I'm about to begin the (manual) process of migrating my devices from my C5 (with C4 USB radio) to my C8. This process is likely going to take me a couple days. I have a lot of z-wave devices, so i'd like to use the most efficient process possible. In the past, my Z-stick has been very handy for excluding devices. Is there any reason not to use that for this process? Obviously the C5 will be unaware that the devices have been removed. I don't want to do anything that could potentially jeopardize the health of my z-wave network.
If the C-5 doesn’t realize the devices are gone and tries to route through them, then effectively you’ve created a ghost device on the C-5.
Simply use the c8 to exclude your devices before including. Shut down any other interfering z-wave radios.
When using the C8 to exclude these devices, I assume I should use the general exclude z-wave button, and not remove the "old" (renamed) devices/DNIs on that hub? How is this any different from using a z-stick, if I am not excluding them from the C5?
It’s not, and will cause the same issue on the C-5.
Didn't you read the advice for manual migration?? Step 2 is power off the C-3/4/5
You don't turn it back on again til migration is complete and then, only to reset & disable the radios, followed by a soft reset. In other words, starting the migration begins with the notion that you can't go back. (You can of course, but it's the same work as going forward.)
correct.
It's not but this way you have no other intefering radios during transfer. It's just avoiding the hassle.
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Think we’re missing the point that the OP is wanting to do a staggered manual migration of devices because the automagical version isn’t available for the USB Zwave stick. Really no different than when the C-7 was introduced.
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Staggered doesn't work usually because you're disassembling the old mesh from the start. The powered device, closest to the hub is usually the first to be migrated, working outward. It doesn't take long before the critical device the old hub's mesh was using is migrated. It's functionally the same as shutting down the old hub.
I just did this exact scenario twice. You can say to yourself that you'll migrate closest and outward along a path, (to the east perhaps,) Intending to leave the mesh intact in the other direction but we all know that ZWave doesn't mesh like that. It's quite happy to hop through a device on the opposite side of the house. 
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I did read the documentation. I’m simply trying to determine if there is any harm in using a z-stick to exclude it instead of excluding it from the C8. Everything I’ve read says specifically to exclude from the hub, even though I know a ton of you have z-sticks.
I’m not expecting to be able to slowly transition. I now know that won’t work. I mentioned that this would take a couple days to emphasize how much I want to make the process as efficient as possible. Like many of you, I have devices in the attic, sump pit, outdoor soffits, outdoor outlets, etc. Every little bit of efficiency helps.
Sure you can use the stick, but again, whats the point of having extra z-wave coordinators around? Just my opinion.
You can use a Z-Stick and to the migrating device, it's indistinguishable. However, I advice against using it initially because the advantage of using the C-8 to Exclude the device is in the "Unknown device excluded" message. This tells you that the C-8 is actually able to communicate WITHOUT creating a ghost. If you use the Z-Stick to exclude, then follow that with an Include, you can easily create a ghost if the distance is beyond the range.
I manually migrated 60+ devices from a pair of C-5 with external radio to a pair of C-8. I used my Z-Stick to confirm I was using the correct "dance" (putting the device into join) and would discover the manual I had pulled up was for a different version... I'd then hunt for the correct manual, see the new "dance " steps and confirm with the ZStick. Once the ZStick told me I had the correct "dance" steps, I'd put the C-8 into Exclude to confirm connectivity.
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Excellent advice. Thank you for the details. This makes perfect sense, and is exactly the type of explanation I was looking for.
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