ZST39 Z-Wave 800 LR USB Stick

[Zakuska]

So I am an absolute noob when it comes to Zooz so please be patient. I purchased a Zooz ZST39LR just to play around with it and see what it can do. I own a Vivint system. Have no contract and I am just getting into the home automation portion of it. I want to replace all the light switches in the house with Zwave versions so I can control n things thst way.

That is my hope with buying the Zooz. Being able to control all my zwave devices. That was the idea from the start. I was hopping to be able to hack some modifications into the vivint panel but haven’t had any luck their. Even contacted them through CEO promise chat channel. They said my suggestions were good. But nothing yet to even show they considered what a customer wanted.

1st disappointment with vivint was the door bell chime was pretty quiet. Even with volume all the way up. My wife is hard of hearing and even then she still misses door bell rings. My suggestions to Vivint was the ability to set a custom smart action to blink a dedicated light switch with a user specified duty cycle and duration, when the door bell rings. This would also assist deaf people with vivint products as well!

Ive built a sprinkler timer with a wall wart and Zwave relays enabled relays. It turns sprinkler zones off/on, manually perfectly. Next step. Add a timer.bl would be nice if vivint panels had screen for sprinkler control timers.

So any help would be apreciated! So with Zooz can I detect if a door bell has been pressed?!

[Barkis]

Have you configured the Z-Wave USB Stick to perform communications for something like Home Assistant? Or are you strictly on the path of making your Vivint panel handle more tasks for you at this point?

@getoffmylawn has a website called Save The Panel that includes discussion of a number of Zooz devices and how they might be used with older alarm panels. His current test bed doesn’t include Vivint, but you might find some valuable tips there (and Darren might have some additional suggestions).

Good Luck with your project–and welcome to the Zooz Community!

[Zakuska]

Thanks for the warm welcome, Barkis! Since the vivint panel doesnt do exactly what i want it to. I think im left with no other option. But rather that third party hub im just wanting to roll my own, and just need a way to do the zwave communicating. As I mentioned there are 3 things the vivint system has issues with id like it to do.

1. eg. Not having an action to blink a light, When door bell rings. I think i can fix this issue easily enough triggering off of notifications. I get them in both android and windows 11 via phone link.

2. Id also like a screen on the vivint panel to control the sprinkler system. (See below)

3. A web interface where you can control your system from PC. I know why vivint discontinued this. Money grab so everyone has to buy their panel.

To fix 2 and 3, I know if you hit the ip address of the vivint panel, it serves up a page that displays a page with the words in big bold. “SYSTEM INTERFACE” But thats it. A place holder… so it can be done if you could modify that page and enhance it with javadcripts sky is the limit.

Thats the route im toying with right now. A chrome plugin that when that page gets served. It redirects to an HTML site on my local network that mimics what you see now on the vivint panel.

[getoffmylawn]

Hi @Zakuska ! @Barkis is correct, I unfortunately do not have any Vivint panels in my lab, nor have I had my paws in their ecosystem. I just lurk from afar. LOL

In general security system panels are deliberately limited or locked down, typically to maintain their UL compliances. I would not be surprised if the panel is completely not customizable. As such, building a separate automation environment (like a second z-wave network) is usually needed. I’m not sure if you are implying that you want to write your own code (?) for this z-wave network, but it is likely easier to leverage a standard z-wave hub (say home assistant with a Zooz dongle, or a Zooz Z-Box, as just examples) since they have all the inclusion, exclusion and automation logic already built in. From there interfacing to, receiving triggers from, and sending triggers to the Vivint becomes the challenge.

I’ve found the following high level approaches when dealing with such panels:

Leverage existing interfaces/integrations

If you can find an api or interface (even if unofficial or intended for a different purpose) you may be on to something. For the IQ panels, as an example, they offer Control4 integration and that interface has been reverse engineered to be used to integrate to several other platforms (some homegrown). This can be used to push/pull the various triggers and sensor data between the two systems. This has grown into actual plugins for Home Assistant, Hubitat, and a home developed solution with Node-Red called IQ Mate. I’d look to see if Vivint has Control4 integration. If so, you may be able to re-use some of this code!!. It is all on Github.

“Direct wire method” using Dry Contact Sensors

This sometimes is easiest to implement, but results in some wiring and electronics logic, but requires no ‘hacking’ so to speak.

Here’s an example: setup a ZEN58 or ZEN57 on the Vivint panel, and tell the Vivent to close that relay upon doorbell press. (Likely Vivint would see that as a light switch).

Then wire that ZEN58 relay into the switch input on another z-wave device joined to your z-wave hub (let’s say it’s a z-box, with a ZEN16 for example).

So when the doorbell is pressed, the contact closes in the ZEN58 which triggers the switch input on the ZEN16. From there you can configure your light to blink as needed (the light would need to be added to your z-box, and you’d need to program the automation to blink the light. )

Secondary Z-Wave Controller Method

There is also the long desired leveraging of secondary z-wave controllers. That is where a given z-wave environment can have more than one controller. This was intended for the use of wireless remotes, but can be used to allow, say, a second controller to join an existing network. I believe the requirement for secondary controller support was removed from the z-wave certification requirements a few years back, which means support for this is likely absent from your Vivint panel! (since it is a newer device).

PLEASE BE AWARE THIS can be a dangerous option, as trying this in the lab has caused corruption and the need to factory default the panel and/or secondary z-wave dongle/controller!

That said, if it works it would allow the secondary controller to perform some logic against devices on the primary controller. The issues you’ll have include lifeline - where the secondary controller likely will not be able to see switch states, and coordination of the conversation with the SUC/SIS. Also the adding/removing of devices is a whole other adventure which I’m envisioning would freak out the Vivint. I would not recommend the approach because of the high risk and high likelihood of failure.

However I will say I had it working between a Z-Box and an IQ 4 panel for about 2 hours… and it worked, until it massively corrupted both devices. Again, I’d not recommend playing here with a live system.. (I replicated the corruption failure multiple times. Specifically the IQ 4 had secondary controller support removed when it wasn’t required by the Z-Wave Alliance for certification any longer)

[Last note: Home Assistant (specifically Zwave JS and ZWave JS UI) do not yet have full secondary controller support. The Z-Box does seem to support it, however I’m not sure if that is an ‘official’ stance.]

Anyway - just a quick core dump on my thoughts and adventures here…

Out of curiosity - which Vivint panel do you have ? Is it the Vivint Smart Hub?

Certainly keep us updated on your progress. Always curious to see how others tackle the beast of locked down systems.

[Zakuska]

It’s their new one. I do have the old 2gig go controls sitting in a box.

(attachments)

[Zakuska]

Thanks for the response.

“Here’s an example: setup a ZEN58 or ZEN57 on the Vivint panel, and tell the Vivent to close that relay upon doorbell press. (Likely Vivint would see that as a light switch)”

This is exactly what I want to do. I know i bought 4 z-wave relay switches to build the sprinkler system timer I wanted. But ive never had the time for the project, as ive been getting some prerequisite projects out of the way. So ive never actually had them connected to the vivint system and don’t know how automation with the work in vivint.

And I figured as much with the having to setup a separate home automation zwave network. Thanks for all the info on various hubs and systems. Im just starting up on that route. I plan on replacing all the light switches in the house eventually. But that’s been on the back burner for a couple years too. I had to move a sprinkler box in the front yard because I didnt like the placement by the original owners. I moved it 4 feet back into a flower bed rather than right out in the middle of the front lawn. I also built a floor in the attic so it can be used for storage, and I built a man shed / wood working shop from scratch. Im a real DIY-er!!!