I’m replacing an old, failed zwave outlet.
I got a new receptacle, an Aspire 9505. It included into Vera without any issues and was responsive to commands. I did this within 10 feet of the controller.
I disconnected it, moved it to it’s final location and powered it on. When I press the Zwave button, the unit responds correctly. The other side of the receptacle is powered. But I could not get it to respond to commands from the UI. It has various error messages - "
ERROR: Unable to get any information on node…
or
Cannot contact device, error code: 1…
There are at least 4 powered zwave devices within 10 feet of this device location. I’ve “updated neighbors” on those devices and it had no impact on the problem device.
I’d hate to have to physically remove the device, delete it from the system and reinstall, only to find the same error occurs when putting the unit back in it’s intended location. (It’s in a difficult place to get to.)
Any suggestions? I’ve got another one ready to go to another difficult location, but I’m hesitant to start that project.
thanks
You can also go into the device in Device Option tab and do a “Update Neighbors” and see if that clears it up, since the mesh map was wrong for the device because you included it in a different location that might clear it up. You can also go into Advance->Services and do a “Configure Now” to try to force through the mesh routing as well.
But honest for me Receptacles are a big hit or miss depending on how powerful the radio is in them, depending on the brand they seem to struggle more than switch’s probably because they tend to be behind furniture, in cabinets or other more obscured locations. I have switching to using mostly the plug in kind of wall wart for z-wave vs the embedded outlet. My recommendation these are not door locks, so should be include-able in place (they can go through neighbors usually be be included if they are new). If it won’t include, you are probably going to have trouble with a good consistent connection.
Did some more testing.
Rigged up a pigtail to power the unit and plugged it into another outlet in the same location. Did not work, same result.
Took the unit upstairs of location (this is a car port, floor and walls are not covered with sheetrock). The unit worked properly.
There are 5 powered Z wave devices/outlets/plugins in the carport structure. At no point, either upstairs or down, is one device more than 10 feet from another.
So I really don’t understand why this unit is not working where I want it.
Going to try the second new receptacle (same model) in the hope the first one is just funky. I’ll report back.
thks
Did you try the Update Neighbor? Or exclude and re-include in the location near where you are going to install it?
Having the right mesh mapping on the device and it’s near by neighbors is important to healthy z-wave functionality. When you include it one place and then move it dramatically someonewhere else and it can’t reach back directly to the Vera, you are going to run into trouble until it can re-map in the mesh (aka heal). The Update Neighbors just does a local heal instead of trying to heal your entire network’s mesh mapping.
thanks for the response.
I did try to “update neighbors” when I was able to communicate with the device in the upstairs of the carport, where it was working properly. I figured I had to be communicating with it in order to update the neighbors and updating it when it was closer to the final location would help it along.
Nope, didn’t do anything to help.
So, I unpaired the device and re-paired it. Same result as the first time. I’ve read elsewhere on this board that doing the unpairing and re-pairing several times can sometimes clear up issues. After 4 times, I finally got it to work!
So now, I’m going to try to include the other new receptacle. Armed with this experience I hope to resolve any issues without too many trips back and forth to this other remote location.
thanks again
Glad it worked out… I wonder if it is something to do with the Aspire brand. I remember buying a switch of theirs a few years ago, having a lot of trouble with it, and ended up chucking it and replacing it with a higher quality brand.
Yup, they were inexpensive. At the cost I paid, I could buy 3 for the price of the more expensive 2. Guess the issues can go with the price territory.
The second unit paired and responded without incident. Remote location and all.
The replaced units were 3-4 years old and were in somewhat harsh conditions. No direct rain/sun, etc. but exposed to the outdoor temperatures (unheated car port)