I’ve discovered a strange bug with my setup. I have a 2GIG GC3 panel along with two accessory panels (SP1 I believe) and am using some Z-wave light switches with Alarm.com.
I setup an automation rule for my garage light to turn on for 5 minutes when I walk into my garage by opening the garage man-door. So far so good. Open garage man-door, light turns on instantly, turns off after 5 minutes per the automation rule.
Now the issue is if I turn on the light myself by just hitting the light switch manually. In this scenario the light will also turn off after 5 minutes, which is not desired behavior. Instead of the light only turning off after 5 minutes when it is activated via the door opening, it seems to just set some dumb-timer on the light switch anytime it is turned on, whether from the door or not and will always turn off after 5 minutes. My use case is that when I walk into the garage it is usually to grab something quickly so having the light shut off automatically after 5 minutes is great. However for times when I am going to be working in the garage, I don’t want it to turn off after 5 minutes.
Is this something anyone else has seen? I’ve been able to reproduce this issue on a different light switch in my home as well.
I’m on v3.1.3 and see that there is a new version out but keep getting error 17 whenever I try to upgrade to it.
Now the issue is if I turn on the light myself by just hitting the light switch manually. In this scenario the light will also turn off after 5 minutes, which is not desired behavior. Instead of the light only turning off after 5 minutes when it is activated via the door opening, it seems to just set some dumb-timer on the light switch anytime it is turned on, whether from the door or not and will always turn off after 5 minutes. My use case is that when I walk into the garage it is usually to grab something quickly so having the light shut off automatically after 5 minutes is great. However for times when I am going to be working in the garage, I don’t want it to turn off after 5 minutes.
The rule to automatically turn on a light by opening a sensor does not create a schedule in the light.
The rule is activated whenever the door is opened.
It doesn’t look like this is related to a suretyDIY subscription so I wouldn’t be able to confirm your rule setup, but for example if you have the rule set to turn on for five minutes on open, then turn off, and you manually turn on the switch then open that door; the light will already be on so no change will immediately occur, but it will turn off five minutes after opening the door. This would be expected currently.
In other words, the rule would activate all the time during your chosen time-frame whether the light was already on or not.
I’m on v3.1.3 and see that there is a new version out but keep getting error 17 whenever I try to upgrade to it.
Try powering off the panel for a couple minutes, then power back up. Wait until it fully boots to insert the USB.
Make sure the USB drive is otherwise completely empty and only has one partition.
Hi Jason, thanks for the quick reply. You’re right I am not a subscriber because I found out about this website too late (already had gotten the system installed with a contract).
You’re correct the rule is activated whenever the door is opened. However if I turn the light on, and the door sensor is never triggered (never opened), the light still turns off after 5 minutes. As in there are no scenarios anymore where the light will stay on longer than 5 minutes, regardless of if the door sensor was ever opened.
You’re correct the rule is activated whenever the door is opened. However if I turn the light on, and the door sensor is never triggered (never opened), the light still turns off after 5 minutes. As in there are no scenarios anymore where the light will stay on longer than 5 minutes, regardless of if the door sensor was ever opened.
Do you have any other rules for that light? If so what activates them?
I have two rules that trigger the same light. One is for when the door from the house into the garage opens up (5 minutes), and one is for when the garage side-door opens (20 minutes). The switches are GE/Jasco Z-wave switches (rocker panel with a blue LED at the bottom when off).
We’re not able to replicate that kind of activity.
In this case you may simply have an error in how the rule saved at the panel. I would suggest completely deleting the rules where you are seeing errant behavior, then wait 5 minutes per rule.
After waiting, recreate the rules one by one, allowing 5 minutes in between. Then try testing the light again.
Thanks I actually did that last night and am getting more consistent results now. I think part of the issue was that I had two different door sensors triggering the light to turn on, with different time intervals for staying turned on.
One other question – does a motion detector work in triggering a light rule when the system is disarmed? I tried setting up a rule to turn on the garage light when the garage motion detector detects motion, however it doesn’t work. I have only tried it when the system has been disarmed, but was wondering if that is normal behavior. I see in my alarm.com app that the motion sensor does detect activity at times so I’m pretty sure the motion sensor is working, but haven’t had any success in getting it to trigger a light to turn on. Thank you so much Jason!
Yes, you can set up rules to trigger lights based on a motion detector sensor activity, but keep in mind how motion detectors locally function.
Battery operated motion detectors all generally have an activation delay to conserve battery power, and commonly about 3 minutes of no motion is required before the sensor can activate again.
To test you would need to exit the field of view of the detector, wait at least 3 minutes, then walk in front of the detector.
And allow at least five minutes after rule creation before testing.
