Latest Take on Non-Plus Z-Wave Not Updating Status

🛎️ Get Help Devices
1

Much has already been written in this community about how the old (non-plus) zwave dimmers/switches don't update hub status upon manual/physical events. Because I got started in HA in 2016ish (I'm still treating the PTSD from my ST days, so let's not discuss that), I have about 30 non-plus switches in my home, maybe 25% of the total switch/dimmer count in the house. For what it's worth, my switches/dimmers are nearly all Leviton, a combination of DZMX1, VRMX1, DZS15, and more recently DZ6HD. Who comes up with their coding structure?

After reading a bunch on the topic, it appears like there are a number of established approaches folks have taken and I'm wondering if there is a crowdsourced view of what is the best approach. Here the options:

  1. Since they're all Leviton dimmers/switches, call Leviton. They'll give you a zwave stick to somehow update the firmware and then they'll magically start reporting status to the hub.
  2. Change drivers -- at least one of the switches/dimmers in question have a custom driver that seems to address the issue.
  3. Use polling via either the built-in ZWave Poller app, or the Hubi-Poll variant. Or diy using RM. I should point out that the old devices in question are spread out across ~3 production hubs, so maybe polling ~10 devices per hub isn't that bad?
  4. Suck it up, dude. Open your wallet and replace the old devices. After all, you're the idiot who made the mistakes up front. You pay for them now.
  5. (for fun) -- don't bother replacing the switches. Instead, spend a lot more money on RGBW smart bulbs and wire the load directly to line. Switches? Don't need no damn switches.
  6. Fill in the blank with your idea!

OK, ready, go.....

2

My vote would be with 4. - get new switches. :smiley:
Alternatively, 3. Would work - using the Z-Wave Poller app.

3 Likes
3

Well, I tend to do number 4, and replace them with Lutron Caseta Pro Hub and switches. Also, the Picos are da bomb!

4

Yeah, I like Lutron Pro best too (I have it in another house). The problem here is that I'd have to replace ALL my switches, not just the ~30 oldies.

5

Thought I read once about using the HE hub to do Leviton firmware updates.
But that might be specific to a C5 or C7 or type of Leviton product.

Edit: Found it.
Need Leviton DZ15S Switch 1.20 Firmware Update

6

Why would you need to replace the non-issue new switches? They can be left as they are, or replaced as needed.

7

4, replace with Lutron caseta... I honestly think for the long haul it will be better. They've already been around a decade with no slow down in sight...

8

Yea, good luck. With Leviton, you are just asking for frustration in my opinion. The firmware probably helps, but their switches are just destructive to the Zwave mesh (again in my opinion). Just search for Leviton on this forum, and there are hundreds of complaints about how people are having issues. Some choose to ignore the advice to dump these devices and complain about how the hub performs.

Worth a try, but I think the switches are flawed at a basic level, so it probably won't do any good.

Polling of a couple switches might be OK, but I think you will find that the performance is going to be suboptimal. Probably laggy at best and if you poll too many devices, you might experience hub slowdowns. Maybe try a couple switches and see if it is tolerable.

This. Lots of people are advocating for Lutron, and they are great. They just work with zero issues. But the expense of 30 switches would make me hesitate. I have a bunch of Lutron switches and a ton of Pico, but I don't think I could or would want to purchase 30 switches at well over $60 each in one shot. And if you don't have the Pro Bridge, that is another $130-$150. My hobby budget isn't that rich, but maybe yours is.

I could see using something less expensive, and/or maybe replace switches strategically. Replace the ones that you use all the time, and maybe rearrange the old Leviton to places like a guest bedroom, basement, or someplace rarely used. For the most part, I like the Zooz switches, they seem to be decent for the price. (won't say the same for their sensors though). You can get 2 Zooz for the price of 1 Lutron. I like that you get scenes, double taps, and other features with Zwave that you don't get with Lutron.

I don't see how that solves anything, I assume you still have the switches in the network working as button controllers? Also I would not be happy with losing physical control of a bulb with no hard wired switch. While Hubitat is fairly reliable, that still isn't desirable operation. If I am using a generator during a power outage, but don't/can't power the Hubitat I can't turn the lights on or off? No thanks.

2 Likes
9

I wish the z-wave poller included buttons

10

???

Aren’t buttons stateless when they’re at rest?

Pushed and held events are momentary, so you’d need the polling to be a very high frequency event to catch them.

Unless I am misunderstanding you.

1 Like
11

The battery status is what I'm after, and I'd only want to poll once a day.

12

I beleive the DZ6HD is Z-Wave Plus. The early firmware versions did not report status back, the latest 1.2 firmware seems to work fine for me. Using Hubitat to update them would be a good first step to see if it gets them working right.

13

Do you use the zwave updater driver to update device firmware?

14

I updated those with the Homeseer Z-flash utility and stick when I was still on SmartThings. I usually update firmware with PC Controller and a Z-Wave stick now, but they should work from the Hub too.

15

I believe my Leviton switches are Z-wave plus, but I still have tons of issues despite (a) doing firmware upgrades, (b) having lots of extenders, (c) eliminating ghost nodes.

I've started the process of replacing my Leviton switches with Lutron equivalents and so far early experiments have been positive. Though I suspect I'm having some issues with my Hubitat hub being overburdened and I have to explore that separately.