HAI OP2 and zwave issues

sjht

Active Member
I recently had to rebuild my zwave network to better integrate my locks. I'm now running into issues of HAI zwave commands not executing especially when in a long list of commands. Example, when I turn my alarm to NIGHT, the automation has commands to turn off everything, lock doors, etc. Probably 30+ commands. There are always a few commands that do not execute. Changing my code to use all units off to see if that helps. Anyway, I've never had issues before with this approach, but never had zwave locks in the setup. Have run zwave discover network, etc. but the units work fine when executed singularly. Any thoughts on what may be going on? Is there any limits in how many commands I can send to the Leviton serial unit from the OP2? I also recently updated my OP2 firmware as I haven't done that in quite sometime. Thanks. SJ
 
When I installed my original OP system using Leviton DHC (X10), whenever I kicked off a large macro the OP would get so bogged down that it would lose comms with the keypads.  It would also miss many of the commands, especially the ones at the end.  I ended up inserting breaks in the logic, i.e. execute commands 1-10, wait for 30 seconds, execute commands 11-20, wait 30 seconds, etc.  When I upgraded from the OP to OPII the faster processor eliminated the comms problems, but I didn't bother to try to remove the delays.  Now when I recently changed from DHC to Vizia RF units, I changed all the delays from 30 seconds to 1 second, but like you, found that things were getting dropped again.  I moved the delays back out to 5 seconds, but I'm still seeing an occasional drop.  I'm pretty sure the issue is on the Z-wave side, as Leviton warns against issuing too many commands at one time, as all the acknowledgements clog the network.
 
As I've mentioned in another thread, the major reason I've been so put out about the lack of scenes in the Leviton Z-wave implementation is that it added multiple lines of code.  Instead of issuing one scene command that would effect four lights, now I have to issue four individual commands.
 
What's interesting is that I didn't have an issue prior to upgrading my network (3 new locks) and the OP2 firmware. I also wonder if it's the 2 way communication in the zwave network that might be causing the issue. I do have a large network at about 50 nodes. I also wonder about the locks as they seem to take time to communicate with the serial device. They also may be clogging things down. SJ.
 
HAI panel polls the locks every minute or so, that would definitely increase traffic on your network. I had VRC0P locking up and throwing some mysterious error code 12 frequently until I have removed the locks from the setup. I think all the issues are in the VRC0P that needs a pause between communications. You should put a delay in your code at least for the lock related actions.
 
Yeah before I integrated the locks I actually had them running on a separate zwave network with a different VRC0P. I was sending serial commands to the unit to control the locks. Never had issues that I am seeing now. Wonder if the issue is that occasionally the HAI is polling for locks while I'm executing other things. If there was an easy way to run 2 zwave networks from the panel (besides what I did), that would help. I integrated my network because of the ability for HAI to know the status of the locks.

Also,,what is the best way to put delays in? Thanks.
 
You should be able to run 2 separate z-wave networks on 2 different ports, but I have never tried that.
 
Not sure the panel would know which one to use? I've put in some redundant code to double execute key events to maybe help. Reminds me of x10! SJ
 
IMO, X10 is better than z-wave: just as unreliable but at least cheap and easy to configure :)
 
You have most likely exceeded capacity of z-wave network, the sweet spot for that technology is 10-40 devices that are isotropically spread around controller (and no metal objects in the way). Your network traffic will be substantial with over 40 devices, and with locks polling you are bound to have issues. I would look into adding a software controller like CQC that will handle transmission more intelligently. You can have locks on a separate network with HAI, and link the lighting to the panel via software plugin. This will also allow you to send scenes.
 
"Also,,what is the best way to put delays in? Thanks. "
 
Flags called "Delay 1", "Delay2", etc.
 
Execute commands then
DELAY1 ON FOR 5 SECONDS
 
WHEN DELAY1 OFF
    execute more commands
    DELAY2 ON FOR 5 SECONDS
 
WHEN DELAY2 OFF
    execute more commands
 
and so on.
 
Thanks. I added some all off and added a timer to repeat the macros for critical events. Haven't had an issue since adding the redundancy. HAI did validate that you can only have 1 zwave network defined on the panel. SJ
 
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