Just about ready to pull the plug on a VL and some hardware to go along with it. Been pouring over this forum, and i’m still at a lost about a room setup i’d like to control.
Today, in my living room, i have two lamps, and an overhead light shining on the mantle, currently setup with x10. I have two lamplincs and a keypad similar to this (http://www.smarthome.com/2334-232/INSTEON-Keypad-Dimmer-Switch-Dual-Band-6-Button-White/p.aspx ) that allows me to turn on all the lights as a scene with one button, as well as control just the overhead (dimmable) with another.
I want to move to all zwave, yet can’t find a wall switch that does this, other than the Insteon. Is there a better option? if not, I looks like i can either use the built in Insteon software in the VL, or load Altsteon. If i use Altsteon, i also need a PLM (and more programming intelligence than i’m afraid i have ).
I have this same setup in most of my rooms… overheads and lamps, that i’d like to control from one wall switch. Am i missing something?
Warning with leviton, this brand is very difficulty to work with vera, but in special I have one scene controller like that of the link without switches working fine for months.
There is nothing wrong with leviton switches and dimmers. Do not give false information. They are top notch products. Their scene and zone controllers are a different story and many people on here have issues with them.
There is nothing wrong with leviton switches and dimmers. Do not give false information. They are top notch products. Their scene and zone controllers are a different story and many people on here have issues with them.
Garrett[/quote]
I see a ton posts on these, with what looks like quite a few different workarounds. So… i have two questions i’m hoping someone can just help a newbie get their head around before my stuff arrives:
how much headache/setup issues will the VRCS4-MRZ give me? I’m only trying one for now, but have at least 3 rooms i ultimately have this need for.
Per my original post, is there a better/easier switch option that controls scenes as well as a local load?
Can’t say, but pay close attention to posts identifying a possible change in version of these devices. Generally, those with earlier devices seem to have been successful in configuring them; those with later devices, not so much. I am in the latter group.
VRCS4-MRZ (no switch/ no local load) only 4 buttons to run scenes in vera…no pain… works perfect…I can see many times even my vera3 turned OFF it continues to run the scenes, how ? I don’t know, but it does.
VRCS4 with switch integrated, I do not have one…then I can not speak about.
my experience with local loads is with VRCS2-MRZ and that for me is not so compatible with vera. I need help from micasaverde support to solve the problems…
The scene controller is using device associations. You’ll see Vera saying “Setting special associations” where it is telling the scene controller which devices are part of a particular scene. This works well until it doesn’t and then Vera is stuck on configuring devices which requires removing the scenes from the buttons and making sure the devices are still talking to Vera. I’ve had problems setting up a scene that turns off a bunch of devices, like 10 switches. Setting special associations fails a lot and the scenes won’t properly execute.
(I’ve learned a ton about device associations in the last week when dealing with a VRCS2. I have a few of the VRCS4-MRZs and all Leviton switches and for the most part everything works well together.)
I set this up today as my first installation, and seem to have gotten it to work. THe only question is that the dimmer toggle on the bottom doesn’t seem to do anything. Also, the single pole association doesn’t allow me to dim the overhead (build in) light.
[quote=“tomgru, post:11, topic:177670”]I set this up today as my first installation, and seem to have gotten it to work. THe only question is that the dimmer toggle on the bottom doesn’t seem to do anything. Also, the single pole association doesn’t allow me to dim the overhead (build in) light.
any thoughts? thanks![/quote]Is the overhead light connects to the VRCZ4 with built in switch? If so, that switch is a relay (on/off), no dimming feature.
Insteon KPLs have either relays or dimmers, but I know of no similar Z-Wave devices.
Also, if you decide to use any flavor of Insteon (Altsteon or builtin) with Vera, you will need a PLM. Vera has no Insteon radio builtin. And native support is very weak.
[quote=“PurdueGuy, post:12, topic:177670”]Is the overhead light connects to the VRCZ4 with built in switch? If so, that switch is a relay (on/off), no dimming feature.
Insteon KPLs have either relays or dimmers, but I know of no similar Z-Wave devices.
Also, if you decide to use any flavor of Insteon (Altsteon or builtin) with Vera, you will need a PLM. Vera has no Insteon radio builtin. And native support is very weak.[/quote]
Thanks for help. Weird… the Leviton info says it will dim the last button pressed, and it has a dimmer rocker at the bottom, but it doesn’t seem to work. Should the dimmer work with the scenes?
