Adding Z-Wave Devices

There are three ways to add Z-Wave devices. Adding is also know as the Inclusion Process. 

      1. Low Power Inclusion (Sets the Z-Wave controller in a low power mode to add devices within 1-3 feet. This was the typical way to add devices until Full Power Inclusion was supported. Most controllers use Full Power Inclusion) 
      2. Full Power Inclusion (Full Power Inclusion gives about 50-100 feet of pairing space for non-battery powered devices (light switches, thermostats, ect). You leave your controller where it normally stays and include as many devices as you can. Depending on the size of your home or the installation area you may have to reposition your Z-Wave hub to add different sections. Please Note: battery operated devices should still be paired within 1-3 feet of your hub. 
      3. Network Wide Inclusion (NWI is a Z-Wave technology developed to make the installation of new devices into a Z-Wave network easier. NWI will use the existing devices in your Z-Wave network to route the information about the new device being added to the controller that is handling the inclusion process. To use NWI your devices on your network need to support it. You put your hub into Full Power Inclusion mode and include like normal.)

 

In this illustration the installer would include Nodes 1-4 first to build out the Z-Wave mesh network. Nodes 1-4 would have to be NWI capable in order to add Nodes 5-8. Nodes 5-8 would also need to be NWI compatible.

When you add a Z-Wave device the hub gives it a Home ID and a Node ID. The Home ID is the same for all nodes in your Z-Wave network but the Node ID changes. For Instance Device 1: Home ID 0x00001111 Node ID 1, Device 2: Home ID 0x00001111 Node ID 2. 

I am trying to add a device but it will not add to my Z-Wave Hub

Believe it or not this is one of the biggest problems people ask for help with. The solution is to remove it before trying to include it. Sounds backwards but let us tell you why. The device you are trying to include has a Home ID already. You are probably asking yourself how can this be? Well here are a few reasons:

  1. Quality Assurance. Once devices are imported into the states many manufactures will do quality assurance, actually testing the Z-Wave functionality. By them not resetting the device, the Home ID is still programmed in. 
  2. You tried including a device but it has failed prematurely. Happens frequently with battery operated devices. 
  3. You purchased an open box product and it's still programmed with original Home ID. 

To reset your device to factory defaults and clear Home ID you need to Exclude your device. 

 

Remove Devices 

Removing Devices is known as the Exclusion Process. It will not only remove a device from your Z-Wave hub but also factory reset the device. It doesn't matter if the device has never been paired with your hub, exclusion mode will always give you a response no matter how many times you remove a device. As a side note: As of right now when you try and add a device into the Zipato Hub it actually sets the controller into Exclude Mode first and then lets you put it in Include Mode. 

Exclusion Mode can be used the three same ways that the Inclusion Mode uses. (low power, full power, Network Wide). Typically if you are having trouble adding a device we will have you Exclude and Include two or three times which tends to solve the problem.