INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

Posted on
Thu Nov 21, 2013 6:48 pm
Barnman offline
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Location: Parkton, NC

Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

I have a switchlinc that is turning the lights off and right back on by itself, when i look in the event log it doesn't show any requests to turn on and does not show the status as being on and off, but if i do turn it on and off it shows it in the event log. could the switchlinc be going bad?

Posted on
Fri Nov 22, 2013 12:22 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

Yeah - if you don't see any extra traffic in the event log that implies that the switch is doing it without any Indigo involvement. You might try doing a factory reset on the switch.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Fri Nov 22, 2013 1:20 pm
Barnman offline
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Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

I did see it happen today as I was looking at it. It is a dimmer, and when the lights would go out, all the LEDs would go out completely on the switch. I will try the reset, thank you

Posted on
Wed Dec 18, 2013 11:26 pm
ChipG offline
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Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

I have 4 Insteon 2474DWH 2-wire switches in an older home; 80+ other Insteon devices. Mostly adobe walls or masonry with re-bar. I put the 2474DWH switches in; they sync up; they seem to work.
Then a few weeks/month later, I notice that Indigo can no longer reach them. Occurs at different times for each. And it stays that way until I factory reset, delete, and re-install the units. The load on one is incandescent with a lot of other stuff on the circuit; on the other 3 the loads are halogen. I have read that the halogens introduce noise, but the RF receiving Insteon unit for the signal from the 2474DWH controlling the halogens is on a different circuit from the halogens. Is this most likely an RF noise issue? Maybe a line noise issue? What happens in the Insteon protocol when the route to a RF device is lost? A somewhat related question: Has anybody made a Insteon signal sniffer for using around the house? (I have seen the cute Insteon button-blinker thingy; it's a bit Morse code-like for me).

Thanks
Chip
California

Posted on
Thu Dec 19, 2013 7:08 pm
matt (support) offline
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Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

Hi Chip,

The Indigo protocol doesn't use routing, so I' not sure what is causing the issue. It sounds like maybe the flash memory, which holds the link information to the PowerLinc that enables Indigo to be allowed to communicate with the module, may be becoming corrupt or is failing. I'm not sure if it is malfunctioning or if maybe power line or RF noise is causing it to become corrupt.

Or maybe the reset/delete/re-install isn't really causing the modules to start working, but the problem is really just a transient power line (or RF) noise issue? One way to test that would be to wait for a module to become unreachable, then try two things: 1) turn off the loads like the halogen that might be causing problems, 2) move the PowerLinc to different outlets (on different circuits) using an extension cord. If it becomes reachable after experimenting around with that (trying to eliminate noise and changing the signal path), then that means the problem isn't that the module memory is becoming corrupt, but rather a noise or signal issue.

Image

Posted on
Fri Dec 20, 2013 8:30 am
ChipG offline
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Location: Palo Alto, California

Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

Really good suggestions. I will try them. This will take a while. :-)

Posted on
Thu Feb 06, 2014 12:03 am
rafsel offline
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Joined: Feb 24, 2009

Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

(Not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but here goes)

Environment:
Indigo: 6.0.7 (client and server)
Interface: PowerLinc Modem 2413U
SwitchLinc Dimmers (2-wire / RF): firmware version 41

I am having a problem with all of my SwitchLink Dimmer (2-wire / RF) switches; I have a total of 3 of these installed in various locations. Each time there is a power outage, Indigo loses connectivity to all the devices. This seems to happen even if the power outage is momentary as it was last week. This behaviour has occurred numerous times over this winter (we are having particularly challenging weather this winter :( ) and the same symptoms have been repeated: all 2-wire SwitchLinc devices are inaccessible once power is restored while all other devices are just fine.

To restore communication I first try to re-sync with each switch ("Define and Sync ...") but this fails unless I reset the SwitchLinc by pulling out the set button. Here is a typical log entry for a sync after a reset of the device:

Code: Select all
Feb 5, 2014, 9:02:09 AM
  PowerLinc                       Linking - entered discovery linking mode (240 seconds)
  PowerLinc                       Linking - syncing PowerLinc links (address 22.40.D2)
  PowerLinc                       Linking - . . adding: INSTEON plc link to controller 1F.C7.1C, flags 03, group 01, data 00 00 FF
  PowerLinc                       Linking - . . adding: (not added -- probably already exists)
  PowerLinc                       Linking - sync complete
  PowerLinc                       Linking - PowerLinc links updated
  PowerLinc                       Linking - sending engine version request to 1F.C7.1C
  PowerLinc                       Linking - received engine version 02 from 1F.C7.1C
  PowerLinc                       Linking - sending id request for device information to 1F.C7.1C
  PowerLinc                       Linking - received id request response from 1F.C7.1C
  PowerLinc                       Linking - initializing remote device "Home Theatre Lighting" (address 1F.C7.1C, firmware version 41)
  PowerLinc                       Linking - . . . read: default on brightness 100%, ramp rate duration 0.5 seconds
  PowerLinc                       Linking - initialize complete
  PowerLinc                       Linking - syncing remote device "Home Theatre Lighting" (address 1F.C7.1C, firmware version 41)
  PowerLinc                       Linking - device "Home Theatre Lighting" properties updated
  PowerLinc                       Linking - syncing all links
  PowerLinc                       Linking - . . . read: INSTEON dev link to responder 22.40.D2, flags F2, group 01, data FE 1F 00
  PowerLinc                       Linking - . . . read: INSTEON dev link to controller 22.40.D2, flags AA, group FE, data FF 1C 01
  PowerLinc                       Linking - . . . read: INSTEON dev link to responder 22.40.D2, flags F2, group 01, data 03 1C 01
  PowerLinc                       Linking - . . . read: INSTEON dev link to controller 22.40.D2, flags AA, group FE, data 00 1C 00
  PowerLinc                       Linking - . .  found: PowerLinc responder for group 1
  PowerLinc                       Linking - comparing local and remote links
  PowerLinc                       Linking - compare complete
  PowerLinc                       Linking - sync complete
  PowerLinc                       Linking - device "Home Theatre Lighting" links updated
  PowerLinc                       Linking - exited linking mode
  Sent INSTEON                    "Home Theatre Lighting" status request (received: 100)

