What's a good Z-Wave wall-wart w/adjustable ramp rate?

Posted on
Wed Sep 14, 2016 12:31 pm
Jann offline
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Joined: Mar 12, 2006
Location: Auburndale, FL

What's a good Z-Wave wall-wart w/adjustable ramp rate?

Searched for "Ramp Rate" in this forum & didn't get answer so here goes... (btw: When I say "ramp rate controllable" I do NOT *necessarily* mean "can indigo control it on the fly"... I mean can Indigo set the ramp rate OR can I set it by using indigo to turn the brightness to a value representing the ramp rate, then double tap (or whatever) the switch to set it. The old Insteon used to require this. The new insteon switches allow indigo programmatic control of ramp rate)

Purchased a couple Z-Wave Levitan DZPD3 (cos they were at Lowes and inexpensive) and now I am regretting it.

Halloween & Christmas is coming up. The DZPD3's replaced several Insteon units w/ramp rate capability and cannot be controlled w/my "normal" Indigo Halloween & Christmas decoration settings.

Here is why...then I hope to get help on which wall-warts to buy. For halloween I have different pumpkins set plugged into individual wall warts. Each wall-wart is set to a different ramp rate. Hence when I have indigo trigger them to come on/off they seem to be random cos 15 pumpkins w/diff ramp rates look random when placed together. For Christmas I have diff light sets plugged into several wall warts and Indigo does the same things.

DZPD3's - according to Levitan - have no ramp rate change capability...and Indigo indeed does not show anything.

Ideas on good wall warts? Smaller would be better. The GE 12720's I have are only on/off (appliance modules) and I bought them for this as they control transformers and an espresso machine ( don't judge me).

Is the GE (Jansco?) 12718 ramp rate controllable via Indigo? Some places say it has ramp rate change, but PDF http://bit.ly/ge12718 doesn't show it.

Are there any others? Linear PD300Z-2 at IndigoStore doesn't say it has ramp rate.

Anyone try Aeotec Z-Wave Smart Switch 6, Gen5 at https://www.amazon.com/Aeon-Labs-Aeotec ... B00VQISOCG
If so, does Indigo use - in any way - the energy usage that it says it reports?

Posted on
Thu Sep 15, 2016 2:14 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: What's a good Z-Wave wall-wart w/adjustable ramp rate?

Sorry, I don't know of any. One of the larger fails of the current crop of Z-Wave dimmers is this and a related problem. I hate how most of them exhibit the "turn on to the last brightness" behavior. Insteon dimmer devices (IMO) are way better in both ramp rates and default on levels.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Fri Sep 16, 2016 5:28 pm
Jann offline
Posts: 120
Joined: Mar 12, 2006
Location: Auburndale, FL

Re: What's a good Z-Wave wall-wart w/adjustable ramp rate?

Okay, found this on the GE 12718... It DOES allow editing ramp rate (i do it clumsily through the vera...but i cannot get the fine control i get in Indigo.

How do i send the commands OR does this help you integrate this device so i can control ramp rate from the device interface (like i do insteon)

Dim Rate Adjustments
Both the number of steps (or levels) that the dimmer will change and the timing of the steps can be modified to suit personal preferences. The timing of the steps can be adjusted in 10 millisecond intervals. As an example, the default setting for parameter 8 is “3”. This means that the lighting level will change every 30 milliseconds when the Dim Command is received. A value of 255 would mean that the level would change every 2.55 seconds. Combined, the two parameters allow dim rate adjustments from 10 milliseconds to 4.2 minutes to go from maximum-to-minimum or minimum-to-maximum brightness levels.
1. When Receiving a Z-Wave Dim Command

Parameter 7 (number of steps or levels)
Parameter 8 (timing of the steps)
Length: 1 Byte
Valid Values:
Parameter 7 (default = 1) Valid Values: 1-99
Parameter 8 (default = 3) Valid Values: 1-255
2. Manual Control Dimming (pressing the Dimmer’s button)

Parameter 9 (number of steps or levels)
Parameter 10 (timing of the steps)
Length: 1 Byte
Valid Values:
Parameter 9 (default = 1) Valid Values: 1-99
Parameter 10 (default = 3) Valid Values: 1-255
3. When Receiving an All-On or All-Off Command

Parameter 11 (number of steps or levels)
Parameter 12 (timing of the steps)
Length: 1 Byte
Valid Values:
Parameter 11 (default = 1) Valid Values: 1-99
Parameter 12 (default = 3) Valid Values: 1-255

Posted on
Fri Sep 16, 2016 8:54 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: What's a good Z-Wave wall-wart w/adjustable ramp rate?

You can set arbitrary parameters using the Interfaces->Z-Wave->Modify Z-Wave Parameter... menu item.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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