diff --git a/devices.py b/devices.py
index 771f102..75f9119 100644
--- a/devices.py
+++ b/devices.py
@@ -27,12 +27,11 @@ SEC Node with added functionality for starting and stopping frappy servers
 connected to a SEC node
 """
 
-import time
 import threading
 from nicos import config, session
 from nicos.core import Override, Param, Moveable, status, POLLER, SIMULATION, DeviceAlias, \
     Device, anytype, listof
-from nicos.devices.secop.devices import SecNodeDevice
+from nicos.devices.secop.devices import SecNodeDevice, NicosSecopClient
 from nicos.core.utils import USER, User, createThread
 from nicos.services.daemon.script import RequestError, ScriptRequest
 from nicos.utils.comparestrings import compare
@@ -107,9 +106,9 @@ def all_info(all_cfg, prefix='currently configured: '):
 
 def get_frappy_config():
     try:
-        return session.devices['frappy_config']
+        return session.devices['frappy']
     except KeyError:
-        session.log.error("'frappy_config' is not available - 'frappy' setup is not loaded")
+        session.log.error("the frappy device is not available - 'frappy' setup is not loaded")
         return None
 
 
@@ -155,11 +154,12 @@ class FrappyConfig(Device):
     def handle_notifications(self):
         controller = session.daemon_device._controller
         while True:
-            self._trigger_change.wait()
+            # we do not wait for ever here, because there might be changes
+            # on an unconnected service
+            self._trigger_change.wait(60)
             self._trigger_change.clear()
-            time.sleep(2)
-            if self._trigger_change.is_set():
-                continue
+            while self._trigger_change.wait(2):  # triggered again within 2 sec
+                self._trigger_change.clear()
             try:
                 cfgs = self.check_services()
                 guess_info = self.to_consider(cfgs)
@@ -491,9 +491,7 @@ class FrappyNode(SecNodeDevice, Moveable):
                 if isinstance(cfg, str):  # may also be None or True
                     self.restart(cfg)
                 if cfg is None:  # None means: server is not running, and does not need to be restarted
-                    # connect in background, as the server might be started later
-                    createThread('connect', self._connect)
-                    # TODO: check if it is not better to add a try_period argument to SecNode._connect()
+                    self._disconnect()
                     return
             try:
                 self._connect()