Teken

OK, I have been playing with this program for a few hours to fine tune the expected behavior. Now, my only concern is the following and if there is some work around or extra program that can resolve what I see please do let me know. As this is a state variable it requires a change of state to activate, no? I was able to confirm that the time, duration, and watch dog timer all functioned as expected. But, if the temperature during the evening stabilizes at say (-20'C) and does not change state during the 4-8:00 AM window. Will it actually turn on and activate as expected? I ask because doing a quick test did not result in the expected behavior I am looking for. Example: The garage interior was already 24'C, I changed the value to something lower (20'C) and I was with in the time schedule range. Yet the timer program did not activate?

OK, I quickly crafted the program as out linedd above. Please check for any errors and I shall test this out once I am back from the gym. Thank you very much for the insight and taking the time to craft this for me. If From 4:00:00AM To 8:00:00AM (same day) And $s.Dash_Box_Garage_Interior_Temp <= -20 Then Send Notification to 'GMX' content 'GEM - Block Heater - Active' Run Program 'Block Heater - Watch Dog' (Else Path) Else Set Scene 'Appliance 10' Off ================================ ================================ If Time is 8:00:00AM Then Set Scene 'Appliance 10' Off Enable Program 'Block Heater - Monitor' Else Disable Program 'Block Heater - Monitor' Set Scene 'Appliance 10' On Wait 3 hours Enable Program 'Block Heater - Monitor' Run Program 'Block Heater - Monitor' (If)

Larry, Your program you posted up is very similar to one I was using last year.

This is what I have put together based on your feed back. I am unsure how to add in the if the time is NOT 8:00 AM? How is that done as I don't see an obvious choice to select in the schedule time area? If From 4:00:00AM To 8:00:00AM (same day) And $s.Dash_Box_Garage_Interior_Temp <= -20 Then Send Notification to 'GMX' content 'GEM - Block Heater - Active' Run Program 'Block Heater - Watch Dog' (Then Path) Else Set Scene 'Appliance 10' Off If Time is 8:00:00AM Then Disable Program 'Block Heater - Monitor' Set Scene 'Appliance 10' On Wait 3 hours Enable Program 'Block Heater - Monitor' Run Program 'Block Heater - Monitor' (If) Else Set Scene 'Appliance 10' Off Run Program 'Block Heater - Monitor' (If)

This is why I come to the board to bounce off some ideas and hopefully come up with something robust and solid in application. What would be a solid program that would allow the basics I listed above? - I would like the heater to be turned on only from 4-8:00 AM each day. - It should only run for a maximum of three hours upon first turning on. - What kind of watch dog safety time should be crafted to ensure the two conditions are true? - I would not expect it to be a problem that it would trigger over and over at 4-8 AM since I am still in bed!

Hello Xathros, OK, so the code has been running for about two days. I have stayed up well past midnight to monitor this program and to validate its operations before deploying it en mass and integrating it into other aspects of the Insteon network. 1. It appears some fine tuning to the timing of processing of email was required for me. For what ever reason the same exact (five) programs which are in place now. The only one I care about at the moment did NOT send me any detailed information about run time, duration, etc? I noted there were other (non related) programs timed for midnight to occur. So I have staggered these times from a 30 seconds, to whole minutes, in hopes to see reliable delivery of said tracking data. I have also set the delay to be longer for when the program is supposed to delete and reset the counters, just in case. 2. What is a clean and simple (watch dog program) approach to ensure the mail is delivered at midnight to avoid the above situation? As I noted the fridge program ran true (supposedly) that mail was sent. Yet the counter was not reset at all, but at the same time there was a boundary overlap at midnight as the fridge was still running. Therefor have to assume this made the state still true, hence the counters did not get reset. I manually ran the THEN clause to ensure I received the daily totals via email and also reset the counters which seemed to take awhile to process this simple request? I am hoping the time shift / off set I have entered for the other programs will resolve this apparent freeze and miss firing of email. Any insight would be appreciated!

OMG! No wonder I have been receiving alert notifications about the program turning on! Doh!

Since my ISY meltdown a few weeks ago I decided to start from the beginning in terms of how I would manage some key devices in my home. One of the programs is for the all mighty block heater! Yes, I know you boys who live in the South can't relate and may not even know what a block heater is! Yes, in the cold aszz north we snow men have to plug our vehicles in when the mercury dips to -45'C So, I am first looking for any new idea's or thoughts to craft, fine tune, or to over haul the program listed below. Here are the requirements and hope to fill any blanks as your questions are posed. - The program should turn on (true) when a temperature threshold has been met, or (is) colder. In this case I selected a random number of -20'C. - I only need the program to be active from 4:00 AM to 8:00 AM each day (approx) - The device should run no longer than 3 hours per cycle. - Looking for any new idea's that would make this program smarter. While being energy efficient in its intended goal. I have several resources and data points available now which I either did not use, or explore in the past. I now have the ability to measure the local temperature in any area in and around my home. I have two dedicated temperature sensor systems in place. Both systems monitor the garage interior, garage attic, and outside. I also have the weather module which can provide today's temp, 24 hour weather for cast etc. Any insight or feed back is greatly appreciated! If $s.Dash_Box_Garage_Interior_Temp >= -20 And From 4:00:00AM To 8:00:00AM (same day) Then Send Notification to 'GMX' content 'GEM - Block Heater - Active' Set Scene 'Appliance 10' On Wait 3 hours Set Scene 'Appliance 10' Off Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

May I suggest you do a quick search with in the forums for NEST TSTAT. There have been a few related updates and members who have been able to link the two together. But, keep in mind it also requires a computer to be running 24/7/365 for some aspects of the program. I personally am going to wait for ISY native support instead. As I am not a huge fan on middle ware / servers playing a part in something as critical as your HVAC. I have six Insteon Venstar 1800 / 1900 units at the moment which are not used very much at this point in time. Perhaps this fall I will finally take the dive and install one of them to control the HVAC.

