Controlling a Z-Wave contactor over power failures and manual intervention

Plugins & Plugin Development Program Logic (PLEG)
1

This is the continuation from a posting in the general board now I realize I need PLEG.

Vera3 with UI5.

I have a contactor (Intermatic CA3750) controlling a heavy load. This contactor may be switched off manually at any time but I need to ensure it is re-enabled every 30 minutes between the hours of 6AM and 8PM. I also need to ensure it is re-enabled after a power outage (when the contactor will drop out). So I need to configure PLEG so that every day of the week…

  1. The contactor is switched on at 6AM
  2. The contactor is sent an “ON” command every 30 minutes until 8PM (to account for someone manually switching the contactor off)
  3. If there is a power failure point 2 above happens if the power returns between 6AM and 8PM
  4. At 8PM the contactor is switched off

I have looked at the PLEG documentation and I cannot see how to achieve this, although I always struggle with using PLEG.

Thanks.

2

There is NOT a reboot event.
Is it OK to just send the ON at the next 30 minute interval after the power fail ?

Two Timers:
DayTimer On on specified days of week at 6:00 AM off on specified days of week at 8:00 PM
IntervalTimer Interval … ON every 30 minutes … Off 15 minutes later

Condition:
SendOnCommand DayTimer and IntervalTimer
SendOffCommand NOT DayTimer

Add appropriate actions to above conditions.

3

Thanks for the response Richard.

Is it OK to just send the ON at the next 30 minute interval after the power fail ?

Yes, if it is between 6AM and 8PM.

_JohnK

4

Richard,

I did as you said and nothing happens - I have the contactor manually switched off and it never switches back on again (it has just gone midday). I guess I am doing something stupid but I don’t know what :frowning:

Attached is the status report- any thoughts?

5

When you create a new Schedule, it will not become true until it passes the start time. Your’s is still showing as false. You could kick it to true by clicking the Do It Now button along side it in the list of Schedules. This button acts as a toggle for the state of the Schedule.

6

Ahh! Now I understand.

But if there is a power outage today after 6AM and before 8PM I guess that nothing would happen until 6AM tomorrow? How do I automatically re-enable the schedule after a power outage?

BTW - I really appreciate your help :slight_smile:

7

Once the start-time is reached, the Schedule stays true until the stop time. The only vulnerability is if there is a power-cut or Vera restart just before the Schedule times so the event is missed.

In your case, it may be more robust to use a Sequence expression rather than a Schedule:

DayTimer (06:00:00; Now; 20:00:00)
SendOnCommand DayTimer and IntervalTimer
SendOffCommand NOT DayTimer

This construction is not vulnerable to missed events. It just needs Vera’s clock to be correct.

8

Rex, Richard,

I jumped the gun - it does restart after a power failure, my bad.

The idea of a sequence expression rather than a schedule is interesting - I will try it.

Thanks for all your help.