My Set up Includes Vera 2 & Fibaro relay On/Off (5nos) & Dimmers (3nos) & Curtain Control (1nos) . Controlling through my iPhone. Along with Square Connect IR Blaster.
My system was working completely fine till Friday & suddenly the modules stop responding to commands from SQ Remote & UI4. On dash Board it says ‘Failed to ack’ for devices i give command . The connectivity of iphone with Vera seems fine but the commands to module are not being transmitted.
I am from region where power cut off is a common problem. I suspect that the above problem is due to multiple power cut off in a day. As for now no UPS/Inverter back is given to the system.
Is my reasoning correct for the problem?
What is the exact reason for this issue?
What should be the solution to this problem?
I had to add/remove all the devices & make the system work again.
I have numerous Fibaro modules running from a Veralite. None of these have been been affected by power cuts but I have had problems with various electronic devices when the supply drops to a low voltage for a few seconds and then returns to normal level. This is sometimes known as a brownout.
After a brownout, I have had devices that did not work correctly until: They were reset/restarted; The power was cycled (off, on); In severe cases, they were replaced. I work away from home quite often so can not always be there to take the appropriate action. For this reason I run my NAS, ADSL Router, DECT Phone master station and Vera from small UPS units. The UPSs will only keep them running for a few minutes when there is a complete power loss but they are protected from power surges and brownouts.
I have found small (300-500VA) used UPS units and replacement batteries at reasonable prices on Ebay.
I have been running approximately 20 Fibaro devices for almost 1 year. I’ve had 2 fail in that time, with one of them looking like it overheated. During that time, I’ve had the power on and off lots of times and not seen any related issues.
The only time I have had issues is when restoring Vera from a backup. Some of the device settings and associations stopped working (even though Vera still displayed the settings). To fix this on the affected devices (typically Dimmers), I clicked the Configure Node Right Now button on the Settings tab.
I don’t think this is your problem here, but I mention the above simply to share the experience I have had with Vera Lite and these Fibaro devices.
I tested with putting my Vera 2, Wifi Router & Network switch on UPS. And switching off my mains with keeping my LED spots on.
All lights go off & my iPhone connectivity with Vera is uninterrupted.
I am creating same set up at different location ( Living Room & Dining on ground floor & 2 rooms on 1st floor) .
All the lights, Fan, Dimmer Lights, Air Conditioner & Curtains in the house will be connected to Fibaro Modules ( Dimmer, On/Off, Curtain) & will put up Digital Inverter (similar to UPS) for my VERA, Wifi Router & Network Switch. Inverter will also include 2 Light point (1 On/Off Module) & 1 Dimmer Module in each room. So that when power goes off i still have few lights on. I am not including my Fibaro On/Off for Air conditioner on Inverter as it power consumption will be too much.
In this case, if the power cuts off how will it affect my system?
Will it break the mesh network as half the modules will be off?
If the inverter has a good output waveform - sinusoidal like normal power supply and at the normal supply frequency - then the modules and lights should work fine. You will need pretty large batteries for the inverter if you expect to be able to run your lights for more than a few minutes. Some compact UPS units can supply large loads - in terms of VA rating - but often for just a few minutes. Watch the small-print!
Will it break the mesh network as half the modules will be off?
That is going to depend on the layout of your house. The un-powered Z-Wave modules will obviously not be able to relay commands to more distant units. If there are modules that you wish to keep running that are out of direct contact range of Vera, make sure that you also supply UPS power to a module that is located so that it can maintain that part of the mesh. This could be a Fibaro module without a load.
Check the attachement. This is how my problem got solved.
All one has to make sure the whole house in on inverter Or else every switch board has inverter wire in it.
So in case of power cuts off for the lights, my modules are still active cz they are powered via inverter. The mesh network remains same. No trouble in working the scenes.
But this can be done only for Relay On/Off & not dimmers.
