Cooper Scene Controller

Latest revision as of 03:27, 14 April 2010

These instructions work for the Cooper RFWDC 5-scene controller.

Note: Older 5-scene controllers can be difficult to include into a network, and very difficult to exclude. Once you get it included, though, it generally works. This is a problem with the firmware in the Cooper scene controller device. They may be willing to exchange your scene controller with a newer firmware version that does not have these problems. If you have an older one, you may need to do the 'factory reset' procedure below, and, if it still doesn't include, you may need to unplug the scene controller (or turn off the breaker) and plug it in again in order to get it to pair.

[edit] Adding the RFWDC to your Z-Wave network

1. Be sure the scene controller is not already paired with another network. You should see all 5 lights blinking about 2 times per second. This means it's ready to be paired with a new Z-Wave network. If this is not the case, do the factory reset procedure below.

2. Take Vera's dongle to the scene controller. Tap the button on Vera's dongle so the light is blinking about 1 time per second. Now the dongle is in 'include' mode.

3. Tap the 'all off' oval button on the scene controller. Wait 10 seconds or so. The light on Vera's dongle should go solid for a few moments to indicate it paired, and the 5 LED's on the Cooper scene controller should stop blinking. If this does not happen, try again, and if you still have problems, try doing a factory reset on the scene controller.

4. When you re-insert the dongle in Vera, after a few seconds you should see the scene controller show up as an unassigned device on the devices tab in Vera's setup site. If you don't, reload Vera's web page and go back to the devices tab. Pick the room the scene controller is in, and give the scene controller a name if you want.

If you do not want Vera to assign scenes to the scene controller, but will do that using another device, you can stop here. If you want Vera to assign scenes, keep going with assigning scenes.

[edit] Assigning Scenes

On the 'Scenes' tab in Vera's setup site, create the scenes you want assigned to the scene controller. Click the red 'save' button to save your scenes. If you haven't yet added all the lights and other Z-Wave devices you want in the scene you'll have to do that first, of course, and come back to this step later. Click the 'Add Event' button for your scene. Choose the event 'Scene button is pressed'. Then choose the scene controller from the pull-down. Then enter the scene button you want to trigger the scene; enter a number between 1 and 5 for the 5 scene buttons.

After you save your changes, turning on the scene button triggers the scene. Note that the scene can include delays. For example, if you have a 'go to bed' scene, you may want the scene to lock the doors, turn down the thermostat, and turn off all the lights. But, you might not want the bedroom lights to go off immediately if the scene controller is on the opposite side of the room from the bed. So, in the scene, for the bedroom lights, choose the command "On" then choose "After 30 seconds", then "Set a new setting", then "Off". This way, when you choose the scene, the bedroom lights will come on for 30 seconds so you have time to walk across the room, and then turn off.

The 5 scene buttons on the scene controller can be turned 'on' or 'off'. Turning the scene on triggers the scenes 1 through 5. Lights that are scene capable will come on faster since the scene controller will be turning them on directly. All other devices will come on later since Vera will pick up any devices that the Cooper scene controller couldn't talk to directly. Turning the scene off only turns off the scene capable lights, since that's all the Cooper can talk to directly. So if you assign a scene to button #3 that turns on some lights, locks a door, and sets the temperature on the thermostat, turning off scene #3 on the Cooper will only turn off the lights, without changing the locks or thermostat.

[edit] Assigning a Scene to the 'All Off' button or making scenes turn things off

When you press the All Off button on the Cooper it will automatically send an 'off' command to all the lights in all the scenes that the scene controller can talk to directly, namely scene capable lights. But maybe you want the 'All Off' button to also do other things, like maybe have it be your 'go to bed' button that also locks the doors and turns down the thermostat. To do this, create a scene in Vera that does what you want and follow the same steps above in 'Assigning Scenes', but in the 'Which scene number' box enter scene #0. IMPORTANT NOTE: The caveat is that Vera will also run that scene whenever you turn off any of the scenes 1 through 5. There is no way around this because Z-Wave scene controllers were never intended to control anything but scene capable lights and Vera has done a special trick to "catch" scene events from a scene controller. But whether you turn off one of the 5 scene buttons, or you press the all-off, either way the scene controller responds exactly the same way, so Vera can never know which scene you're turning off. For this reason you may not want to use the scene 0 trick in Vera. WORKAROUND: A way around this is to create the scene, and simply assign it to one of the scene 1-5 buttons. In other words, one of the normal scene buttons could run a 'go to bed' scene that turns everything off. Normally you think of a scene button as turning things on, but that's not necessarily the case. A scene can just as well turn things off. In this case, remember that if you tap the scene button a 2nd time which de-activates the scene, nothing will happen. In other words, if you have a 'Go to bed' scene that turns everything off and locks the doors, when you press the scene button on the scene controller the blue LED will light up and everything will turn off and the door will lock. But, if you tap the button again, the blue LED will turn off and nothing will happen.

[edit] Removing the RFWDC from your Z-Wave network

If you already paired the RFWDC and want to remove it:

1. Take Vera's dongle to the scene controller and press and hold the dongle's button for 3 seconds until it blinks fast, meaning the dongle is in 'remove' mode.

2. Next tap the oval 'all off' button on the scene controller. Vera's dongle light should change it's blinking pattern, and all 5 lights on the scene controller should blink quickly, indicating it's not part of a Z-Wave network.

The older Cooper scene controller's are difficult to remove from the network, though. If you have trouble, then do a factory reset on it, and in Vera's setup site, click + next to the device and choose 'permanently remove dead node'.

[edit] Doing a factory reset

1. Press and hold the scene 1, 3 and 5 buttons at the same time for 5 seconds. Do not press any other scene controller buttons at this time. Release buttons 1,3 and 5.

2. While in this state now press and release the 'All OFF' button. A successful reset of the RFWDC will be indicated on the device by continuous blinking of all 5 LED's.