Vera Lite Running ui5 1.5.62x (not sure if I have .622 or .621, I can’t see what is loaded?!!!)
I was doing some electrical work recently and had to switch off various branch circuits. Vera and my WiFi were up most of the time except for a brief power interruption while I powered them from another branch circuit. All of the ZWave devices eventually go powered down, some for an hour or longer.
I have a fairly large network with 30+ ZWave devices of various vendors… I have 8-10 CA3500’s in this network.
After everything was finished and restored some of the CA3500 nodes went missing in action. The red LED was flashing on the front of them and they wouldn?t respond to ZWave commands. The local push button did work however showing there was some functionality.
I tried polling, stress testing and reconfiguring the node to no luck. I even tried healing the ZWave network, no good. Then I recovered Vera from a known good backup, still no good.
Eventually I gave up and tried to exclude (using feature in Homewave iOS app. It never seemed to find the device I was trying to exclude. Then I re-included it and gave it a different name. The re-included device seems to work fine.
A few questions.
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Am I cluttering up a ZWave map file in Vera by adding the same device a second time. Is there remains of the old profile cluttering things up or does Vera discard old unused profile items eventually (some sort of clean up).
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Is the problem of these devices getting lost a loss of data within the CA3500, i.e. some config handshake data in the CA3500 that gets lost across power cycle or is it messed up profile data in Vera?
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How does this exclude feature work in the iOS Homewave app? I can’t seem to find an exclude function in Vera.
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Is there a way to reinclude these devices back to the old profile so all my scene’s and triggers don’t have to be redone (as a result of renaming the re-included CA3500.
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Any idea why these CA3500s are so erratic? I had lots of problems with spurious turn-ons before but got that sorted. They just don’t seem as robust as all my other ZWave devices.
[quote=“curiousB, post:1, topic:186766”]1. Am I cluttering up a ZWave map file in Vera by adding the same device a second time. Is there remains of the old profile cluttering things up or does Vera discard old unused profile items eventually (some sort of clean up).[/quote]Did you delete the device form Vera using the trash can? If not, then you probably are creating clutter in that “ghost” devices are left behind in the Z-Wave chip and Z-Wave databases. To eliminate them, you will need to find the ghost device and then delete it, if not from the GUI, then by issuing the Vera delete command with the appropriate device number. http://<local_Vera_IP>:3480/data_request?id=device&action=delete&device=<device_ID>
2. Is the problem of these devices getting lost a loss of data within the CA3500, i.e. some config handshake data in the CA3500 that gets lost across power cycle or is it messed up profile data in Vera?
In this case, the problem was that the CA3500 had returned to its reset/default initial state with no Z-Wave house number or node ID. This is the same state of the device when new or after a successful exclude. Vera's information on the device was likely unaffected, but re-including the device would have given it a new node ID, so Vera would regard it as a new and unique device.
3. How does this exclude feature work in the iOS Homewave app?
No clue. I don't use it.
I can't seem to find an exclude function in Vera.
Devices -> Add Devices -> Advanced Z-Wave devices -> the include drop down(at the bottom) choose exclude -> choose low power dropdown and select full power -> Go.
There is also the - (minus) button on the Vera Lite.
4. Is there a way to reinclude these devices back to the old profile so all my scene's and triggers don't have to be redone (as a result of renaming the re-included CA3500.
Sorry, no. The issue isn't the name, which doesn't really matter. This issue is that the re-included device gets a new node ID on the Z-Wave network(this is not controllable or alterable), which basically makes it a new node. Scene and programming re-configuration is required.
5. Any idea why these CA3500s are so erratic? I had lots of problems with spurious turn-ons before but got that sorted. They just don't seem as robust as all my other ZWave devices.
Uncertain. It appears to be a design/manufacturing deficiency. But, it may be due to age. Certainly, they don't all do this when power is cycled/surged, but some do.
Thanks Z-Waver, very helpful.
I was able to clean out the ghost remnants following your guidance.
I think the CA3500s have a some type of novram vulnerability such that the house number node id gets corrupted or reset. None of my other Zwave devices have ever had this problem but its happened a few times with the CA3500. I think its a marginal design that is triggered across power cycles.
They were a bargain at <$100 for a six pack but, as in life, I guess you get what you pay for!
Maybe I’ll play around with one on a bench and see if power cycling power randomly causes the device to go back to initialize state.
Well I set up a little test bed to power cycle the AC to the CA3500 via relay contacts. Had an Arduino randomly turn on and off the relay for 12-14 hours. No issues. The CA3500 never reverted to the red led flashing mode. I was thinking some type of abrupt power down or power up was going to play havoc on the CA3500 as I saw last week.
Since I am not likely to be able to fix this even if I do diagnose it I think I’ll let this issue slide. I’m not going to use CA3500s anymore given the instability of them.
I have had very good luck with DSC26103’s and will use them for my on/off requirements. Sometimes a little tight tucking them into the box though.