Vera suddenly can not connect to three wall light switches

Vera Controllers, Services & Devices Vera Controllers & Cameras
#1

For as of yet an unknown reason, Vera suddenly can not connect to three wall light switches.
System was working without errors for weeks.

The three wall light switches are close to Vera, roughly 30-feet. In case of one wall light switch there is a working wall light switch in between, ensuring a solid signal. In case of other two wall light switches there is another working wall light switch near them that would provide alternate path, and it is working.

Stranger yet is an Aeon Z-wave plug-in booster that could easily reach all three of suddenly failed light switches, isn’t helping. The Z-wave plug-in booster is working to reach five Z-wave wall light switches that are roughly 90-feet away. With Aeon Z-wave plug-in booster being maybe 40-feet from three non-working wall light switches.

Have already tried rebooting Vera.
Have already reloaded a saved backup of Vera from before trouble started.

Is there a way to tell Vera to detect and re-map Z-wave mesh network?

Any ideas as to why suddenly three wall light switches quit working?

#2

If you’re using UI7 it should ‘heal’ every night.

Did your restore with the Z-wave option ticked?
I wonder if you’ve got some corruption (easy answer for everything) or they are faulty all at the same time (unlikely)

C

#3

I didn’t click restore Z-wave Check box first time, thinking it was already checked. But I did click restore Z-wave Check box second time. Also picked an earlier backup for second restore.

Second restore did not help. The three wall light switches are still not being found. It is like all three switches got removed from Z-wave network. Not sure how all three wall light switches could have been factory reset, at same time, but that is what it is beginning to look like.

Not sure there is much more than can be done, other than delete all three wall light switches from Vera system, then add all three back. :frowning:

Is there any Z-wave diagnostic tool that could be used to interrogate the three wall light switches to see if they are no longer part of Z-wave network?
What about Z-wave diagnostic tool that could check to see what is being received at two locations (one switch is in kitchen, other two switches are together in a breeze way) from Z-wave network?

Vera Plus is running UI7 (FW - 1.7.4001).

#4

What brands are the lights? Have you tried power cycling the switches? Meaning turning off power to them? I have some leviton scene controllers which seem to hang after some time. I discovered that the high polling frequency of the vera is causing them to crash after some time so the remedy has been to disable polling and turning power off and on from their circuit breaker.

#5

+1 on the cycle the circuit. Are they all on the same circuit? Did you install them yourself?
I would check that you don’t have a loose neutral on any in question… particularly if they are in the same j-box.

Vera support might also be able to check if you don’t have a bad device that is taking out near by neighbors by flooding the channel. Sometimes as a z-wave device is near end of life it gets overly chatty disrupting other near by devices.

#6

All three are GE/Jasco. Two are several years old. One is about 6-months old.
Haven’t tried power-cycling wall light switches as of yet. But plan to when I get there.

#7

Even though two are mounted one above other, I believe each has its own circuit breaker. Have to check that out.

The other one is definitely on a different circuit, being it is fed from different breaker box than other two.

Yes, I did install them myself. It is possible a neutral connection on one of wall light switches has loosened, but not all three at same time.

#8

Any chance you have some Linear/Evolve branded switches mixed in close to the GE/Jascos and possibly part of the mesh hops from the Vera ? I have had MANY issues with Evolve/Linear switches failing (sometimes partially) that cause the mesh fail in some sections of my house. Removing those devices stabilized it.

#9

I had a GE/Jasco stop working in my garage, which I replaced. I have not tried reinstalling it on another switch to see if it just needed rebooting. I’ll report back what I find.

#10

I had the same problem this week. My entire system went haywire after years of steady service. Red banner: “Can’t detect device” for all 84 lights, sensors and devices. I tried restoring from backups, but that didn’t work. I called Customer Service at 1 (866) 966-2272 (Settings>Customer Care). I described the problem and within hours my system was up and running again. The technician said he had to rebuild my z-wave chip. No one is sure what triggered the failure.

#11

I have had two stop working - and my $0.02 is that unless they are the latest Z-Wave Plus models, toss them out. If I am going to install - or re-install- anything going forward, it is Z-Wave Plus.

If I had the problem the OP is reporting, I would spend the ~$150 to get three Z-Wave Plus replacements and be done with it. Now I am assuming his are the older non-Plus models, which may not be correct.

#12

[quote=“z-wav, post:3, topic:205675”]Is there any Z-wave diagnostic tool that could be used to interrogate the three wall light switches to see if they are no longer part of Z-wave network?
What about Z-wave diagnostic tool that could check to see what is being received at two locations (one switch is in kitchen, other two switches are together in a breeze way) from Z-wave network?[/quote]

Not in the current UI7 firmware. In UI5, and some earlier versions of UI7, you could do a manual heal to try to set things right. And in UI5 you could see the AutoRoute and set manual routes. About all you can do in UI7 is check the PollRatings to see if they are responding to poll requests. You can also go to the device, advanced, then commands, and do a Poll Now and quickly hit the back button to see if the device answered the poll request. My GE/Jascos respond almost instantly…

#13

I have had two stop working - and my $0.02 is that unless they are the latest Z-Wave Plus models, toss them out. If I am going to install - or re-install- anything going forward, it is Z-Wave Plus.

If I had the problem the OP is reporting, I would spend the ~$150 to get three Z-Wave Plus replacements and be done with it. Now I am assuming his are the older non-Plus models, which may not be correct.[/quote]

In my case, if I remember correctly, the z-wave portion worked fine. Vera saw the device, would sent on/off commands okay, but the contactor would not close and energize the circuit. I was thinking it was shot and is why I replaced it. Now that it has been sitting a while, I may find a place to see if it is working. I doubt it.

#14

As suddenly as problem with three Wall Light Switches appeared, the problem has gone away.
Vera can now connect to all three Wall Light Switches. The errors have gone away according to Vera.
I was able to poll all three Wall Light Switches as suggested by wlime2.
Lastly, I was able to turn On or Off each of three Wall Light Switches.

Only idea I have as to why things are back to working is, reloading of prior configuration of Vera with Z-wave data, followed by Reboot of Vera, and then overnight the Vera healed Z-wave network.

Is there anyway to force Vera Plus (Ui7) to run what it does nightly in regards to healing Z-wave network?
If not by UI7 interface, what about via login & command line?