First Alert Zcombo Factory Reset
Marieta Reeks
Was it maybe "force removed" from Iris instead of politely excluded? I moved one from SmartThings to Hubitat a while back, and don't remember any problems. If it still thinks it should be on the Iris network, it won't try to join Hubitat. There are two things you could try to make sure: factory reset the detector, or put the detector in exclusion mode as you run a general Z-Wave exclusion from Hubitat (or Iris or any Z-Wave controller). In Hubitat, you can go to Settings > Z-Wave Details and click Z-Wave Exclude. Then, according to this ST support document for the ZCOMBO, open the battery tray, press and hold the "Test" button as you re-insert the battery, and release when you hear a beep (probably what you did before). I'd also recommend keeping the "Logs" view in Hubitat open in a separate tab while you do this to see if it reports "Unknown Z-Wave device excluded" or similar, which would likely be this detector.
Alternatively or additionally, a factory reset on the detector should also do this. The same document says holding the "Test" button for 10 seconds will do this. (It sounds like a lot fewer steps, but the Z-Wave exclusion really probably takes about the same amount of time, and the logs will give you a better idea of whether this might actually have been the problem.)
After trying either or both of these steps, try to include it again and see if it works. The same steps from above with the battery tray and button will put the ZCOMBO in inclusion mode (probably also the same you were doing before); just put Hubitat in discovery mode instead this time (as you probably also did before).
Having the exact same issue... I excluded using Hubitat then reset my two First Alert ZCombo devices. Trying to include them is giving me trouble. I get the initial beep telling me its in inclusion mode, then I initialize the zwave discovery and after a few seconds, the device beeps a second time which I thought was signaling that HE found it but nothing is showing up in HE as a new found device? I tried it with both devices and the same result.
I have tried pairing it right next to the hub as @Navat604 suggests but again same result. I have also put in new batteries in both devices.
UPDATE: I was finally able to get both devices connected although I am not exactly sure of which steps I did and in what order sequences caused it to connect successfully. I will post them here just in case others have this issue:
When the inclusion works it works very quickly within a couple of seconds. On one of the devices, it took a couple of times to successfully connect so I had to repeat the Z-Wave Inclusion a few times.
These instructions appear to be the same as dcoffing mentioned above. But, the reason for my post here is to help anyone who, upon receiving this device, studied the paperwork, etc and found no mention of Z-Wave nor how to initialize this device for inclusion. I first though the wrong device had been packaged because the package did show one Z-Wave logo.
1. Slide battery door open and insert batteries.
2. From the Hubitat Web Interface home page, select Z-Wave ,
then Start Z-Wave Inclusion on the Device Discovery page.
3. Press and hold the test button. Keep it held down as you slide
the battery drawer closed. You may then release the button and
the alarm will remain awake for 30 seconds on inclusion.
Hubitat newbie here. Brand-new out-of-the-box hubitat and First alert Z-Wave combo. I have tried repeatedly following several different instructions to get any results and have failed miserably. So far all I have received from support is a canned email response. I'm beginning to have buyer's remorse.
Two ideas: even though it's new, try a reset or exclusion before you try including. You shouldn't need to do this, but rarely, I've heard of Z-Wave devices coming from the factory thinking they're paired to something (perhaps leftover from testing), and this might help. There are a few possible methods of doing this in the posts above. One thing that as changed since some of those posts were written is that you now have a "Start Z-Wave Exclusion" button on the pairing page, same place you'd go to add a Z-Wave device, so you don't have to go to Settings to find that anymore (and it will tell you in the UI if it found a device to exclude; no need to keep the "Logs" open, but I might anyway).
If that doesn't work, I'd consider your network. Is the detector far from the hub? Do you have any other Z-Wave repeaters (generally mains-powered devices like Z-Wave outlets, plugs, and switches/dimmers, though dedicated "repeater" devices are also available)? If not, consider adding at least one to your network. In the meantime, you might be able to work around this by pairing the detector close to the hub, but if you can't pair a Z-Wave Plus (or Zigbee) device in place, it's unlikely to work in place, either.
Even with all of that, these devices are tricky. I remember having trouble moving mine from SmartThings or Home Assistant (can't remember where I had it paired...) to Hubitat the first time and had to try a few times before it worked. Not quite as picky as Z-Wave locks, but still picky enough for me to remember.
Don't hesitate to ask the community here for help, often we can respond quicker than support. We might not have all the answers, but at least we can try! And sometimes, smart people like bertabcd1234 are able to help us through things.
Had a Zcombo marathon today. I moved five of them from ST to HE. I believe, (aside from four leak sensors in really awkward places that I don't want to go to) that they are my last devices on SmartThings that I had to move over.
