I am running a C-8 hub on platform version 2.3.8.134. I use the Device Activity Check app, and for the past few months it reports most of my Z-wave devices as inactive every couple of weeks. I usually end up rebooting the hub and they'll come back within a day or so. This is not ideal. I see no events in the Z-wave logs. The Z-wave devices that show inactive do not have recent events. What can I do to troubleshoot and prevent this?
Z-wave devices: Aqara Leak Sensor, Zooz ZSE42 Leak Sensor, Zooz ZSE44 Temp/Humidity Sensor, 2x Ecolink Tilt Contact Sensors
I also continue to have repeated issues described in the following thread: C8 Hub goes down at least once a month I keep up with firmware updates, I've updated my Unifi firmware, made sure band steering is disabled, have a static DHCP reservation, I've even resorted to multiple scheduled reboots each week and even that has not helped. Not sure if these issues could be related.
An important consideration: do the devices still work, or are you just concerned that Device Activity Check just sees them as "inactive" according to your criteria? Device Activity Check simply evaluates the criteria you provide. It has no special insight into the devices, and sometimes the solution is simply to adjust your criteria.
FWIW, that Aqara device is almost certainly Zigbee.
2 Likes
Are you using POE to power your Hubitat?
If no POE, are you using the power adapter and USB cable that came with the Hubitat, or something else?
For Z-wave issues a full shut down and unplug for 30 seconds is needed to restart the z-wave radio.
Use my custom drivers for the two Zooz devices and enable Debug logging indefinitely (for now). This way you will see every event from the device in the logs, even if it is duplicated and otherwise not seen in the event history. [DRIVER] Zooz Sensors Advanced (ZSE11, ZSE18, ZSE40, ZSE41, ZSE42, ZSE43, ZSE44)
Usually that is the case and only would make things worse, turn that off.
This 
Since you said NO events come in, I would assume that means no, they are not working, since for the ZSE44 you should be getting regular events from the device as temps change.
My mistake - the Aqara is Zigbee - disregard.
The hub is powered with the included power adapter and USB cable.
The devices do not work/report. For example, the ZSE44 has not reported in 2 days. The temp should fluctuate multiple times per hour. The tilt sensors have also been used multiple times in the past two days, but neither show any events.
I can try the custom Zooz driver, but what will that tell me if I have other devices that stop working as well?
Thanks for the input!
Some clues is better than none. I work with those devices, I created the driver, and I know what should happen when using them. It is more potential for insight over the black box system drivers.
Do you still only have the 5 z-wave devices, all battery sensors? If so, adding some repeating devices is possibly the solution. With only battery devices you don't have a mesh, you just have a bunch of devices attached to the hub with no other routing choices.
I do only have 5 Z-wave devices, all battery. One is very old and not in use, but powered on. I assume you'll tell me to get rid of it, but I think this issue occurred before adding it. I can try removing it. It's an old Aeon Door Contact sensor.
I will try the custom Zooz driver.
Follow up - why is a repeater going to help in this situation? Wouldn't that help if some of the devices stopped responding instead of all of them?
No, it should not be hurting anything.
Do you have any need for any switches or plugs? Adding some of those could make an actual mesh.
If not, maybe a strategically placed repeater like a Ring Gen2 or Zooz ZAC38
Warning, the Zooz might block the other outlet for larger plugs sadly 
. Not sure about the Ring, I just see lots of other people using them.
I have no idea what the issue is, just making guesses.
There is no logical reason that Z-wave would stop working at random and that a reboot would bring it back. If the radio was locked up a shut down / unplug is required to fix it. So my guess is that maybe the devices are not able to reach the hub for some reason. Since they have no repeaters available, maybe adding one would help.
And actually, update to the latest platform. It for sure is a possible fix for your other issue and may fix the Z-wave issue as well. The database engine update has some behind the scenes stuff to hopefully fix the rash of random lock up cases.
One other thought, for a device that is non functional, especially one of the Zooz sensors, try enabling debug logging on my driver then wake the device up (per the button sequence listed in the manual). The device should send out a wakeup notification and cause some logs to generate. Not a solution, but more clues.
1 Like
