No Pressure

Holy cow this has been easy. Hate to jinx it but... Darksky is installed. Forecasts are appearing in the ISY. Eto is working. Need to figure out how to accrue daily evapotranspiration and then decrease requirement with each pass of the irrigation system like the climate module does.

UPDATE 1. ISY firmware upgrade complete 4.7.5 to 5.0.16 (easy, no issues) 2. Polisy installed and talking 3. EZFlora modules working 4. programs updated to new module outputs Now it’s time to select a weather node server. Need one that has an irrigation requirement like the climate module.

I have been using an EZIO8SA setup to run my irrigation system. Due to a recent lightning strike and the end of the climate module I am rebuilding my home irrigation system. I've enjoyed the flexibility of the ISY solution because it solves some issues with water supply that we experience. I am looking at all of my options moving forward. The problem.... The house is on a well. We have a 500 gallon tank inside the house that gets filled by the well pump. Inside the house we have 2 jet pumps that service domestic water and irrigation/outside water separately. When the tank level is below half, the irrigation/outside water pump is turned off. This ensures that the well has time to recover during periods of heavy demand, like irrigation. The irrigation system programming was designed to pause itself when the irrigation pump turned off. It would resume the current zone when the water supply was restored and then continue normally. It put down about 0.1" of water in each zone and then repeat the program until the water requirement from the climate module was satisfied. The grass has never been better since this system started working. I own an older EZFLORA and may rebuild based on that platform. However, I bought 2 more EZFLORAs and my ISY is reporting that they are unsupported devices. I was perusing the boards for a solution when I came across the RainMachine and thought I should add that to my options. I am homeowner with enough knowledge and experience to be dangerous, not a developer. I would prefer not to be writing code outside of the ISY environment. I just purchased a Polisy and I am working through the upgrade of my ISY to the last 5.0.X version. I see that there is a node for the RainMachine. Can the RainMachine handle the pause based on an input and resume where it left off? Is there another commercial device that would be better suited? Any concerns about the EZFlora? Or should I go back to the EZIO8SA setup?

This worked perfectly. The program was simple and the Echo integration, as always, worked like a charm. As noted setting a percentage as opposed to time requires a learning curve but that’s minor. Many thanks.

Setting the state variable utilizing a percent and implementing the countdown technique will be perfect. I will give this a shot today . Thanks.

My wife is skeptical of all my gadgets. But when things work as well as the Alexa and ISY integration then suddenly she’s a believer. At night, “Alexa turn off all interior lights” was the first command that she learned and now uses regularly. Today was her first test of the irrigation system, “Alexa, turn on sprinkler station 16.” Actually she tacked on “...for 20 minutes.” I told her that it didn’t work that way so she set an Alexa timer to remind her to shut it off. But can it? I could set a timer with a fixed period to turn it off. But it would be cool if she could tell Alexa how long to keep the zone active.

You're correct. Per the documentation the jumper is extremely important because the noise floods the network. I have them on all of my EZIO8SAs. It must have slipped out during the project. Another thing to remember with that module is the swapped outputs (7 and 8?). With those issues addressed these modules have been excellent for swimming pool control and irrigation. My irrigation is a bit more complicated than an EZFlora by itself can handle. The PLM failures have been annoying to say the least. Only one old PLM left. It will be replaced before it fails with any luck.

I made that more difficult than it needed to be but everything is working now. 1. Backup 2. Plug in the new PLM 3. Add a new Insteon device using the PLM address 4. Replace the original PLM with the new one 5. Wait patiently. One pro tip...Don't let the Anl1 to Anl2 to Com jumper fall out during the process.

Brian - great point about the backup. I'm about to tackle this problem and just check the thread to see what tips came over night.

Thank you. Unfortunately no communications after the swap. So I am faced with the next step. If I delete the EZIO8SA i don't want to lose the related points, so I need to think that one through. Waukegan? I built an facility there in the mid-90s. The industrial process controls were sourced from a building automation firm, Andover Controls (now part of Schneider). They were way ahead of the industrial market in regards to information at the time. I was recently back at that site and the system continues to run well.

My sprinkler maintenance company arrive yesterday to do the annual check-up. I told my Echo, "Alexa - turn Sprinkler Station 1 On". She replied, "OK". Finally, he liked my DIY sprinkler system. Then nothing happened. I've got an old PLM (V2.1) on the system and I presume that it suffered the typical failure in the off-season. The wiki provides instruction for replacing a PLM attached to the ISY 994, but I didn't see one for the EZIO8SA. Any tips?

Ordered. "Alexa. Order an Echo Dot." Email confirmation arrives seconds later. This Echo is pretty neat device.

One of my PLMs failed this week causing large volumes of network traffic and overwhelming the ISY. I couldn't get connect via a web browser or via the Administrative Control panel. I spent a couple of afternoons trying to track down the problem to no avail. Universal Devices tech support to the rescue. After creating a service ticket yesterday morning I got a call from tech support within a few hours. The gentlemen on the other end of the phone patiently waited as we rebooted the ISY several times while manipulating the connection with the PLM. All in all he probably patiently gave me 30 or more minutes of his day before the ISY was stabilized. How many tech companies provide service at that level 2+ years after the original purchase without a subscription? Even with a subscription how many tech companies give you an enthusiastic, knowledgeable tech person who isn't reading from a troubleshooting script? How many tech support people offers lessons and instructions during the call?!! Great product, great support, great company! Thank you.

