Dinushan Paranavithana Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 Are the legacy dimmers LDZ-101-240-x and C4-TDIM2-Z compatible with the latest EA & CA controllers along with OS3? Can we have a mix of legacy dimmers and latest dimmers in the same Zigbee mesh network? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hunger Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 My home has the original LDZ-101 dimmers, installed around 14 years ago, and they work just fine with my EA-3 controller running OS3. Of course, their Zigbee stacks were upgraded along the way from Embernet to Zigbee Pro. AFAIK, there is no reason why they would not work with newer ones on the same mesh.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 Yes. Lighting is all compatible. Note if you are buying eBay parts bin specials some may still be on embernet not zigbee and require a fiddly 2 step upgrade path on an older controller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted September 27, 2020 Share Posted September 27, 2020 6 hours ago, SMHarman said: a fiddly 2 step upgrade path on an older controller. Quite the understatement. Not only does it REQUIRE an older controller (HC500/300/200) it must be done on older software. Dealer would need to have access to those (software isn't a problem - controllers might be) Do note that older lighting has in SOME instances proven not as responsive on newer controllers (though better on EA series then on HC250/800). In those scenarios, it may be required to have two meshes (or more depending on coverage) - one for old stuff, one for new - which means you would need to have multiple controllers. This is NOT common, but should be noted as a possibility. IF you're looking to 'save money' on a new install - just get the Essential line of lighting and save yourself the headache. If you've got an existing setup and want to upgrade controllers, you shouldn't have any major issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted September 28, 2020 Share Posted September 28, 2020 On 9/27/2020 at 10:23 AM, hunger said: My home has the original LDZ-101 dimmers, installed around 14 years ago, and they work just fine with my EA-3 controller running OS3. Of course, their Zigbee stacks were upgraded along the way from Embernet to Zigbee Pro. AFAIK, there is no reason why they would not work with newer ones on the same mesh. Me too - mine were installed around the same time and I have several dozen of these dimmers and lots of 6 button keypads of the same era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SMHarman Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 Quite the understatement. Not only does it REQUIRE an older controller (HC500/300/200) it must be done on older software. Dealer would need to have access to those (software isn't a problem - controllers might be) Pretty sure you can do this on a 250 and maybe an 800 on an older software version. 2.53?I've never had a 500/300/200 in my system but have done this 5 years ago when I got a bunch of hardware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 Mix all you like. But if you're buying used, Embernet pieces aren't worth a dealers time to mess with, you'll spend more in programming labor, than buying new essentials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted September 29, 2020 Share Posted September 29, 2020 1 hour ago, SMHarman said: Pretty sure you can do this on a 250 and maybe an 800 on an older software version. 2.53? I've never had a 500/300/200 in my system but have done this 5 years ago when I got a bunch of hardware. 250/800 aren't able to do embernet signals, so no - you cannot use those to update (you can certainly have a system on 2.5.3 running on on an HC800/250 - but you need to have one of the others in there to do the embernet communication, could be an HTC or MC too by the way, provided they are supported to run in the OS version you're updating in) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnGordon Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 I keep an old HC300 just for this purpose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 Gotta double up on inventory Dawn!! Too many failures with the older HC's nowadays. I keep 2 x HC300's and a single HC200 for this purpose. Granted, I haven't had to do any Embernet upgrades in a long while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 If anyone wants some HC300s I could let a couple go for about $1000 each! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 LOL I have a pile of HC200's for this - those things were pretty solid other than powersupply failures (and those are easy enough to get if needed) but probably haven't done one in over 2 years now. That said I have one coming up soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAV Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 15 hours ago, Cyknight said: LOL I have a pile of HC200's for this - those things were pretty solid other than powersupply failures (and those are easy enough to get if needed) but probably haven't done one in over 2 years now. That said I have one coming up soon! Curious.... do you find most embernet to zigbee conversions occur when the house changes owners? of is it a case of processor failure forcing conversion? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAutomationNerd Posted October 1, 2020 Share Posted October 1, 2020 When I was buying switches for my house, here's the excel spreadsheet that I put together to figure out what was what. There are probably mistakes here, but finding this info in one spot was difficult... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted October 2, 2020 Share Posted October 2, 2020 On 10/1/2020 at 7:54 AM, RAV said: Curious.... do you find most embernet to zigbee conversions occur when the house changes owners? of is it a case of processor failure forcing conversion? NOW I'd say 40% is 'standard' upgrades, 30/30 for new owner setup/failed controller. There just isn't much left out there to update. Vast majority overall eventually went at least 1.8 or 2.x as a 'natural' process already Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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