is usually the woman that have to help us men to press the button correctly, right? Hehe...
Here a picture of my wifes button, each set up with different dimmer levels in 25% increments:
Well despite the fact that I bought them on clearance from Radio Shack 5 years ago and they were probably already old at that time, they report on/of presses. No press-and-hold and no double tap, but given their age, I feel like reporting even on/off presses is a win.
On one hand, these switches do 80-90% of what I want them to do. On the other hand, I get real FOMO about all the things they can't do.
Side story: Despite buying these things so many years ago, my smart home journey really only started a few weeks ago. These switches have been sitting in a storage bin, waiting for me to finally do something with them. Glad to know they may still not be totally useless.
BTW I found some more GE dinners on eBay that Ive ordered. They’re newer than these but still not z-wave plus. I haven’t installed them yet. Am I SO much better off getting current generation?
Generally yes and definitely yes with these types of things. From the constant issue people post about them. The only z-wave devices I have are basic input devices, there a exception because there is just state change for the hub to follow so things don't go out of sync.
You will likely have more issues with non Plus devices and over time it will likely cause lots of frustration. I would consider going slower in your build out and get fewer new devices if you can. The WAF will be better with more the more reliable operation of newer devices.
Couldn’t agree more. The small amount spent on newer, more capable devices will buy you so much in spousal acceptance. That lets you buy more down the road with little to no resistance.
I think it is very important to get by-in from the family and take their needs and concerns into consideration. When you get them asking for lighting or other automation conveniences you have a winner.
No. The only way that Rule Machine knows that it is a button controller is based on the driver that the device uses. if the driver doesn't support the pushable button capability, then it will not be recognized as a button device. That's because it's the driver that has to interpret the info from the device to create the event for button presses. if the driver doesn't know how to do that, then they're no point in rule machine treating it like a button controller because it can't do that.
So, just as important as getting newer generation devices is finding a driver that will support the features you want. The only built-in driver for the GE dimmers that supports the button capabilities is the one for the 46203 model dimmer (the Enbrighten line). The other models use the generic z-wave smart dimmer driver which doesn't support the double tap. However, there are community drivers that do support double tap for the earlier model dimmers.
I've used (mostly at other people's houses) a few different ones of these, and all I'm aware of either support multi-taps (button events on the Hubitat side) out of box or can be made to do so with a firmware update. Anything you're able to by new from them today should fall under this category and likely already be good to go. If you are looking to replace your devices, I think they would work well--just be sure to check the wiring diagrams and other requirements, especially if you have multi-way setups, high-wattage loads, or anything else that might be slightly unusual, as there are subtle differences between otherwise similar products in their line.
I’m pretty comfortable when it comes to the electrical side of things. As for any 3-way situations, I’d probably still use a newer GE z-wave product with add-on switch. I prefer every switch to have the same look, feel and behavior (again, WAF). Thankfully, GE and Zooz look very similar.
My comment was for the switches, not you. Some have specific requirements--e.g., all current Zooz products need a dumb switch in a three-way (I think the 21/22 might need rewiring and the 26/27 don't but have more specific requirements for which wires are in what box), while GE works only with add-ons. Just something to consider! Inovelli are great too (and can work with either configuration) but the current gen looks nothing like what you have right now, so they probably won't work if you're going for that.
Some have specific requirements--e.g., all current Zooz products need a dumb switch in a three-way (I think the 21/22 might need rewiring and the 26/27 don't but have more specific requirements for which wires are in what box), while GE works only with add-ons. Just something to consider! Inovelli are great too (and can work with either configuration) but the current gen looks nothing like what you have right now, so they probably won't work if you're going for that.
