Change device type

Community Playground General Discussions
#1

Hi,

I followed a guide to change one of my devices from a Generic Z-Wave Device to a Door sensor by going to Adcanced settings and changing the text in “device_type”, “device_file” and “device_json”. This worked flawlessly.

I also have a relay switch which shows as a light switch, but I’m using it to controll a motor. The relay works perfectly, but I would like it to have a different symbol and not be part of “all lights on/off”.
Is there an easy way to change this? Alternatively, which of the abowe settings should I change, and where can i find the text to paste in?

#2

You can’t

Some devices have multiple UIs based on the SubCategory of the device.
But the behavior and look (i.e. the ICON) are determined by the DeviceType.

If you changed the door switch to look like a garage door … ALL switches will look like a Garage door.
If you want to try to add a NEW sub category … than you can try to customize the D_XXXX.json for the particular XXXX type.
If this is a Vera Z-Wave device … you are risking weird behavior, because you will not know all the side effects of creating a new sub category.

#3

So there is no good way of separating light switches from relays?

#4

As @RichardTSchaefer stated, your stuck with the icon.

However, you should be able to get the relay/light switch excluded from All lights On/Off. You’ll need to change the Subcategory_num on the Advanced tab of your switch device from a null or 0 (interior) to a 4 (Refrigerator).

#5

Actually I believe you can change the ICON for a sub category in UI7 … I have not tried …
So you could change the icon for SubCategory 4.
But you are in uncharted territory if you can change the Icons for a sub category … so you start to create new sub categories.
Not to mention you would loose your changes on a system update … you need to explore the D_XXXX.json file for your device type.