I did not bring the Zcombos to the hub because it's in the office where my wife works, and I was too lazy to disconnect it again and drag it on an ethernet cord around the house (just did that for the front door lock and watercop valve). I also have a dog that has a mental breakdown if she hears any smoke alarm chirping so had to keep her at one end of the house while I held the Zcombos under a couple pillows at the other end. So it was lucky it ended up that distance seemed almost irrevelant.
General process was exclude from ST, try an include on HE, if it didn't work do an exclude on HE and try some more. If that failed factory reset and go from there. Three of the devices would not exclude from ST no matter what I did. So they got a factory reset.
Third was in bedroom a little closer but it's got a Faraday wall in front of it (HVAC system is between the bedroom and hub) and it just would not join on try after try. Not so surprising, really. Took it into master bedroom (maybe 15' and two walls from the hub) and it and the one in the master both had a stuck at initialization that cleared up when I rebooted the hub. After the two chirps that are required every time during an include I would run the Zcombo down the hall nearer to the office in hopes that would help. I'm sure I looked a bit of an idiot running around the house holding smoke alarms up in the air like I was looking for a fire.
The last one was the crazy, make me want to throw it into a fire or volcano one. My wife (works from home) took a lunch break so I told her "give me three minutes" and went into the office. Standing three feet from the hub I could not get the sucker to include. Multiple excludes, factory resets, includes, etc. 15 minutes later she threw me out of the office to take a meeting. I took a break to drink a bottle of vodka and calm down.
A while later I found myself standing outside of my house in front of the office with smoke alarm in hand. After a bunch more tries (and some unfortunate swearing I hope my neighbors didn't hear) I finally I got an include that got stuck on initialization. At that point that felt like I had won the lotto. A reboot didn't seem to solve it, and I gave up again.
A while later I was doing something else and Christmas came early, there in the device list is "Generic Smoke Detector" It had snuck in on its own somehow. Renamed it and now they are all set up in HSM. Whew. Where's my reward?
Really interesting that the hardest one to connect was the one closest to the hub, and one of the easiest was the one farthest away. Glad to be done, nothing less fun that hearing loud high pitched smoke alarm chirping over and over again...
@danabw OK I ran in to your problem I think. I upgraded my C7 hub from 2.2.2.129 to 2.2.3.142 and did the ZWave radio firmware upgrade. I was seeing errors and FAILED in my Zwave settings. I could temporarily get them to go away if I pressed the test button. So I thought I'd just unpair the smoke detectors and repair them but it wasn't as easy as before. This is what worked....
Each First Alert ONELINK alarm requires only 2 "AA" batteries. This includes smoke alarms and integrated smoke and CO alarms, including the battery operated alarms and the hardwired alarms with battery backup.
The First Alert ONELINK system uses photoelectric smoke sensors. Photoelectric sensor technology is more nuisance resistant around kitchens and bathrooms, which traditionally are more prone to nuisance alarms from cooking smoke and steam from showers. Some areas of the country require photoelectric alarms near high nuisance areas like kitchens and bathrooms.
Yes. All First Alert ONELINK alarms are listed by ETL, an accredited NRTL (nationally recognized testing lab) to ANSI/UL 217 standard for smoke alarms and ANSI/UL 2034 standard for carbon monoxide alarms.
It is important to follow these steps carefully when programming your First Alert ONELINK smoke detectors. TO PROGRAM FIRST ALARM: 1. Insert 2 AA batteries. Alarm will say: "Welcome, First Alert Smoke Alarm." It will then say "No location programmed" if this is the first time the device has been activated, or "[Location, example: "Basement"] location programmed" when changing batteries. The ONELINK detector will then say "To select location, press and hold test button now." 2. Press & Hold Test Button if you would like to program the location or change the location of the alarm. Release button after alarm responds. Alarm will say: "To save location, press and hold test button after location is heard." The ONELINK smoke detector will speak list of locations. 3. After you hear the location of where you are placing the Alarm, Press & Hold the Test Button. Alarm Will Say: "[Location, example: "Basement"] location saved." If no location is chosen: "No location saved." Your Alarm has now been programmed for the location of your choice. ADDING AND LINKING ADDITIONAL ONELINK ALARMS NOTE: To create your integrated smoke detector system, steps 1 through 3 below need to be completed within two minutes. If more than two minutes pass, the green power LED will stop blinking. Simply open the battery drawer of the second detector and repeat steps 1 through 3. 1. Insert the batteries into the battery drawer of the next detector. DO NOT CLOSE THE DRAWER. 2. Press and hold the test button and then close the battery drawer. 3. Once you hear the unit chirp, release the test button. The green power LED will start to blink indicating the ONELINK detector is waiting for program data from one of the other existing ONELINK alarms that are already set up.
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