ExpressControls3in1

Revision as of 02:50, 25 May 2010

Overview

The user's manual is here: http://www.expresscontrols.com/pdf/EZMotionOwnerManual.pdf

You can add an Event to your Scenes 'sensor tripped' or 'armed sensor is tripped' so the scene is executed when the motion sensor is tripped. (See also Intro Security.) You can see the current temperature and light level on Vera's dashboard or on the mobile phone interface.

To pair the sensor with Vera (i.e. add it to Vera's Z-Wave network), bring Vera's dongle near the sensor as you would pair any device, and press the blue button on the 3-in-1 sensor. Reconnect Vera's Z-Wave dongle.

Vera needs to communicate with the sensor to identify what type of device it is and configure it. But the sensor will only talk to Vera within a minute of pressing the blue button. After re-connecting Vera's Z-Wave dongle, wait 60 seconds, and if the sensor shows up as 'Generic IO', go press the blue button again, and again wait 60 seconds. Vera should show it as an 'Express Controls' with 3 embedded devices. Assign it to a room like any other device.

If you want Vera to be able to use the sensor, click the '+' button next to the device. Check the box "Let Vera manage the associations". Fill in the 'wakeup interval' box. The sensor is normally asleep to conserve the batteries and will only report the temperature and light reading when it periodically wakes up. This is the frequency of the wakeup. The minimum number you can put in is 360, which means 6 minutes (i.e. 6 minutes * 60 seconds/minute = 360 seconds). At 360, you will get a new light/temperature reading every 6 minutes. However, at this rate, the batteries may only last a couple months. You can instead put in a wakeup interval of, for example, 3600 (i.e. 1 hour) and the batteries will last a lot longer, but the reading Vera has for the current temperature and light may be up to 1 hour old.

When you have specified those settings, save your changes. Wait a minute for Vera to configure the Z-Wave devices and check the color of the cog wheel next to the sensor as explained here. If it's green, everything is okay and the sensor will work. If it's red, Vera was not able to configure the sensor because it probably went to sleep already by the time you saved your changes. Go to the sensor and press the blue button. Within a minute or so it should turn green.

If you have difficulty getting the green cog icon, try pressing the blue button on the sensor, then in Vera's device page, click the '+' button for the device and click 'configure right now'.

There are also a few custom configuration settings for the sensor for things like Sensitivity, Timeout Delay, LED Enabled, Light Threshold, and so on. To set them, click the + button next to the device, choose 'Custom Z-Wave Settings', then 'Add configuration setting', put in the variable number that corresponds to the setting you want to change, choose a data size of '1 byte dec' and enter the desired value, as shown below. Then click 'Save'. Vera will attempt to re-configure the sensor. If it fails, probably because the sensor is asleep, you will see the red cog. Press the blue button on the sensor and you should get a green cog meaning the sensor has been configured with your new settings. (See also: ZWave Options)

Custom Settings

ADVANCED CONFIGURATION AND OPTIONS: Running the 3-in-1 sensor on A/C Power instead of Batteries (Advanced): You can also configure the sensor to run on using a AC/DC converter that supplies the 4.5v-5v DC ~1amp to the sensor. This allows the sensor to report temp and light readings much faster (such as every minute) and allows you to use the advanced settings to set the wakeup interval to "always awake". Please keep in mind that this can FRY you sensor if you don't know what you are doing.

WAKEUP TIME: If you are running on A/C power the sensor also acts as a regular node in the Z-wave network and will help repeat signals. If it's on batteries, it won't do this since it's trying to conserve power. In order to set the Wakeup Time using the Advanced configuration in Vera. This keeps the sensor awake and can be polled from Vera at anytime. To set the wakeup flag to always awake, go into Vera under Z-Wave devices and select the "+" next to the 3-in-1 motion sensor. Then click CUSTOM Z-WAVE SETTINGS and enter in the following settings:

Variable=5

Data Size=1 byte Dec

Desired Value=1

This sets the flag you want, any number other than zero here sets it always awake. You now save this setting and then wait for vera to configure. You now need to EXCLUDE THE SENSOR using the dongle, and once you exclude it, then RE-INCLUDE the sensor and plug the dongle into Vera. You can then go back to Z-Wave devices and select the "+" next to the motion sensor. Then you can set the poll this node to "every 60 seconds" since it's always awake and you'll get temp readings and light readings every 60 seconds. Im not sure the "wakeup" setting does anything here since the sensor is 100% awake. You'll notice the LED always reporting motion, this means you've properly set the flag to be a true Z-wave device and is now more of a true NODE in the Z-wave network.

ON TIME: The ON TIME variable is the amount of time that the lights stay or how long it will be until it rearms itself. There are a few ways to interpret and configure this setting, depending on how you use the sensor

Using the Sensor to trigger a scene: Many Vera users use the sensor to talk to Vera and trigger a scene. The ON TIME variable in this case may be too long until you want the sensor to re-arm itself. If you use Vera this way and would like the sensor to be re-armed after 5 minutes, you 'll need to set the parameter #2 to 5 as shown below. If you'd like to have the sensor re-arm after 10 minutes instead of 20, you'd set parameter #2 to 10. See the example below.

Direct Association: You can associate a light or device directly to the sensor so if Vera is not responding, the sensor can talk to the light/device directly. If you use the sensor and directly associate a light/device with it, this parameter tells how long the light should stay on. If the sensor detects motion and is tripped, the lights will stay on for 20 min and the sensor will then re-arm itself. According to the sensor's manual up to four associated devices are supported, but associating more than one device does not work (as of Vera's firmware 1.0.900, see http://bugs.micasaverde.com/view.php?id=705).

To set the ON TIME flag to 5 minutes, go into Vera under Z-Wave devices and select the "+" next to the 3-in-1 motion sensor. Then click CUSTOM Z-WAVE SETTINGS and enter in the following settings and save them:

Variable=2

Data Size=1 byte Dec

Desired Value=5

OTHER CUSTOM SETTINGS: For a list of variables settings, refer to the user's manual here: [1] . The section 'Configuration settings' lists the configuration parameters you can change. The 'parameter number' is what you put in the 'Variable' column, and the 'Desired Value' as explained in the User's manual.

Leave Parameter #6, "OnValue", at the default if you want the sensor tripped events in Vera.