User Error, or poor Elk->VRCOP & zwave design?

[ryannelson]

I'm a newbie here, but I've done a lot of lurking / reading the past few months.

I'm about to build a house and I'm planning on a VRCOP, 65 Vizia RF+ devices, and an ELKM1.
Every zwave thread on here makes me nervous, but I think the Vizia stuff is gonna work from what I gather.

I do hope there is a way to make other mfgs of zwave stuff work rock solid with the ELKM1, but the basic implementation of Zwave stuff does not seem to want to update local changes to the elk, and its a zwave thing. The vizia stuff actually has another additional feedback feature, which is outside the zwave base spec, which makes the VRCOP get all the local switch status changes. Use an intermatic switch, and the VRCOP wont always see it.

At least that's how I've pieced the puzzle together without trying anything yet.

 

[IVB]

From the Original Post:

Problem #1: Commands don't really work, but show that they are.

For some lights, controlling lights via the Elk (M1XEP control via IE) works just fine. But for others, the slider works, tells me the light is on, but it's not actually on. It's as if it says "yep, i sent the lighting command" as opposed to "yep, I sent the lighting command and confirmed that it worked."

All I really did was teach the VRCOP the devices, update the M1XSP firmware to the one suitable for Vizia, and add the lighting under the Automation.Lighting tab with all fields with *Serial Expander, and dimmer or on-off based on what they were.

Reply:
The M1XEP Virtual Keypad should be able to control all of the Zwave lighting devices that are including in the Zwave network. I haven’t heard of any reports from other users that it hasn’t. Has the customer gone through the Hand Held Programmer steps for updating the RZC0P Controller and the step called “RS-232 Setup� Also, in the lighting menu of ELK-RP make sure that the “OPT’ box is unchecked for each Zwave type lighting device.

Problem #2: No polling to determine manual changes.

I'm also not seeing manual changes to light switches reflected. Granted i'm using Intermatic HA06 lightswitches, but isn't the whole point of zWave to be manufacturer independent?

Reply:
The M1XSP doesn’t poll the lighting devices. If the light switch doesn’t send the change of status when manually pressed then the M1XSP will not know. The Leviton ViziaRF light switches do send the status; some of the other brands do not.


Don

Thanks Spanky ( & Don). I can accept problem #2 as a protocol limitation due to zWave being a freaking disaster hodgepodge, it was #1 that was more troubling to me. I did do the Leviton handheld & RS232 stuff, I ran out of time last night before being able to check the OPT, will try to do that tonight. Hopefully that's it, this wouldn't be the first PBKAC/user error I have.

 

[IVB]

FYI, Absolutely zero idea why, but suddenly #1 isn't an issue, control over my lighting is now working fine. The only thing I did was to move the serial connector from the M1XSP to a COM port on the PC to see how the CQC driver works, then move it back for the test. Both times it was pretty secure so I don't think it was a wiring issue, but it's working now. I'll give it a few days to see if it still works, lets hope.

It's still only a 1way integration as I can't poll my non-leviton devices, so i've got a decision to make about whether I
1) get the CQC RZCOP driver-writer to upgrade the driver to have polling
2) go back to the Intermatic USB stick which didn't work so well in my house
3) stick with 1 way integration of lighting

I can't do 4) plunk down $1000 to rip out perfectly good $35 Intermatic switches for $65 Leviton switches, as they require a neutral and none of my switches have a neutral.

So, other than #1, none of those seem like good options, seriously makes me regret going with even bothering with automating my lighting.

 

[Dogman]

I'm a newbie here, but I've done a lot of lurking / reading the past few months.

I'm about to build a house and I'm planning on a VRCOP, 65 Vizia RF+ devices, and an ELKM1.
Every zwave thread on here makes me nervous, but I think the Vizia stuff is gonna work from what I gather.

I do hope there is a way to make other mfgs of zwave stuff work rock solid with the ELKM1, but the basic implementation of Zwave stuff does not seem to want to update local changes to the elk, and its a zwave thing. The vizia stuff actually has another additional feedback feature, which is outside the zwave base spec, which makes the VRCOP get all the local switch status changes. Use an intermatic switch, and the VRCOP wont always see it.

At least that's how I've pieced the puzzle together without trying anything yet.

Ryan: First of all since you are in the build phase you may want to consider s hard wired system like ALC. There is a ton of info on it here on the forum. Even if you still decide to go wireless I would recommend you at least run CAT 5e to all your switch locations and run them to a home run location just in case. The extra cost will be minimal and you will have the ultimate flexibility. With that said I do have a leviton Vizia RF+ system with 13 nodes and a RZCOP integrated into an ELK M1. I also have a single intermatic z-wave receptacle. In general all of the Leviton stuff works as advertised once you figure out how to set everything up . I have had the network running now for about 3 months and have not had one missed command. The only issue is the single Intermatic receptacle if operated manually will not report its status as noted by IVB since the vizia RF+ has the later generation Z-wave chip. However the ELK via the RZCOP can control the intermatic equipment just fine as well as the leviton handheld remote. You might also look at Cooper Aspire RF as I believe they also use the same generation of Z-wave chip that reports status although I do not know for sure if they are compatible with the Leviton equipment. I hope this helps but again I would seriously consider wiring for a hard wired system now just to keep your options open for not alot of extra cost.