Newby Problems

I purchased a GE Indoor/Outdoor Smart Switch before I realized I needed a Z-Wave hub. So that's where Hubitat entered my life. I'm just starting to learn the system and the rules. All I want is for the hub to turn on my pump at sunrise and off at sunset. I've entered a rule machine and it all it did was cut if off and not back on in the morning. So I'm currently trying the Simple Automation Rule which is easy to set up. However, this morning it didn't turn on. Am I missing something?? I saw a video where it advised to just turned on my logging so I did. Maybe that will work? Maybe not. Any advise or steps anyone can share would be greatly appreciated. I'm not even looking at conditions...just turn on...turn off. Thanks in advance.

How far is the hub from your outdoor outlet?

I'm terrible with guessing distance but if I'm thinking between 200-300 feet.

Go to devices on the left, find your switch. Can you turn the switch on and off. Does the pump go on and off?

Go to logs on the left and post a screenshot of you log at the time the pump was to turn on.

Yes..I can turn off and on from my phone. Even turns off at time during the rule. Not consistent.

Whoa. Yeah that is probably your problem. I would say without some repeating device you are going to have issues with a device that far (until zwave LR and devices come out). I stretch it every Christmas with my outdoor plug on my neighbors house maybe < 100' away from my garage.

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Ahhh...I have a plug/repeater arriving tomorrow. I'll see if that works.

I have several devices in the garage, detached, about 6' from the house and a repeater on the same wall inside the house seemed to help greatly with those in garage devices between two walls and getting to my neighbors during Christmas to power his outdoor lights (he's 85) :slight_smile:

Ha! I thought at first you were "borrowing" juice from your neighbor for your lights.

HAHA, yeah that would be a pretty crappy thing to do!

Once you get your repeater issue resolved, try the Basic Rules app. Even if you already have something built, I think you’re going to be surprised at how easily most automations like the one you described can be built in no time at all, with minimal effort.

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Is Basic Rules same thing as Simple Automation? The pump shuts off at sunset but having trouble cutting on at sunrise. Ugh!!!

Here is my set up. Can anyone tell me if this looks right. I still have a repeater to put in today but it shuts off at sunset and I can turn on remotely...I don't think connectivity range is an issue.

Well..I can't embed my photos.

I figured out that Basic is not the same as simple. I just set up the basic automation...i hope this works! One more question...While remote, is there an icon or something on my app that tells me my switch is running? I'm tire of bugging my wife to see if it's on or not. :slight_smile:

Setup Dashboard and add a tile for the switch. Then when you switch to cloud from Dashboard, you will be able to see the switch status remotely.

A Remote Admin subscription (first month free) is another way you could see the status.

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Thank you SHP. I'm about to throw this hub out of my house. I'm still having issues with my GE Indoor/Outdoor Smart Switch. Can you tell me how to use the exclusion tool? I would think it would be simple and it probably is. I deleted the GE Switch of my account but didn't run an exclusion and I don't know how. I would think after pushing the button, it would find what I want to exclude? The exclusion process doesn't pick up anything. So I reboot my switch and try to the inclusion all over again and it will not read it. Is this because I didn't run an exclusion first? If so, how to I find the switch to exclude? :confused:

At 300-ft, even with a repeater, the distance seems like a problem.

Can you get power and WiFi signal anywhere closer to the GE switch? Might be easier to move the hub closer to the switch than to build a Z-Wave mesh that can reliably reach that far.

OTG adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FY9Z9GD

Long-range WiFi adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P5PRK7J

https://docs.hubitat.com/index.php?title=How_to_Build_a_Solid_Z-Wave_Mesh#Z-Wave_Exclude

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Most of the GE/Jasco are press and release either the up or down toggle on the switch after you put the hub into exclusion.