I gave up on this as well. Dropped my Vera and picked up my SmartThings hub. I refuse to go thru months of things not functioning as intended, if at all. Did that with mControl, not doing it again. Good luck everyone.
Well lets see, the smoke detectors use a whole new z-wave command class that MCV would need to add to Vera for support (which they are doing now). It is not MCV’s fault that a whole new z-wave command class created. Yes, MCV could be faster in supporting it, but they have been working on other things as well like their new authentication server and on new firmware that uses their new authentication.
The problem with SmartThings is it requires a subscription, it requires an internet connection, etc.
- Garrett
I am really disappointed the Vera or MicasaVerde or whatever. I really liked the product at first but it really does not seem like they have done anything but change the name of the company. They still have the old logo on most of their web pages. I think that I am going to be willing to pay support for a company that does support.
And at the end of the day it does still function as a smoke detector even without all the bells and whistles enabled. So I don’t see it as a loss.
I replaced one of my “ordinary” detectors with the ZSMOKE and I have 6 other “vanilla” smoke detectors that I want to replace. Admittedly I’m going to hold off replacing the old ones until ZSMOKE is fully supported but its not like I’ve lost anything in the process.
Well lets see, the smoke detectors use a whole new z-wave command class that MCV would need to add to Vera for support (which they are doing now). It is not MCV’s fault that a whole new z-wave command class created. Yes, MCV could be faster in supporting it, but they have been working on other things as well like their new authentication server and on new firmware that uses their new authentication.
The problem with SmartThings is it requires a subscription, it requires an internet connection, etc.
- Garrett[/quote]
Wrong, look at the home page of their site. No subscription required.
I tried to like their offering, I really did. I even looked ahead at UI6 to see what is planned and tested it. It’s clunky. Now you can argue it’s not released for general use, but if devices are shipping with it then it’s general use in my mind.
I can’t wait on vague promises for enhancements, sorry. That’s all I’m saying. It may be the right solution for some but right now it isn’t for me. I’ll take a look again at some point down the road.
This thread was started in September. 4-5 months seems like a long time to get a device added. I would put all my stuff on smart things if it wasn’t so dependent on the cloud internet connection. I had my internet act crazy and it was a pain to turn my hue lights on and off.
D[quote=“garrettwp”][quote=“f5snopro”]I gave up on this as well. Dropped my Vera and picked up my SmartThings hub. I refuse to go thru months of things not functioning as intended, if at all. Did that with mControl, not doing it again. Good luck everyone.[/quote]
Well lets see, the smoke detectors use a whole new z-wave command class that MCV would need to add to Vera for support (which they are doing now). It is not MCV’s fault that a whole new z-wave command class created. Yes, MCV could be faster in supporting it, but they have been working on other things as well like their new authentication server and on new firmware that uses their new authentication.
The problem with SmartThings is it requires a subscription, it requires an internet connection, etc.
- Garrett[/quote]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Well lets see, the smoke detectors use a whole new z-wave command class that MCV would need to add to Vera for support (which they are doing now). It is not MCV’s fault that a whole new z-wave command class created. Yes, MCV could be faster in supporting it, but they have been working on other things as well like their new authentication server and on new firmware that uses their new authentication.
The problem with SmartThings is it requires a subscription, it requires an internet connection, etc.
- Garrett[/quote]
Wrong, look at the home page of their site. No subscription required.
I tried to like their offering, I really did. I even looked ahead at UI6 to see what is planned and tested it. It’s clunky. Now you can argue it’s not released for general use, but if devices are shipping with it then it’s general use in my mind.
I can’t wait on vague promises for enhancements, sorry. That’s all I’m saying. It may be the right solution for some but right now it isn’t for me. I’ll take a look again at some point down the road.[/quote]
I am going by their kickstarter as it was intended that a monthly fee was needed if you did not kickstart their project. I have not looked into them since then. So I apologize if they did away with the monthly fee.
- Garrett
[quote=“dbmet, post:86, topic:176811”]This thread was started in September. 4-5 months seems like a long time to get a device added. I would put all my stuff on smart things if it wasn’t so dependent on the cloud internet connection. I had my internet act crazy and it was a pain to turn my hue lights on and off.
D[quote=“garrettwp”][quote=“f5snopro”]I gave up on this as well. Dropped my Vera and picked up my SmartThings hub. I refuse to go thru months of things not functioning as intended, if at all. Did that with mControl, not doing it again. Good luck everyone.[/quote]
Well lets see, the smoke detectors use a whole new z-wave command class that MCV would need to add to Vera for support (which they are doing now). It is not MCV’s fault that a whole new z-wave command class created. Yes, MCV could be faster in supporting it, but they have been working on other things as well like their new authentication server and on new firmware that uses their new authentication.
The problem with SmartThings is it requires a subscription, it requires an internet connection, etc.
- Garrett[/quote]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/quote]
I am not defending MCV for them taking awhile to integrate. They have been focusing on UI6 / UI7 and MMS authentication system which is a huge undertaking. To support the new command classes for the fire detectors is not just a simple change. It would require MCV to add support in the zwave portion of their code. I can understand that they have been waiting for new releases for UI6 / UI7 to add this, but they do have a UI5 firmware in beta that is suppose to support it. One of the users in this forum has a copy for testing.
