How can I restore connection to my wired smart light that I can't turn off?

[333Matt]

Smart (not smart enough) light installed in drop ceiling. Was hooked up for months - rarely used - and then...

Power outage in the middle of the night. Light is now stuck on.

I can't find the box or any purchase records.

I can't remember if it is connected thru a third-party app, but it *is* registered in Smartthings. When I tap the tile it says "Downloading Controller" and a tiny indicator goes from 0-100%. Usually it presents an error message "Couldn't download controller for shelf light. Please try again." Which I have done many times.

Was I naive to think that this stuff should stay working, once it's all hooked up, in this age?

Has anyone resolved a similar problem in Smartthings? If not what do you expect I try? Is there a definitive way to see if it was registered through a third-party app then connected to Smartthings? (I've gone through what I can find of smart controller apps that I've installed on my phone and don't find the device on any. Though I did have to reset my account password for LePro LampUX, but there were 0 devices listed once I logged in).

I have a feeling cycling the breaker will be suggested, which is inconvenient but do-able at some point. But I'd like to have a rough idea of what to try software-wise if it starts flashing for sync.

 

[kanewolf]

Smart (not smart enough) light installed in drop ceiling. Was hooked up for months - rarely used - and then...

Power outage in the middle of the night. Light is now stuck on.

I can't find the box or any purchase records.

I can't remember if it is connected thru a third-party app, but it *is* registered in Smartthings. When I tap the tile it says "Downloading Controller" and a tiny indicator goes from 0-100%. Usually it presents an error message "Couldn't download controller for shelf light. Please try again." Which I have done many times.

Was I naive to think that this stuff should stay working, once it's all hooked up, in this age?

Has anyone resolved a similar problem in Smartthings? If not what do you expect I try? Is there a definitive way to see if it was registered through a third-party app then connected to Smartthings? (I've gone through what I can find of smart controller apps that I've installed on my phone and don't find the device on any. Though I did have to reset my account password for LePro LampUX, but there were 0 devices listed once I logged in).

I have a feeling cycling the breaker will be suggested, which is inconvenient but do-able at some point. But I'd like to have a rough idea of what to try software-wise if it starts flashing for sync.

Remove the bulb and physically examine it. There must be a physical switch somewhere. Turn it off. Or turn off the breaker.
But removing the bulb is the easiest option. Might require a ladder, but since you don't know what you have, you need to physically examine it.

 

[333Matt]

Remove the bulb and physically examine it. There must be a physical switch somewhere. Turn it off. Or turn off the breaker.
But removing the bulb is the easiest option. Might require a ladder, but since you don't know what you have, you need to physically examine it.

It is not a bulb, but an integrated LED fixture.

 

[kanewolf]

It is not a bulb, but an integrated LED fixture.

If there is no switch, which seems odd, then your only option would be the breaker.

 

[dwd999]

You've got to find a way to determine the brand name and hopefully the model of the light. Do you not even remember the brand name?

 

[333Matt]

I don't! I checked all my purchase history from amazon and home depot, and can't find anything. Can't find a box or manual, in my filing cabinet full of (almost) every random manual that passes thru my hands. I may have to open up the ceiling and get to it for more info, because:

I found the breaker that switches it off. But it just comes back on solid. Even tried ON-OFF-ON-OFF-ON and no blinking indicator.

Let's not forget the thing is still listed in Smartthings. Part of me wants to believe if that app could just get its head screwed on straight, I'd be back in business, no? I've googled the error message about downloading controller etc. and haven't found much, except maybe to uninstall and reinstall the app. If I do, will it even remember the device? Like, is it stored in the cloud with my Samsung account or something? Also I think I looked towards doing that and of course it is a Samsung app on my Galaxy S23+ so it didn't seem real obvious on how to do so.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey,

If you install Google Home, does it recognise the light?

Take the light out and inspect it for a S/N number or some other identifiable tag. Without knowing which light it is, it's very hard to figure out the reset sequence.

 

[dwd999]

Trying to think about this logically, I looked at the Home Depot website and the 2 basic brands are Philips and Halo. If you don't remember ever changing the color emitted by the light its probably not Philips. The online instructions to both seem to imply that there is no hardware based reset procedure as you've seen by flipping the circuit breaker. This would actually seem logical since they would expect some people to turn these things on and off with a switch. So it would seem there are 2 possibilities; one that the light's hardware feature that connects it to your home network is broken; or 2 that the Smartthings software is at fault. I don't know if there's any way of checking for the first problem; maybe if your router lists all of your connected devices you can at least verify that the light is still connected to your network. So you may have to bite the bullet and risk reinstalling Smartthings. (I'm assuming you've already tried rebooting your phone). I don't use cloud services so I don't know if there's a way you could just reset Smartthings from your cloud backup. Or it might be better to temporarily unsync Smartthings from your cloud account. But it seems logical that this problem would have to be solved from the Smartthings perspective since it doesn't look like examining the light itself would help.

 

[dwd999]

Looking into this further, I didn't realize that these lights are most likely bluetooth devices. If so, would they appear under the bluetooth devices setting on a computer? At least that might enable you to turn it off.

 

[Ralston18]

Have you noted a MAC address for the smart light?

 

[333Matt]

Hmm, so I figured out how to login to my router and it shows connected devices, one of which is my eero mesh that practically everything, including I bet that light, was connected to. And I'm having trouble getting into the eero app, although obviously I have before to set up the mesh network.

Also, I notice in a BLE Scanner android app that a device has the name Wafer (838D). That made me seem to recall that the light I bought was called a wafer something or other (something much like this, thought I'm not sure of the brand and it doesn't have any dimming or color features). The scanner app unsurprisingly is unable to connect to 'Wafer' since we can't figure out how to get it in pairing mode, for one thing.

 

[dwd999]

The scanner app unsurprisingly is unable to connect to 'Wafer' since we can't figure out how to get it in pairing mode, for one thing.

It may instead be this Juno model:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Juno-Co...AXZ_k7J8bj3Qc59yTxAecpxfzBJUvNQEWSTV_JoavjfEk

which includes bluetooth support. The installation instructions aren't much help since all it tells you to do is install Smartthings and does not seem to indicate any pairing mode. But at the end of the second page of the instructions there are phone numbers for tech support at Juno and Smartthings so maybe they can help.

 

[333Matt]

It was a Juno. I called the support numbers and they walked me through a factory reset (FIVE off and on cycles). Smartthings picked it right up, and went right back to Not Connected can't do a damn thing with it. They said it's probably need replaced and do a warranty claim. Great except I have it installed in a ceiling. But thanks for helping me bring this to a conclusion.