Hi. I have multiple outdoor lamps that do not support dimming of the lights. It causes the lamps to turn off. Is there any way i can disable the dimming functionality on certain lamps in the advanced settings?
Thanks.
Related product: Namron ZigBee Dimmer 2 400W | Elektroimportøren AS
How would that work?
When dimming all lamps connected to the dimmer, the ones which cannot dim stay on?
I think that is a hardware issue which cannot be resolved in software. You have to replace the non-dimming lamps with lamp that cán dim.
How it would work?
Just like Philips hue did. i use Zigbee dimmers, and some light sources cannot handle dimming because of inferior bulbs. So they are only turned off and on. In this case its my outside lights.
As far as I now you cannot use Hue lamps connected to a dimmer. Maybe be you can post a print screen of this Hue lamp setting?
Maybe there is an settings in Hue you like, but this setting shall be available in your lamps before Home can enable this setting via software.
Any way, in your first post you already mention that when dimming the non-dimmable lamps they switch off. That is the behavior you want, so I don’t understand your problem.
There is a clear difference between on and off, and partial dimming. The last outcome disables my outdoor lights..
If I accidentally dim my outdoor lights then they will turn off.
The only command I need visible is on and off. No dimming. The concept is quite easy and the specs for the dimmer relay is posted in the very first post.
In essence, all I need is an advanced setting that can be accessed in the top right corner of this control panel to remove this option from the control panel associated with the lights controlled with that relay:
Expected outcome: turning the lights off and on. That option can be accessed on the left hand side of the red X. And one option to REMOVE the dimming panel with the settings option on that Zigbee controller by accessing the settings icon in the top right corner.
How difficult. It is quite trivial.
You’re making it sound like Homey is to blame for something that is basically you buying the wrong equipment.
Also, there are workarounds available, like the Device Capabilities app or using a Virtual Socket.
I just hate those remarks that because the idea is trivial, the implementation is trivial.
The trivial solution is te replace the dimmer by a switch. You can try to install the dimmer as a switch, but most likely that is not going to work, as it is against all design logic.
If I understand @Specifics correctly (?) he has connected normal (not smart) bulbs to a Namron Zigbee dimmer.
And just mentions Hue as comparison.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
You cannot disable capabilities for devices in Homey.
I think it would be possible using a virtual device. Then, creating a new virtual device for that lamp/dimmer and leave the dimming capability out would be a solution to your problem. This would then be the device you are gonna use. You could place “original” Namron device in a separate group with devices you don’t actively use.
Unfortunately I am not that experienced in creating those.
Perhaps you could ask in the relevant topics for “Virtual devices” here.
(Edit; meanwhile you got more replies above)
That equipment works as expected. It’s not a protocol issue. But a UI issue that can be implemented quite easily in the UI section. The point of automation is not to replace three year old outdoor lights or functioning GU10 bulbs.
In addition something else to consider: the dimmer you are using needs a minimum load of 10W. If you connect a light with a lower wattage or when dimmed the load is less than 10W, your dimmable lights may start flickering or randomly turning off.
When using separate dimmers and lights its all about the right combination of both.
As indicated by others above, from the software side of things Homey just shows controls for all available capabilities. In this case of the dimmer switch. By creating a virtual device or advanced virtual device (using the Device Capabilities app), you can decide yourself which controls and capabilities you want to include.
Your dimmer device tells Homey “I’m a dimmer”, but you’re using undimmable bulbs with it. That’s a hardware issue.
No, it’s not, you just want Homey to fix a hardware issue.
It’s not as easy as you think, because it would also mean the flow cards for your dimmer device need to be modified so they will not allow flows to set the dim level.
Anyway, there have been a number of fixes proposed already that will make this work exactly as you want.
Thank you for chiming in. The dimmer relay works as expected and I had year round outdoor lights with Philips hue before the conversion to Homey. I have managed to implement the regular sundown and sun up automatic behaviour. I just want to disable the dimming capabilities for three specific light spots in the same group either individually or as a group.
It is a simple programming task. But not something that should take priority. This is a nice to have function. Not a problem that eats away at anyone. If I check the dimming section then I can quickly discover what’s wrong. It’s just a small thorn in a ecosystem that claims to have «everything» and lacks granular control over something very simple.
No dimming available on 3X light sources. By choice.
Its a hardware limitation. That can be fixed with a small software tweak. I’ll find dimmable bulbs when these die. As in they are already bought and I’m biding my time. It’s not a big issue. But I’m surprised that disabling a specific function seems to be so troublesome. Yes.
Feel free to send a support request for this to Athom: https://support.homey.app/hc/en-us/articles/360015784034-Submitting-a-support-request
Sure thing. Thanks. Have a nice Sunday.
You can use the Virtual Devices app for this. You can add a Light device and only enable the on/off capability.
You need to make Flows
When: dimmer turned on
Then: Set virtual device light capability onoff to True
When: dimmer turned off
Then: Set virtual device light capability onoff to False
When: Virtual device light turned on
Then: Turn on dimmer
When: Virtual device light turned off
Then: Turn off dimmer
But in general: is there a way to “simply copy” a device into a virtual device and then adjust the capabilities?
So that the virtual device follows the state of the original device without extra flows.
That way a capability like dimming could be disabled without multiple extra flows.
You can combine them in an Advanced Flow. I don’t know of any other way to do this.
If I was the programmer of the app I would not acknowledge you product improvement.
As the easy solution is to put the lamps in a group, using the group action. Then you will have a tile with only a on/off botton.
Poor work ethic in other words, RMB.
