Zooz device associations

Hello Hubitat community! I am new to Hubitat and am setting up my first hub. I have included a zooz dry contact relay and a zooz zen34 remote switch into my hubitat. Both have been included successfully but I am not able to figure out how to control the relay using the remote switch, I have added the dry contact relay DNI into the device association in the remote switch preferences, but it isn't working so perhaps I am entering the DNI in the wrong place? Thanks in advance for any help!

With help, I successfully associated a Zen34 with a Zen16. I'll look for the thread. It's been awhile.

Unless it is critical for it to work with the hub offline, the easiest way is to just setup a rule in RM or button controller. No direct association is needed.

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Also, as far as I know, you can only associate the Z34 to one relay, so the top button is on, and the bottom button is off. If you set up a rule, you can do multi presses of the buttons and control three devices (on and off).

Awesome, thank you for the responses. The only way I had found to connect the two devices was through an association, but I will give rules a shot. It will be the first rule I have set up, but it seems like it should be straightforward?

I would recommend you start with the built-in Basic Rules for simple association type rules. (Ex.: When this button is pressed, turn on this switch)

Another option, especially for buttons is the Button Controller built-in app, which is essentially Rule Machine but with the focus on buttons. These apps are more complex to use, and very powerful.

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I would use the button controller built-in App.

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I have the same setup as Valleybeach with a similar question. I am experimenting Hubitat/Z Wave in preparation to upgrading by 60+ Insteon devices.

I have two Zooz devices, a battery operated switch and a relay. I want the relay to respond quickly to the switch, say around 100 msec and for it to be independent of the hub. However Zooz say the hub has to be present and they have confirmed the best response I can achieve is about 800 msec using the Rule Machine.

If I use an association the response is about 1200msec as the switch updates the hub first (group 1) and then sends the association message (group 2) to the relay. Without the hub the response time is about 8 seconds as the message to the hub has to timeout first. Apparently this is part of the Z Wave spec and can't be changed.

In other words associations with Zooz devices are of little use - surely this is not part of the Z Wave spec?

I just associated a Zooz Zen34 battery switch with a Zooz Zen16 multi relay. Below is what I got in logs.

I then shutdown the hub. (I would've pulled the internet plug, but my wife is watching a movie, or something.) The relay switched very fast, as long as you gave it a little breather between button pushes.

Ah, forgot the logs. I'll do the same and report back. Thanks

I think that would be a worst case scenario. Many of us see more like a 100ms-200ms forr most automations. Something like 800ms would be positively glacial.

The only thing about using a rule would be your criteria of not needing a hub. Hubs rarely fail, and with an offline hub like Hubitat, you really aren't going to see many problems like you would with a cloud based hub. Using the hub also allows (if desired) voice control, control with a phone, and using the switch as a scene or button controller to initiate other lighting or rules.

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Many thanks for the help, I owe you guys two answers.

Firstly my desire for the Z Wave devices to run without the hub. I agree that the Hubitat hub rarely fails . . . but my programming does! I want to be able to power down the hub without impacting the basic Z Wave switching functions but it is not a big deal.

However if I have response times longer than around 500 msec, visitors to the home think nothing has happened and go to press again.

My test setup is a Zen 34 battery switch and a Zen 51 relay with an association between them, nothing else programmed in the hub. Here are my current response times:

  • Hub powered up: 800ms (see log)
  • Hub "powered down" through software but still connected to PSU:1200 msec
  • Hub disconnected from PSU: 6.8 sec

I am guessing the software power down leaves the Z Wave radio active so the switch gets some sort of acknowledgment whereas with the power disconnected the switch waits for the hub timeout before executing the relay association. In any event 800ms is too long.

What kind of impatient, high strung visitors do you have??? :laughing:

I have a ZEN34 and just measured how long it took for a button press to turn on a light. This is no z-wave association...just a button controller rule between it and a GE dimmer. 635 msec to on and 340 msec to off.

I paused the BC rules and associated the button to the same light...hand timing says ~600 msec for on.

Well, that sucks. Totally different than my experience.
When the hub is 'powered down' by software, I'm pretty sure it's down and out.
In my test, I powered it down by software, and then disconnected it physically and was getting quick reading, again, as long as I gave it just a tiny breather between button pushes.

The thing about direct association is that it's not flexible...it's on or off...or dim too with group 3. I have direct association for pseudo 3-way switches as well as door contact switches for my basement. Maybe in a couple other places. That's the problem though, it'd be helpful to remember, lol. If the mesh starts acting up though, they'll still be plugging away.

I am currently running 60+ Insteon devices and have bought a few Z Wave devices to try them out before I upgrade. Most of the Insteon switching function work without a hub and typically execute in 100 msec or less . . . and that is what my family is used to!

I'll exclude all devices, reset the hub and start again from scratch with just the relay, the battery switch and the association.

How do you measure this? Genuinely curious. Without the logging when testing the association, I was just using the stopwatch on my phone to time from the click sound of the button to the click sound of the relay in the switch.

Ok, have to admit I'm guessing on my Insteon timings! I have two bulbs about two foot apart controlled by separate switches. My wife had not noticed there was a slight difference in the on timing with the Insteon switches but immediately saw the difference with Z Wave switches. From the Z Wave timings in the logs I am guessing at the Insteon timing being less than 100ms.

Far less cool than I was hoping.

No offense, but I think the guesses may be slightly skewed. 100 ms is less than the blink of an eye. I find the only lights that actually give problems around my house are the ones on dimmers where it's the delay plus a ramp rate and people get too impatient. Those , if I hazard a guess, take about a second to give feedback from the light coming on.

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Who touches light switches anymore?

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FriedCheese2006: Agree, 500ms is quick enough, I was seeing around 800-1200ms (phone timings!) with my first attempt at Z Wave but I think that is due to my network setup - bad routing.

I'm more concerned about the association timing without the hub and that Velvetfoot still gets a sub 1 second response in this scenario. Certainly not what I'm seeing but I have other issues to solve now - a ZEN71 switch being included with no security. Once I solve that I will rebuild the network and check the timings again.