What are your workarounds

#1

One and only problem in my smart house is communication issues.
Let me explain:
A piston is triggered,
8 RGB Lights Turned ON
Ok great…
BUT sometimes it does NOT. Lets say number 5 remains OFF (this is just an example)
and sometimes number 7 remains OFF

OR
I walk into a room, I can see that motion sensors tiny blue light blinks.
But the piston is not turning the lights OR the music ON…

I know these are not necceseraly piston coding problems.
It could be signal, network, St hub, firmware etc issues.

My workaround is - for the important pistons - create another piston and have second piston check the status of that room minutes or two after the first piston was triggered.

I would love to hear the problems like this you had and how you solved them?

If we get nice workarounds with example pistons I can change the category to EXAMPLE pistons.

Thank you all…

#2

Maybe post a green snapshot of the piston that has the multiple rgb bulbs. I don’t have that many in one location so I don’t encounter the same issues some folks encounter as far as bulbs not all turning on.

#3

Hi @eibyer

This is one of them. I picked the most simple one I have (no variables, no this no that :))))
With this bathroom, not always but once every two week maybe, I walk in, sensors is triggered but no lights OR
sometimes, lights turn ON after maybe 15-20 seconds…As I said only a couple of times a month or so…

I’ll try to get the logs right after when that happens…

ps: I’ve read in different places about overload. Maybe in general that’s my problem? (I have about 60 RGBs, 30+smart wall switches and outlets and all together over 250 devices - not included sim switches)

bathroom%20guest
bathroom guest.png1178×658 104 KB

#4

That is a lot of smart bulbs / switches so I am not surprised that you are encountering some delays. I do see the delays you mention even with a single bulb/motion combination. It is probably latency so sometimes if I’m by myself there’s probably a video of me doing some weird movements trying to turn the bedroom light on :smiley:

Edit: Re your piston above, I’d be tempted to try something like below:

image

#5

I see…
I love that…Will try today ASAP
but just to learn better:
This piston is turning the lights ON and every 5 seconds sending a signal again UNTIL they all are ON?
is this correct…

and question: Do i need NEVER CANCEL TASK with that WITH {lights}

thank you so much for your help…

#6

That concept does work, just be aware that it adds more congestion to your already action-packed house…
(which is why I have never suggested this method to you)

#7

Also be aware that both of those triggers are only true for a few seconds. I am not sure what happens to the loop when it returns to a false state.

#8

Yes I though that would happen but for some important places I can take that risk (guest bathroom for instance) I don’t want them to come out all in the dark, wondering what hapened LOL

#9

One trick that I do for this, is when I have guests, I flip a SimSwitch (using Alexa or whatever). Then in certain rooms (like the guest bathroom) the delay for turn off will be extended longer if SimSwitchGuest is on.

#10

No no the switch part was with OR and only for testing purposes (when i had a problem with them, i wanted to see what happens by manually switching them on and OFF.) So it will have a single trigger…

#11

What I mean is, with a single trigger of this:

IF Motion changes to active

that block is only true for a few seconds.
After that, the motion is no longer changing to active…
After that point it is active.