Jasco/GE Zigbee Switch Failed

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#1

I had my first switch failure. I have two Jasco/GE devices. One is a Smart Switch and one is a Smart Dimmer (the ones with the paddles). They have been reliable for several years. We had a power outage. When the power came back on, I found that the switch was no longer responding. Not only that, but I can't even turn the ceiling light fixture it controls on or off.

The switch has an LED light. It is blinking. It isn't the solid color it should be if the switch were turned off nor the blinking pattern it would show if it were in pairing mode. It is a steady blinking. I tried the ten presses of the switch the instructions specified to put it in pairing mode, but it does not work. I tried cycling the power to that circuit but that did not help either. I think something in the switch died. Has anybody had anything similar happen? If so, is it something that can be fixed?

I have a replacement on order. The replacement with be a GE Enbrighten switch which seems to be the newer version. However, if I can fix the old one, it would be nice to put it to use also to automate another light.

#2

Yes over 30. Constant blinking or clicking means the switch is dead and sometimes this may paralyze your mesh so definitely pull the air gap.

Each switch has a date code where first 2 digits are the year. I have found that the 17XX vintage is very problematic. GE/Jasco upped their warranty to 5 years. I suspect they realized they had a faulty component. Give them a call and if within the 5 year period of purchase they will replace with a brand new one.

Cannot remember if this community or ST but someone did take one of these switches apart and determined a cheap part failed and was able to fix the switch. But this issue has been quite common and several threads here in the HE community.

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#3

1714 is the date code on the failed switch. I'll have to see if I can find a receipt for it.

#4

I have had to replace about 4 GE/JASCO switches in the last year. Exact same scenario. These have a 5 year warranty, I think the newer ones are only 3. I called support and they offered to send me a new one. They said they would only do it once without a receipt. They did send me a new one.

I have been replacing the ones that failed with Zooz

[edit]Just found two I replaced recently and they both have a 17XX date code as well.

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#5

I found the receipt. I purchased them from Lowe's on 3 July 2019 so I will contact GE/Jasco tomorrow.

Edit: It would be nice to find out what that part was.

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#6

It's a 10uf capacitor and is pretty easy to swap out. I had 2 switches that failed that Jasco replaced under their expanded 5 year warranty. They didn't want the old switches back so I replaced the caps. All in it took approx 20 minutes. Here's the thread with the info.

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#7

I’ve had several of these fail and Jasco has been really good in replacing them without a receipt. The last few they replaced only required a photo of the front and back of the switch. They did not even want the failed switches back.

Here’s the link I used for the returns:

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#8

Thanks. The guy kept mentioning Zigbee, but the label on the switch was Z-Wave. Still, since it was in the power supply, not the radio module, the fix should be the same.

#9

Update: The Enbrighten Smart Switch I ordered to go in place of the failed one arrived. I will call Jasco/GE tomorrow to see if they will replace the failed switch. If so, I have some ideas of where to put it. Also, I will likely try to fix the failed switch if I can find a capacitor (I have friends who may be able to help).

Update: I called Jasco and a new switch will be on the way. I took apart the defective one and the viewed the video mentioned above. The layout of the components is different. In spite of that, it may be the same part, just in a different location.

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