LOL! I keep begging SH to bring back the 7 year extended warranty. Given some of the failure rates in previous generation devices along with bad firmware affecting other related Insteon devices. I can see that was impacting their bottom line. I too would like to Beta test a UDI PLM when its available!

Are you talking about the native graphs / charts in the ISY? If so I have never seen or heard anyone having success in generating charts from the ISY. Not sure how its supposed to work actually.

From other related posts it was suggested the system might move to a HTML5 sort of deployment structure. I am just guessing at this point in time, so take that with a hefty grain of salt! Also, off the top of my head a lot of the restrictions you noted are a Mac related issue. Apple has been loathed to support Java from the on set.

I believe you and the majority feel the same way about Java. Enduring never ending updates, clearing the cache, seeing java socket errors, blah blah, really is pain. I can't wait until this system moves away from the whole java platform . . .

Hello Xathros, I will add in a new Integer variable to and modify the existing program with the example you have provided to obtain the actual run time that exceeds the threshold set. What a great little program! I envision using this in many other applications in the not too distant future, awesome! Now, with respect to the daily vs cycle minutes I have watched the system many times since crafting the program. I have observed at midnight the following. - The counters all reset at midnight - The fridge has not been running during that reset period. - Upon the fridge activating both counters for the very first cycle vs daily still does not add up. I have observed an (approx) ten minute difference from the start of a new days cycle being set back to zero. Any insight or guidance would be appreciated, Sir

+1 on this request as I was completely confused how the system indicated a station was only 2 KMS from me. When in fact it was more than 12 KMS!

OK, so I finally got around to create this program as indicated above. As soon as I finished the last program the entire ISY freaked out and the strobing started in the three programs as you saw in the video. It literally took me an hour to regain access to the system as I was unable to disable the folders / programs. All of the error codes and java error. socket failed, etc were all over the place. The system clock actually stopped working during this entire process. My Dash Box was completely off line and not accessible as the ISY was obviously in a tizzy during this infinite loop. I believe this program needs a toggle watch dog program as you crafted for the other energy thread. Please let me know what you come up with. The bright side is the problem has been determined.

Near the bottom of this trouble shooting thread indicates your next steps. http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/4750-isy-troubleshooting-flowchart/

First thing I would do is reboot the router and do the above steps again. Keep the ISY / PLM unplugged until your network is back up and report back.

Unplug both PLM and ISY from power. Wait ten seconds before you plug the PLM back in. Once that is done, plug the ISY back in and report back.

Hello Xathros, I have been able to replicate this program for various appliances in the home. So far the program seems solid in terms of how it works and operates. I do however have a few questions in terms of resolving a few small details I hope you can shed some light on. In the program listed below. How can I obtain the actual run time that exceeds this program? As the notification simply sends out an alert once it meets 45 minutes. This does not actually mean the device has stopped, only that it exceeded the 45 minute limit. I have entered the actual state variable ID in the e-mail alert and surprisingly, it does not return the real time value that exceeds 45 minutes? If $s.FridgeRuntimeCycleMins >= 45 And $s.FridgeNotifySuspend is 0 Then Send Notification to 'YourCell' content 'FridgeCycleTimeExceeded' $s.FridgeNotifySuspend = 1 Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') Also, below you will noticed the system reset the counters at midnight. I was surprised to see that the minutes for (Cycle Minutes) did not match the (Daily Minutes) for that period? Since this was at the very beginning of the new counter day. Both values should have matched until the next fridge cycle kicked in and the Daily Minutes would have incremented and be higher than the Cycle Minutes. Any insight on that part would be great!

No, doubt! I really can't wait for Java to be retired in the future.

Xathros, I rebooted and also selected refresh still no joy. I have replied back to your PM.

Hello Xathros, I am uncertain why this box is giving me so much headaches as of late! I had to leave and enter the programs tab several times before the options I indicated would appear?!?! Now, the next problem is that I see the run time monitor is running as the file is solid green, fridge is running. Yet the minutes are not incrementing up as expected? I do see the Autelis / Dash Box pushing updates to the ISY in the very same state variable page. I am going to reboot this box and see what happens in another 40 minutes when the fridge is supposed to kick back in.

Hello Xathros, I finally have time to add this program to my ISY. I noticed this program is using +=1 in the Integer Variable? There is no such option for this program. Is it possible this is why the system was acting up when I used IS as the operator? If Status 'Gem Fridge Channel' > 800W Then $i.FridgeDefrostCount += 1 $i.FridgeDefrostCount Init To $i.FridgeDefrostCount Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

All good questions and considerations for sure. I apologize if I didn't explain what I planned to use to power the other end of the device listed. As you guessed I may very well use one of three possible solutions which are simply based on my desire to deploy one over the others. I could go with a high output rechargeable 9 volt battery. As you indicated it would be tied to a trickle charger long term. Another is powering the device with a massive Optima Yellow Top 12 volt car battery! This too would be placed on a battery tender trickle charger for long term use. The last option is to use one of 30 APC 12 volt battery cells I have stocked piled. The last two obviously would provide enough power for months if not an entire year with out issue. The last option is taking any of a dozen power supplies I have laying around and powering the devices. The only reason I wanted to go with the 9 volt battery was to consolidate the entire package and simply run a power line to keep the system charged. I am open to suggestions no matter how ugly or elegant! Thats why its call a project and trial and error.