I may just try Insteon. I have that in another room from an older setup. Unfortunately, my PLC is the 2414u (not the 2413U) and doesn’t seem to be recognized by VeraLite. Sure would like to try it before I buy more of those as well.
[quote=“tomgru, post:13, topic:177670”]Thanks for help. Weird… the Leviton info says it will dim the last button pressed, and it has a dimmer rocker at the bottom, but it doesn’t seem to work. Should the dimmer work with the scenes?
I may just try Insteon. I have that in another room from an older setup. Unfortunately, my PLC is the 2414u (not the 2413U) and doesn’t seem to be recognized by VeraLite. Sure would like to try it before I buy more of those as well.[/quote]The rocker switch will dim any dimmers associated to that scene/zone. Unfortunately, the device itself is not a dimmer.
I am speaking and alerting with base in my experience, my VRCS2-MRZ and works and suddenly stops and I have to set up all again…
[…][/quote] @Piwtorak,
I think a common factor with the VRCS2 is that folks interpret the device as a dual switch, like 2 VRS15 in a single enclosure. But it’s not. It’s a scene controller. And has 2 internal switches.
I have not run an extensive native Leviton network, or for a very long time, but that may be one way to attribute a particular problem to the Leviton gear or to Vera.
I have not found any issues when running a native Leviton network. With Vera, there are some contstraints, and I think some bugs / things that could better. But by and large, things work fine. I have every Leviton unit, except the VRMX1, for test purposes. I do very occasionally have to reconfigure or power cycle them (not just the VRCS2). As said, I can’t know for sure if that would happen without Vera also.
As @PurdueGue stated; the rocker will dim any dimmer associated with the last button pressed. (But of course, there is no indication which one that was. And yes, a device with dimmer would have been handy. For completeness: you can also replace the rocker with the one that has a little red window in it for the IR receiver; this will let you use the Leviton IR remote to kick of scenes and do dimming, and you won’t lose the local dimming feature.)
[/quote]The rocker switch will dim any dimmers associated to that scene/zone. Unfortunately, the device itself is not a dimmer.
[/quote]
I still can’t seem to get the dimming to work. I have created a scene with a single lamp module, then attached that scene to one of the rocker switches. Goes on/off fine, but dimming rocker at the bottom does nothing. I can dim from the Dashboard.
[quote=“tomgru, post:16, topic:177670”]I still can’t seem to get the dimming to work. I have created a scene with a single lamp module, then attached that scene to one of the rocker switches. Goes on/off fine, but dimming rocker at the bottom does nothing. I can dim from the Dashboard.
Any ideas what i’m doing wrong?[/quote]What kind of lamp module is it? If the lamp module is not “scene capable” then vera will not program it into the controller.
You can try associating them yourself, and see if that gets you what you want.
For the controller, click the wrench → Device Options. In "Group ID"enter the switch number (top=1?bottom=4). Click “Add Group” For that new group, click “Set”, find the dimmer module, check the box, scroll down and click “Back to Z-Wave Options” then close the dialog and save/restart LUA.
[quote=“tomgru, post:18, topic:177670”]PurdueGuy… that did it! I have no idea what that is, but It worked. Can you give this newbie a quick explanation of what I actually did?
thanks again! I’ve been struggling with Altsteon, and think i’m going to use these Levitons instead, expensive as they are… so this really helped.[/quote]It depends on what kind of lamp module you have.
If you have a “scene-capable” one (Leviton, etc) then Vera will program the association directly. If not, you need to program it.
Assuming you do not have a scene-capable device, what you did is tell the controller “this device is controlled by this button.”
What are your struggles with Altsteon? I am not really using it now, but I can help answer questions.
[quote=“PurdueGuy, post:19, topic:177670”][quote=“tomgru, post:18, topic:177670”]PurdueGuy… that did it! I have no idea what that is, but It worked. Can you give this newbie a quick explanation of what I actually did?
thanks again! I’ve been struggling with Altsteon, and think i’m going to use these Levitons instead, expensive as they are… so this really helped.[/quote]It depends on what kind of lamp module you have.
If you have a “scene-capable” one (Leviton, etc) then Vera will program the association directly. If not, you need to program it.
Assuming you do not have a scene-capable device, what you did is tell the controller “this device is controlled by this button.”
What are your struggles with Altsteon? I am not really using it now, but I can help answer questions.[/quote]
Coming back to this as i’m adding another switch/controller in another room, and they are the Levitons. So if i’m creating the association, does that also mean that it should work even if the Vera unit is off?
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