I have 3 DBMZ units that run off the same power supply and are mounted very close together (within 1 - 2 inches of each other on a piece of board tucked up in the ceiling). They generally work OK when using an Intermatic HA09 controller. When I move them over to control by ThinkEssentials, I start to have problems.

I think the issues are purely TE related, but did one question.

Is there any minimum distance that the units should be mounted away from each other?

The problem with TE is that I am unable to set fade levels. The DBMZ's show up as a fade-able light switch. Fully On/Off works OK to either have the blinds (Hunter Douglas) Up or Sheered. To have them "closed" though requires about a 5% fade.

When I try to set any level of fade, the relay in the unit gets "jittery" and the blinds move just a little. I could go from a 0% fade to a 99% fade and they barely move, but the DBMZ's click several times (assuming it's the relay opening/closing)

Before I start taking things apart, is there any chance this is an issue of the units being too closely mounted to each other and causing some strange interference when used with the ThinkStick antenna as opposed to the HA09?

Thanks!!

When I first installed these about a year ago, I believe I re-calibrated several times. Always the same issue, TE cannot properly set a fade level. Maybe 1 out of 10 times it would work, but never worked with any regularity. I finally gave up and just starting using the HA09 controller on the blinds.

Just as an FYI, I also remembered this. I tried using ZWave Commander on my iPhone with the same ThinkStick antenna. Blind fades with that worked perfectly, there just was no scheduling ability. I guess that kind of answers my question because that was with the antenna in the same place on the same PC, just with different software.

Given that...

1. Any idea why TE doesn't work properly with the DBMZ's?

2. Is there any software you can recommend that works similarly to TE (scheduled events, scenes, etc...) that is known work correctly with DBMZ's and can handle the fades OK?

Thanks!!

Let me know if there is anything I can provide to help with that. I did just order the Pro TE version earlier this week and will upgrade to that as soon as I receive it.

I ordered the Pro version not so much to address this DBMZ issue, but for the ability to be able to transfer the saved settings from one USB antenna to another. We had one start to break on us and when we ordered a replacement antenna, we found out the issue of the regular TE version not letting you transfer all your saved scene/device data from one antenna to another.

Thanks for looking into this!!

Old thread, but I am still watching it...

Understand the timed issue vs. a true fade. The problem is just getting TE to take the correct amount of run time. The only way you can set it is with the fade slider that is part of the switch GUI that comes up for a DBMZ. I was able to get it to set very close to what I needed on only 1 of the 3 DBMZ's. The other 2 are only able to come to within about 12 inches of what is the actual closed mode on these Hunter Douglas blinds. Run it all the way one way and they retract fully. Run it all the way the other way and they extend fully and are then sheers. The "closed" mode for these blinds is about 5% off of fully extended down.

It's that 5% off of the bottom that I am having issues with on 2 of the 3...

Thanks!

You know it might be the Tilt feature of that controller.  It is for window products that tilt like Wood Blinds.  When you get to the bottom limit it changes to an incremental movement to be able to tilt the product.  

See the advanced user manual on the Programming Tab at the bottom of this page:

http://www.elec-solutions.com/products/z-wave/dbmz.html

See that there is a way to disable Tilt through programming.  Not sure if this is your problem though.  Do you know what type of motor you have, could you take a picutre of the motor head and post it?