The other devices produce analogous log entries.

Any idea why this is happening?

Thanks,
Martin

Posted on
Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:27 am
jay (support) offline
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Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

Does it need a factory reset or is it good enough to just pull out the LED pipe (air-gap it) then just press it back in (without holding it in for 10 seconds)?

This, unfortunately, sounds like those RF modules are just not coming back up correctly after a power failure. The log shows that the links on the PowerLinc side are good - it's just the links on the SwitchLinc that are having to get recreated and that's because you factory reset them. I don't believe there's anything Indigo can do. You might want to contact Smarthome and see what they say.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Thu Feb 06, 2014 5:14 pm
rafsel offline
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Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

Thanks for your quick response.

I'm not sure about the difference between "air gapping" and a factory reset. What I did was to pull out the plastic tab at the bottom of the switch. leave it out for a few seconds and then press it back in until it clicks into place. Then I start the re-sync process with Indigo and then press the tab in until the bottom LED lights green. Does this sound like the correct procedure?

I will also contact SmartHome to see what they say and will report back. It certainly is strange that all RF-only SwitchLincs are behaving in the same way and that no other Insteon devices are acting similarly.

Posted on
Thu Feb 06, 2014 8:13 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

Unless you pushed the LED pipe all the way in so that it's depressed (in one motion from the pulled out position) and held it for 10 seconds before releasing it, you didn't do a factory reset. You just basically "rebooted" it. Since the links to the PowerLinc were gone when you did your define and sync, that means that it "forgot" it's links when it lost power. That's very bad and it shouldn't do that so it means that maybe you got a batch of bad switches.

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Thu Feb 06, 2014 8:17 pm
rafsel offline
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Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

Wow. I guess I'll contact SmartHome and/or my local supplier to discuss the situation further; and I'll report back for posterity. Thanks for your help in understanding this issue.

Posted on
Tue Feb 11, 2014 4:22 pm
rafsel offline
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Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

Well, I called Insteon tech support and was basically told by the tech that he couldn't help me. He was very polite, but kept saying that he didn't understand "what resolution I wanted". He said that power "fluctuations" (his word) and electronic devices were problematic. (Duh!) When I pointed out that all three of my 2-wire devices behaved the same and NO other Insteon devices did, he did say that was odd. But he offered nothing in the way of help and certainly didn't offer to look into the matter. I guess I'd have to say that I was hoping for a more proactive response. I'll be talking to my local supplier (Aartech in Toronto, great guys) to see if they can shed any light on the situation but I am not hopeful given Insteon's response.

Any ideas on what I might do next, or should I just live with having to re-sync after every power outage.

Posted on
Tue Feb 11, 2014 7:19 pm
jay (support) offline
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Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

Lemmie see what I can find out...

Jay (Indigo Support)
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Posted on
Tue Apr 01, 2014 3:44 pm
rafsel offline
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Joined: Feb 24, 2009

Re: INSTEON Switches (SwitchLinc and ToggleLinc)

Problem now resolved. Turns out I probably had a faulty SwitchLinc. When I changed it out for a newer rev (6.2) the problem went away.

Thanks for your help with this Jay.

Posted on
Sat Apr 12, 2014 1:11 pm
jltnol offline
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Joined: Oct 15, 2013

Ceiling Fans and Lights

So I'm poised for a major upgrade to the electrical system in my 1920's house. Some of the work was done when I moved in, but there is a lot left to do.

I'd like to include the ceiling fans and lights into the Indigo system, but am looking for something that fits into the wall box where the switch is now. Although the requisite wires are not there now, part of the upgrade will allow for independent fan and light operation from the switch box.

I've seen the modules that fit into the fan but am looking more toward the day when I move, and want to make that transition as easy as possible for the next owner who may not be nearly as enthusiastic about automation as I am. While I'd hate to walk away from the expense of other dimmers installed for other lights, at the very least they don't require an automation system to work, and that's what I'm half way hoping for with the ceiling fans.

Any suggestions ?

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