- Garrett
I cannot believe that there is no Z-wave smoke detector in the US market other than this one which seems to be the first. In Europe they have already 2 established brands despite they were built in Asia and they also include CO. Z-wave is on the market for many years.
This Zsmoke version was built for Iris hence the Z-wave support, it does not have the one-link feature so if the power goes out and a fire occurs your programming of “if one smoke detector goes off, trigger all other smoke detectors as well, and turn lights on, etc” will become useless.
So let me change the subject here then to ask a different question as I am not willing to downgrade to less features to be able to claim Z-wave on smoke detectors unless they add all those functions which exist on all other models already.
If somebody has 6 hardwired vanilla smoke detectors in one chain for alarm reasons but not connected to anything else, is there a way to connect them to Vera? If this was answered somewhere else, I apologize up front.
Same question for a CO detector?
Thanks in advance guys.
[quote=“Pseudomizer, post:89, topic:176811”]I cannot believe that there is no Z-wave smoke detector in the US market other than this one which seems to be the first. In Europe they have already 2 established brands despite they were built in Asia and they also include CO. Z-wave is on the market for many years.
This Zsmoke version was built for Iris hence the Z-wave support, it does not have the one-link feature so if the power goes out and a fire occurs your programming of “if one smoke detector goes off, trigger all other smoke detectors as well, and turn lights on, etc” will become useless.
So let me change the subject here then to ask a different question as I am not willing to downgrade to less features to be able to claim Z-wave on smoke detectors unless they add all those functions which exist on all other models already.
If somebody has 6 hardwired vanilla smoke detectors in one chain for alarm reasons but not connected to anything else, is there a way to connect them to Vera? If this was answered somewhere else, I apologize up front.
Same question for a CO detector?
Thanks in advance guys.[/quote]
Sure, if you have power to the alarm panel that they connect to, you can use a voltage sensing input device (like Mimo Lite) to send the signal to Vera when the bell is signaled by the smoke detectors.
Are they still wired into an alarm panel?
No, my DSC Alarm has currently 24 zones which are all used and the ELK has no more connectivity left. I would have to purchase a new ELK and pull the wires through the wall to the alarm system to include the smoke detectors into the alarm system.
So instead of doing that I could just connect the smoke detectors who are hard wired and chained together somehow to Vera instead of connecting it to the Alarm system.
That’s my current thinking but I haven’t spent much time on this yet and I am open for ideas.
if they are hardwired, and interconnected you can get a simple kidde relay and attach to a Mimo Lite or equivalent zwave sensor.
Ok. Any links or part numbers you can share guys?
The Mimo light looks interesting and the free plugin will make it easy to integrate but I don’t get the kidde relay product. This is just a relay and doesn’t talk Z-wave. What am I missing?
sorry, you may need a relay if you don’t have one already. the Mimo won’t work on line voltage so you need to step the alarm signal down to 24VDC or less.
Usually interconnected smoke detectors have a 24VDC output for an alarm.
[quote=“Bulldoglowell, post:95, topic:176811”]sorry, you may need a relay if you don’t have one already. the Mimo won’t work on line voltage so you need to step the alarm signal down to 24VDC or less.
Usually interconnected smoke detectors have a 24VDC output for an alarm.[/quote]
Got it. Let’s assume for a second I do get a relay and I install MimoLite, this means that all my 6 smoke detectors will appear as one device in Vera instead of 6 devices.
Question:
Will they show up as Smoke detectors if I chose the proper XML and Jason file because looking at MimoLite plugin it will give me a couple of devices and one of them is a trigger device.
[quote=“Pseudomizer, post:96, topic:176811”]Question:
Will they show up as Smoke detectors if I chose the proper XML and Jason file because looking at MimoLite plugin it will give me a couple of devices and one of them is a trigger device.[/quote]
if you wire it all up to one MimoLite, is will of course appear as the one MimoLite device. When you first pair that device, it looks like an Off/On switch.
Check out the data sheet not he MimoLite webpage. When you install the app, it will then appear as three sensors.
You’ll use the analogue input which looks just like a motion or window/door sensor (with the running man).
so, you are inputing the smoke detector array’s output (voltage) and Mimo will send its status back to Vera.
I sent another email on my support request about this issue. My concern was also with all the talk of UI6 not being support with vera2 and if the fix would only be rolled out onto that platform.
Here is the response I received:
?The fix wasn?t implemented yet. Our development team is working on this issue.
A firmware that will support the First Alert device will be available also for Vera 2. The fix will be added on UI5 and UI6 firmware.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.?
I understand the existing limitation regarding its smoke/CO detection function with Vera.
What about this? can we use Vera to trigger the ZSmoke/ZCombo siren to sound? I can make some use of this feature, if the siren is controllable by Vera.
[quote=“jeff3lo, post:99, topic:176811”]I understand the existing limitation regarding its smoke/CO detection function with Vera.
What about this? can we use Vera to trigger the ZSmoke/ZCombo siren to sound? I can make some use of this feature, if the siren is controllable by Vera.[/quote]
The device shows up as a misc. device and has no functionality with vera.