ZXT-120 Homekit problems

Posted on
Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:53 am
new2me07 offline
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ZXT-120 Homekit problems

I use a Remote zxt-120 (a Zwave to IR interface) to control a couple mini-split air conditioning zones. Theres a software defect likely in indigo because my vera always reported temperature accurately but the current temperature and cool set points are displayed as Celsius and the heat set point is displayed in Fahrenheit. Obviously this makes setting the temperature via HomeKit nearly impossible, especially for the wife and kids. Any advice as to how I could work around this while keeping a real thermostat device in homekit and not just a bunch of virtual switches?

Thanks for the awesome work on HBB. I know this is not an problem with HBB it just happens to be where it becomes a PITA.

Posted on
Tue Jan 09, 2018 12:13 pm
Colorado4Wheeler offline
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

I'm not sure I'm grasping the entirety of your issue. So is the A/C a device in Indigo and, HomeKit aside, it shows current temp/cool set as C but heat set as F? Any screenshots you can post will be really helpful for me to understand what's failing where and, thus, help you find a solution :).

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Posted on
Tue Jan 09, 2018 12:57 pm
new2me07 offline
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

[img]https://i.imgur.com/YgT6weG.png/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/enJGd7O.png/img]

I just broke homebridge so i cant show a screen shot of homekit un unfortunately, but it represent the same info here current time in C and set points in F.

Posted on
Tue Jan 09, 2018 1:17 pm
Colorado4Wheeler offline
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

Ok, I think I see what you mean now. Is that Indigo device a plugin device or something built-in from the program itself? Did you check the settings of the thermostat in Indigo to see if there is a C or F changeable setting (most thermostat configs have some sort)?

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Posted on
Tue Jan 09, 2018 6:11 pm
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

It's a native indigo Zwave device. There's no parameter to send to the device to fix this. No setting in indigo to correct either. The last thing I got from support was to use the adapters plugin :cry:

I can convert an display the appropriate F temperature numerous ways. I just don't know how to associate that with the HomeKit device, instead of the C value.

Posted on
Tue Jan 09, 2018 7:14 pm
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

There really isn't much that can be done to correct that issue other than to write a plugin that allows you to create a 2nd thermostat that mirrors the first one in the way that you need it to. There is one setting you can try, but I don't think it'll be the fix you are looking for, and that is to go into your server config and select "Show thermostats in Celsius" under Homebridge config. It's worth a shot to see what it does since your thermostat is backwards anyway. Be sure to use the menu to save and reload the HB server after this.

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Posted on
Tue Jan 09, 2018 7:20 pm
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

By the way, I've been considering adding a thermostat device to Device Extensions or HBB for SORT of this kind of thing, it's more so you can pass a thermostat to HomeKit for other purposes, such as the motion sensors I have around the property that also report temperature that I cannot otherwise get into HomeKit. If I go that route then I'll let you know, I may poke around on it tomorrow and see where it leads me.

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Posted on
Wed Jan 10, 2018 5:43 pm
howartp offline
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

The ZXT only works in Celsius so I think it’s a (possibly intentional) bug that Indigo is showing setpoints in F.

I’m sure Matt will be along shortly but it looks like a quick fix in the next dot release.

FWIW, mines working ok in Celsius.


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Posted on
Wed Jan 10, 2018 6:52 pm
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

I've already begun writing a thermostat wrapper that will fix this problem as well as give me some additional functionality for my sensors. It's pretty early in the process now but I've got about 20% of the device written and I'll let you know when it's ready.

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Posted on
Wed Jan 10, 2018 9:17 pm
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

I'm not sure what is occurring, but based on the log new2me07 sent me the module is definitely sending °F sometimes for setpoint values.

Note Indigo tracks the temperature units for the entire device, and doesn't track the setpoints' units independently of the temperature sensor's units. Indigo auto-corrects what units it thinks the module is using every time it receives either a setpoint value or a temperature value from the module. So if this module is sending Setpoints in °F but then sends the current temperature in °C then Indigo is going to think the module is now using Celsius for setpoints as well. There is no way to work-around or change Indigo's behavior (exception being creating a thermostat wrapper device as C4W has mentioned). I'd consider looking into how Indigo handles this in a future version, but it isn't clear to me exactly what is going on with this module. It is definitely sending °F sometimes – I guess when the thermostat itself has been changed to display °F..

Image

Posted on
Thu Jan 11, 2018 2:01 pm
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

There is a development release of Device Extensions that adds a Thermostat Wrapper that may address this issue. It's still under development but it is functional now. Give it a try and see if it helps your situation. Since this is not yet a public release, the quick and short is:

  • Download and install the ZIP file linked above
  • Create a Thermostat Wrapper
  • Drop down the list and select "Wrap a Thermostat" and select your thermostat from the list - this means that any function or field not specifically overridden will pass through to the referenced thermostat
  • Drop down the list and select Temperature and/or Humidity and assign one/both/none of those to point to a device state to get the data from - so you may want to point the temperature to some other device state that represents your thermostat's proper value. Device extensions also has converters for just this type of thing so you could create a conversion for C to F or F to C and then reference that conversion extension in this device state
  • Add it to the devices for your HBB server, do not assign it as anything in particular since HBB will detect it's a thermostat and treat it as such in HomeKit

Try it and see if it helps and let me know. This is an early release so I have only mapped temperature and humidity to device states for now, but much more is planned.
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Posted on
Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:47 pm
new2me07 offline
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

The add to HomeKit check box produces an error that I don't have a suitable version. Created it anyway and after a restart then a re-pair with HomeKit it came through. Temperature now displays fine!!!

I don't no how much coding would be required but could there ever be a way to map an action group to set point temperature? My suspicions are that the device is just now nearly as robust as HomeKit. Setting the temperature slider only changes the temperature if conversion from C to F ends up being a whole number and once I see some decimals in the indigo set point temps I can't get a temperature change to work at all, and thats done pretty close to the physical layer so I don't think anything can really be done about it.


And I just want to say people like you make the internet great and give me hope in humanity, thank you for sharing your work with the community.

Posted on
Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:17 pm
Colorado4Wheeler offline
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

new2me07 wrote:
The add to HomeKit check box produces an error that I don't have a suitable version


It wasn't supposed to yet, that's a pre-release of an upcoming version that does work.

new2me07 wrote:
I don't no how much coding would be required but could there ever be a way to map an action group to set point temperature?


Yes, that's doable.

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Posted on
Tue Jan 16, 2018 5:31 pm
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

Now that I'm looking at the code I see it was still sort of in limbo to see if that one thing got you where you needed to be, it's actually not passing commands at all for increase/decrease heat/cool set points so that's why it wasn't working. I'm working on it and should have THAT fixed if you wrap a thermostat but also the ability to use action groups too if you want (I would suggest trying the wrap first though). I'll let you know when you can download a new version.

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Posted on
Wed Jan 17, 2018 10:30 am
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Re: ZXT-120 Homekit problems

Ok, you can download the next "version" (it's still a preview of the next official release) from this link and it has the fully completed wrapper now. You can view the current documentation on the wrapper on the Thermostat Wrapper Wiki.

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