Just got a Bond Bridge and I was able to learn the remote successfully, though it was the wrong suggestion for “known” remotes, the suggestion wasn’t even for a fireplace, despite my remote being in the Bond FCCID lookup on the website. Is there a way to search for known remotes without having to learn them? Especially if there are discrete codes that Bond is aware that can’t necessarily be learned.
The FCCID of the remote is RTD-G6RH. This is an RF remote on 315Mhz. While its a Valor brand fireplace its basically the same remote for any fireplace that uses the Mertik Maxitrol GV60 receiver.
My issue is how to simulate press and hold of a button. It doesn’t repeat the command like the remote does if the button is held down. I also can’t double-tap up and down to go to max flame or off like I can on the remote. Also the “on” command and it is actually a combination of two buttons (off and flame up held together) don’t know how to learn that. Not that I need to use that often, as that lights the pilot light, and for the winter its best to leave the standing pilot on (though it will shutdown after 7 days with no activity and you need to use on again). Also I find the speed of the commands slow. I push the button on my ipad and it take awhile for the fireplace to register, but it might be the placement of my bridge, not sure.
So I was able to learn ON (a combo of two buttons) but have not been able to get the discreet signal for “max flame” and “min flame” to work. It should be a quick double press but the hex signal learned doesnt trigger the action on the fireplace and I don’t know why.
If the double tap is just a repeat of the command sent with a single button press, you could learn the single button press, then adjust the repeat count by using the API.
So I got the patch command to work… One other thing I can’t figure out, is changing the device state.
When I learned my fireplace remote, I had to do so manually (it found the wrong remote in the database for my remote)…
It seems to have made assumptions on some of the default states and I am not sure how to change it.
For example when I use the on command, it turns the fireplace on, but its designed to set the fireplace to max flame height automatically. When I use bond it looks like it assumes it is at minimum flame height. The individual commands still work anyway but the state tracking is off. Is there anyway I can change the on command to also set the max flame height state within bond to match what the fireplace actually does?
Another complicating factor is on/off states and min flame height states…
I really have 2 on states (or 2 off states). Completely Off (no pilot), Off (gas valve off - no flame, pilot on), On - (pilot on, gas valve on set to min flame height). My minimum flame command takes it to the 2nd on condition (gas valve open minimum flame height.) To get it to pilot only I need to press and hold flame down for it to turn off the gas valve but still have pilot on.
The issue is when it comes back out of that state. I have to hold flame up, which throws off the state tracking (it no longer show min flame height) but the gas valve isn’t actually on and it is at min flame height. Also, I haven’t played enough with it yet, but if I hit the flame up command enough in bond will it eventually display a max flame state or will only the min and max commands set those?
Not sure the Bond team have made fireplace controls directly modifiable as far as what states exist and which ones do what.
But.
Some of the things you mention seem like they maybe could be sort of shoe-horned into place if you used a home control hub / system and integrated Bond (for instance, the “when turn on, set flame to high” goal is best served by that hub / system updating and/or patching flame height state via API).
I am at a disadvantage here because the only “fireplace” type remote I have is actually an RF-controlled floor lamp and not really a fireplace at all, so take what I’m saying as a theoretical vs a proven idea.
If you drew out the states of On / Off and Flame Height, it seems like it has a pattern that you could semi-reliably control via some clever hub / system to Bond API integration. 
I use hubitat via homebridge (or homebridge directly) as a backend to use it with homekit, I can probably do my own state tracking if needed.
My concern is if a flame up command will get sent if the bond hub thinks its already at max height… I thought that was the purpose of the state tracking within bond, to stop extraneous commands from being sent. Though I think there is a way to ignore it in the bond API and just send discrete commands regardless of state.
Looking over the documentation, if you integrated and always used the SetFlame action, it implicitly turns flame on if not already on, supposedly. It also should be by default keeping Flame Height at whatever it was last, as far as Bond is concerned.
So, if you made “On” in any of your Homebridge / Hubitat SetFlame(100), does that help any of your particular situations? I think it does for the various On States, though not all situations (the Pilot Only mode entry/exit seems the hardest to handle). Maybe for that one you can find a good programmatic pattern to PATCH some of the Properties in the State?
Hey @buddyrich, how’s your setup now? I have a Valor H3 fireplace with an RTD-G6RH remote and I’m looking to integrate it with Home Assistant.
I just bought a Broadlink RM4 Pro today and after six hours of trials, I can’t get it to do more than increase or decrease the flame height one tiny step at a time. I’m thinking the Bond bridge might work better.
If I’m reading this thread right, it sounds like you can…
- Increase and decrease flame height
- Set flame height to High or Low (in one action)
- Turn the fireplace On (from no pilot?)
Can you share any tips on how you got over your challenges?
Cheers!
@mboltonnet, chiming in a little late here.
I have the same fireplace and and remote as you. I recently purchased the Bond Hub and programmed the fireplace remote onto it. The Bond app works perfect with the fireplace - turns on/off and adjusts the flame accordingly.
I also use Home Assistant. I’m having difficulty with the Bond Integration in HA. The on/off function works fine but flame adjust is giving me grief. When a flame lower command is issued, the fireplace shuts off. I don’t know if it’s the way I’m configuring the script or if it’s a problem with the integration. Apart from this, the Bond Hub is working great.
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May I ask, how were you able to learn the two button combo for turning on? I’ve got a similar remote and am trying to get it working myself