I have nine of those in my home. It has been a bit of a journey, but they are finally working quite well. A few questions:
what is the firmware version?
how well developed is your Z-wave network?
number of mains powered devices
are any of them capable of beaming?
how long were the non-blinds devices installed before you ventured into iBlinds?
The particular driver you use isn’t likely to have any affect of the issues you are describing.
This should get us started toward sorting out your issues. All of the wireless protocols can be problematic, so take heart. Everyone here has had issues from time-to-time with one or more wireless protocols.
I recommend that you discover and install with no security.
Multiple installs and uninstalls can leave "ghost devices" in the Z-Wave network so be sure to remove all "ghosts" - instructions are elsewhere in these threads.
After each flailing attempt to remove or add an iBlind be sure to shut down the hub and remove power so that the Z-Wave part of the hub will reset.
I have four iBlinds that now work perfectly for months at a time so don't give up!
I recently started installing mine. Firmware v3.11. The issue I'm having is calibration. After calibration they refuse to close all the way (like 80%) and only open partially (like 20%) Did you run into this?
I did not have that problem.
They calibrated automatically when first turned on.
I would make sure that there are no obstructions and set tightness to 22 (default)
I had that and a variety of other issues like @chris6 is experiencing. I focused on getting my Z-wave mesh strong as @Hal3 talked about. I also updated the devices to the latest firmware. Now they run smooth and reliably. BTW. I have hardware versions 2, 3.0, and 3.1 in operation.
I have 15 z-wave light switches, all hard wired in. 8 Leviton and 7 Zooz. They all work very well. I lost one like two times, but it's up and strong. They've been installed for several years. First on Wink and then on Hubitat (about 2 years on Hubitat now).
I don't think any of those switches are capable if beaming. I've seen that mentioned a few times. Do you think that could make a difference? Something like: Z-Wave Hub Range Extender - Aeotec Range Extender 7?
I am embarrassed to admit it, but I don't know how to tell what firmware is on the iBlinds devices. I can do some Googling when I get a moment after work.
Beaming capable devices are not essential, but they can help improve devices that are very sleepy. All battery powered devices are sleepy. They wake up periodically to see if there is a command waiting for them. Beaming devices cache commands for nearby sleepy devices and repeat the command when the sleepy device wakes up.
Don't be embarrassed. We are all learning, sometimes from others, sometimes from wailing and gnashing of teeth with the devices. Here is a picture of a portion of the bottom of the device page for one of my hardware version 3.0 iBlinds devices. I highlighted the firmware line. Ignore the hardware version line. It isn't accurate for iBlinds. The device has a tag on it that states the hardware model. The hardware model is EXTREMELY important to know when you consider upgrading firmware.
iBlinds are capable of S2 security. When connecting an S2 capable device to an S2 capable hub (C-7), a security choice window will popup during the join process. Here is a sample popup from HE's Z-wave documentation.
To join without security, choose the Cancel button.
C-5 hubs default to only joining locks and door openers securely.
This is important, @rlithgow1 - make sure you're Z-Wave Details Page doesn't have devices in it that are missing routing information in the last column...
Issue is when it does the calibration in ends up in the 70% open position instead of 50 and when you go to close it and it only moves a little bit like maybe closes to 30 %
Yeah, I saw that, and have never experienced anything like that. Tagging @Eric_iblinds to see if he has any input/suggestions.
First thing I would try if you're not using Robert's driver, is switch to it and hit Configure, and then set your Default On and Open position settings in Preferences. Then try using the driver buttons to open/close or turn on/off the blinds and see how they work.
If the blinds are binding that might affect how calibration works, so you could try doing a calibration while actually holding the blinds (I did this once) to ensure that there isn't something blocking them from moving freely. Probably not, but...
I have had my iBlinds act strangely a few times, and I usually ended up doing a factory reset on them to "start over." You could try that...unfortunately requires access to the motor.
You could try the "Reset and Clear Parameter Values" option first, and if that doesn't help, exclude the blinds, do the "Manual, Factory Reset" and then re-include them.
If you force manual calibration does it repeatedly stop at 70%/30%?
Parameter 1 determines close interval (and can be set in Robert's driver) and can also affect calibration. As @Hal3 noted above, I think, try changing that in Robert's driver to see if that has any effect.
I have had that happen, primarily on very large blinds with v3.0 hardware. v3.1 hardware handled the larger blinds (6' x 6') with ease. This may have also been improved in the newer firmware for both hardware versions.
Interesting - I don't have really large blinds so never been an issue for me, good to know.
I think that changing the close tightness setting to a lower (tighter) number might help if that's the case. Tells the blinds to work harder to close the blinds tighter...whether the driver setting for how tight to close the blinds is "active" during calibration is something I don't know. @bertabcd1234 Robert might now...
Nope. I tried that. As I understand the situation, it is an issue with how the firmware makes its decisions about what the end of travel looks like during calibration. I beta tested a 3.1 device for this situation. Worked like a dream, and it was a bit quieter too.
Here is a picture of a portion of the bottom of the device page for one of my hardware version 3.0 iBlinds devices. I highlighted the firmware line. Ignore the hardware version line. It isn't accurate for iBlinds. The device has a tag on it that states the hardware model. The hardware model is EXTREMELY important to know when you consider upgrading firmware.
