Dimmer2 and associations

[VMatas 0]

Seems I have some problems with my setup stability. Setup is as below:

 

1. HC3

2. 5 groups of lamps, from 2 up to 5 lamps per group(total 21 lamp). Each lamp has its own dimmer(Qubino). Each lamp can be dimmed separately  from HC3 without any problems.

3. Each group of lamps has its own dimmer(Fibaro dimmer 2) with monostable switch(on/off, held for dimming, 2 times click for max). Qubino dimmers are controlled through Fibaro dimmer associations.

 

Problem:

 

When Fibaro dimmer is added to network and associations for appropriate Qubino dimmers group are created all things are ok, on/off, dimming, double click functions are working as expected. But after few days problems will appear: on/off is working with noticeable delays, dimming function has strange behaviour - instead of slow dimming lamps brightness in about one second is going to zero and lamps are off, double click isn’t working at all. If I remove whichever of Fibaro dimmer from network, then reassign it and add associations - for some time that group works as expected.

 

So question is - what mistake I have made? It is problem with HC3 load or something else? May someone can comment this situation?

[petergebruers 1,265]

It will never work.

 

This week I explained to 2 users why I would forget about using associations... The full topic is here:

 

 

The relevant part in BOLD

 

I explained elsewhere why I discourage the use of direct associations... because there are several possible issues. Used scenes instead

 

Basically, on paper everything sounds good, but when you start to use them, you enter a world of pain. Key issues are: status reporting, toggling, transitivity, secure mode. And I probably forgot something. Oh... multicasting, making any kind of decision(eg light on if outdoor temp above X degrees)

 

I am going to oversimplify this, hoping to save you from going down a rabbit hole.
 
My rule of thumb: forget about associations. They are a remnant from the past. 15 years ago, "gateways" did not exist and a Z-Wave controller looked like a giant remote. It didn't have a fancy GUI. So simple associations like turn on and off or dim were very important. Because of the backwards compatibility of Z-Wave we still have (some) direct device to device associations.

 

The only way to diagnose is by using a Zniffer or to invite an installer with such a "Z-Wave Sniffer".

 

But imho getting a diagnose is a waste of time, because you still won't have any solution.

Edited April 10, 2022 by petergebruers

[VMatas 0]

Thanks!

 

[Sonic 0]

Hi,

 

Stumbled across this and wanted to react. I have a similar (simpler) situation whereby I have two dimmers cross-associated with themselves so each can properly control the other (including dimming) with the S2 input. 
Note: this works flawlessly with the FGD-211 (the 'Dimmer1') - with some caveats regarding transition time, IIRC - but works inconsistently with the FGD-212 ('Dimmer2'). Often the S2 on the FGD-212 will fail to register a press the first time and I need to press it again to get the associated dimmer to properly toggle. If I press S2 soon after pressing S1 (all are momentary switches, BTW) then it usually does work. Since I had no issues with the FGD-211, I assume it's a newly introduced bug in the device and have been putting up with it ever since...

 

If someone can point me in the right direction for solving the issue, I would really appreciate that, but I've kind of given up hope... Anyway, I am willing to be pleasantly surprised.

 

Edit: typo.

Edited January 8 by Sonic