Experience with mounting Walli using Gira hardware? And suggested small improvements.

[Intvelt 2]

I've recently replaced a bunch of ancient Duwi Z-Wave switches with Walli ones.  The Walli switches offer a lot of functionality and seem to be of good quality, but I wasn't entirely happy.   I mounted most of the Walli switches in Gira frames, and the result feels... wonky.  The switches end up feeling mushy and their action has a decidedly cheap feel to it.  I haven't been able to put my finger on why the switches operate so poorly with Gira hardware, but it might be due to a poor fit of the Gira rocker into the Walli component.  The switches also don't look all that great with the LED backlight active either.  What are people's experiences with Walli in combination with Gira hardware?

I'm hoping to see some improvements, but below are some ways I already got things to an acceptable level of quality.  BTW, I did mount a few of the Walli switches / scene controllers in the original Walli (round) hardware, and those do look and feel good.

 

Issues:

- Gira rocker does not stay seated in the Walli switch.  Solved by roughing the rocker's interface surfaces a little with coarse sandpaper

- Walli backlight looks crappy in combination with the Gira switches.  Solved by applying silver spray paint to the insides of the Gira rocker.  The silver paint blocks the light coming through the rocker, but reflects enough for it to shine around the edges.  In a cinch, you can use silver duct-tape.

- Switching action feels mushy and cheap, sometimes you have to push the rocker in rather far to actuate the switch.   Solved by modifying the moving part of the Walli switch, by glueing two plastic shims in the wells under the metal springs.  This makes the switch feel crisp and reliable.

(Happy to post pictures of this if anyone is curious)
 

Also: the old Duwi modules turn on/off the light instantly when you operate them, which greatly adds to their premium feel.  The Walli switches however take around a second to react.  Is this something that could be improved?
 

Edited August 17, 2021 by Intvelt

[akatar 208]

Well, i don't think that i am the right guy for this, i also have my home full with duwi switches and i also wanted to exchange them with walli.

Thanks to the fact that fibaro ignored every question that i had regarding the walli... i decided to keep the duwi modules and didn't buy walli modules.

 

So my advice is obvious....

[tinman 1,029]

4 hours ago, Intvelt said:

- Gira rocker does not stay seated in the Walli switch.  Solved by roughing the rocker's interface surfaces a little with coarse sandpaper

 

that was afaik fixed some time ago, what is your production date?

 

4 hours ago, Intvelt said:

- Walli backlight looks crappy in combination with the Gira switches. 

 

right, that looks only cool as backlight middle of the night, white looks crappy, blue looks cool, especially if your GIRA is already black

 

4 hours ago, Intvelt said:

Solved by applying silver spray paint to the insides of the Gira rocker.  The silver paint blocks the light coming through the rocker, but reflects enough for it to shine around the edges.  In a cinch, you can use silver duct-tape.

 

hehe same here

 

4 hours ago, Intvelt said:

- Switching action feels mushy and cheap, sometimes you have to push the rocker in rather far to actuate the switch.   Solved by modifying the moving part of the Walli switch, by glueing two plastic shims in the wells under the metal springs.  This makes the switch feel crisp and reliable.

(Happy to post pictures of this if anyone is curious)

 

pictures? always ... 

 

4 hours ago, Intvelt said:

Also: the old Duwi modules turn on/off the light instantly when you operate them, which greatly adds to their premium feel.  The Walli switches however take around a second to react.  Is this something that could be improved?

 

the action will be taken after the rocker has been released, plus few ms till relais goes on, yes, that "feels" long.

 

An firmware option to react on "button down" instead of "button up" would be nice, maybe is there hidden params for that @m.roszak ?

[Intvelt 2]

Not sure what the production date of these things is, but I bought them very recently.
I'll post a picture later.

 

1 hour ago, akatar said:

Well, i don't think that i am the right guy for this, i also have my home full with duwi switches and i also wanted to exchange them with walli.

Thanks to the fact that fibaro ignored every question that i had regarding the walli... i decided to keep the duwi modules and didn't buy walli modules.

 

I still think Walli is a very good option.  Feature wise they are nice compared to the Duwis, which have no status push for instance, and the later versions of the Duwi I got (made by Z-Wave.me) had software issues; they liked to associate with random other devices for instance.  Of all the options out there for Euro style wall boxes and fascia, Walli still seems one of the better options.  Just have to hack them a little...  The most important thing: my wife doesn't hate them

[akatar 208]

@Intvelt there are 2 versions, the .me version has status push.

 

I know robbshop has/had several 3d printed things for walli if you are using the gira55 series

Please login or register to see this link.

 

[pnutp0wer 23]

You can turn off the leds with the parameters.

 

did you already contact your reseller for the gira issue? 

[akatar 208]

13 minutes ago, pnutp0wer said:

You can turn off the leds with the parameters.

 

did you already contact your reseller for the gira issue? 

It will be nice if fibaro has a product that can be used with gira55 system, that the leds are still useble

 

[Intvelt 2]

12 hours ago, akatar said:

It will be nice if fibaro has a product that can be used with gira55 system, that the leds are still useble

 

They are usable, it just looks a bit meh.  And spray painting the inside of the Gira rocker makes it look much better; that's a cheap and easy fix you can apply yourself.  That's why I have not contacted my reseller about this (actually got some of the switches from Robbshop).

 

As for the crappy tactile sensation when using Gira hardware, below is a picture of what I did to fix that.  The dark grey bits circled in red are small plastic shims glued in place under the two metal springs (one of the springs is removed in the photo).  It's trial and error: mount this part back into the Walli switch and test, and keep filing down the shims until the switch works reliably without sticking.  This makes the switch feel much firmer, with shorter travel and a good positive click action.

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[akatar 208]

@Intvelt

Those walli's are to expensive to glue, spray and a lot of diy to make them work

[akatar 208]

@Intvelt i must say, i got curious and i bought a walli controller to add it in my gira 55 system, it doesn't fit??

@m.roszak

[pnutp0wer 23]

No Walli controller only fits Walli.
 

Please login or register to see this link.

 

 

I assume it has something to do with the place of the battery and the way how you fit a gira button 

[akatar 208]

@pnutp0wer according to the fibaro website:

FIBARO Walli is compatible* with front plates of other manufacturers: GIRA - System 55**, Legrand - Celiane, Schneider - Odace. If you are attracted to the sockets you already have, equip them with an smart flush-mounted part and enjoy smart home features without having the front plate replaced.

19 minutes ago, pnutp0wer said:

No Walli controller only fits Walli.
 

Please login or register to see this link.

 

 

I assume it has something to do with the place of the battery and the way how you fit a gira button 

Walli can work without battery

[pnutp0wer 23]

There is also a * and ** in the text which refers to the specifications and configurator.
 

controller is greyed out when you select the gira. ?

[akatar 208]

well i have more useless devices on the shelve, i will add this one

 

[Intvelt 2]

On 8/20/2021 at 5:38 PM, akatar said:

well i have more useless devices on the shelve, i will add this one

 

This hobby can get expensive fast
 

[akatar 208]

I hate it when a compagny stated on the website, works with everything and then add a * 

and then somewhere else on that page: * no not everything

*abuse* that

[akatar 208]

well i found a place for it, just stick it to he wall, so we will never forget

 

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