Thanks Lee.

Several days ago I noticed that my weather/climate data wasn't getting updated. All of the fields were populated with 0. So after searching the forum and learning about the Ham Weather change I a) upgraded java ((build 1.7.0_65-b20)) upgraded my firmware (4.0.5), and c) upgraded my gui (4.2.5). Now the Ham Weather fields aren't being updated. The climate module finds my location correctly. I selected a nearby airport from the list. However, test emails and time sync functions aren't working. I've cycle power on my devices (routers, isy, etc) several times to see if that might help. Unfortunately that was a bust. Ideas?

LeeG et al, Despite my bitching and moaning I've got this system fully implemented and it's working very well. In fact using programs as opposed to scenes allows me to position the valves as opposed to using them as "on/off" block valves. The Jandy valves take about 20 seconds to open. Turning ON the Open Valve output for 10 seconds leaves the valve at 50% open. It's important to put the valve in a known position - closed - before setting it t the correct position. In case something goes awry I don't want to dead head the pump. As an added measure of protection I included a paddle switch in the piping that will turn the pump off after a few seconds if flow is not detected. That feature is Insteon controlled for now. But for reliability I might hard wire it in the future. I/o - Four Jandy valves - Main drain Main return Skim Vanishing edge drain Pool flow paddle switch Pool temperature Pool heater enable Insteon components - EZIO8SA Wireless thermostat (modified per thread instructions) Keypad dimmer Insteon IOlinc

Lee, The whole thing is working pretty well now despite that initial issue. Thanks for your help. One question... To set all of the valve states (4 valves, ON and OFF signals for each valve) I have to send 8 commands. Is that a great deal of traffic that could overwhelm the system or make it less reliable. I added two second Waits between each of the commands in hopes of decreasing the load and increasing reliability. On that note are scenes more efficient? Do they create less traffic than individual commands from a program? Thanks again.

@jmed999 Thanks for developing this modification. I've got it up and running for my pool. Let's just hope I don't catch any fish in there. @BrianH The sensor reads 10K ohms at room temperature (70 Deg F). It's not a thermocouple.

Isn't that a bug? If I set the On Level to 0% (Off) then the device should turn Off when the scene turns ON. If I set a dimmer to 1% in a scene then the dimmer goes to 1%. Why should a digital device go to 100% (ON) when set to 0%? Creating workaround won't be difficult. But scenes are a bit wasteful as a workaround in this application. If a valve is Open for the current task and I want it Open for the next task then I will still have to turn off all of the "Open Valve" relays, Wait, then turn on all of the "Close Valve" relays, Wait, then turn on the requested scene.

I've just connected Jandy valve actuators to an EZIO8SA to control my swimming pool. The Jandy valve requires a 24VAC signal to open and another 24VAC signal to close. I chose to do use 2 channels on the EZIO8SA for each valve to accomplish these tasks as opposed to using the normally open and normally closed contacts on a single relay. It's wired like this... Pool.Return.Open = Relay 1 Normally Open Pool.Return.Close = Relay 2 Normally Open Pool.MainDrain Open = Relay 3 Normally Open Pool.MainDrain Close = Relay 4 Normally Open Pool.Skim Open = Relay 5 Normally Open Pool.Skim Close = Relay 6 Normally Open Pool.Waterfall Open = Relay 7 Normally Open Pool.Waterfall Close = Relay 8 Normally Open To make things easy I would like to create scenes that includes all 8 of these relay outputs. Then I want to set the ON levels for some of the relay in the scene to "OFF." For example if I want the skimmer to run I would turn "ON" the Pool.Skimmer scene which would set the valves to Pool.Return.Open = ON Pool.Return.Close = OFF Pool.MainDrain Open = OFF Pool.MainDrain Close = ON Pool.Skim Open = ON Pool.Skim Close = OFF Pool.Waterfall Open = OFF Pool.Waterfall Close = ON So I created a scene with those members and set the "On Levels" according to that pattern. Unfortunately when I turn this scene ON all of the devices turn ON - even those members whose "On Levels" are set to OFF. I know that dimmers can be set at something less than "ON" in a scene. It looks like digital devices can only be ON if the scene is switched ON. That defeats the point of having an "On Level" doesn't it?

barrygordon, I'm considering a similar project. I have radiant heat throughout my house and each room is on a different zone. The Insteon thermostat is not designed for radiant heat so that's not going to work. If there was an inexpensive and reliable way to get temperature into the ISY994I I would make my own system.

Brian H Over at viewtopic.php?f=27&t=11747 a commenter named WhiteSox presumed it was a thermistor as well. I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. I've ordered one along with a thermostat and I'll post what I find when they arrive. As an aside it's odd to me that with all of the great stuff incorporated into the ISY994i that that temperature measurement hasn't become a native feature. I'm going to read more about the CAI option.

Thanks. I posted some questions on that thread to keep things organized.

My swimmmg pool is all set to go with a thermowell and I'm going to make is modification to a wireless thermostat pending a bit more investigating. 3 questions... 1. Is the sensor on the wireless thermostat really a thermocouple? From the photos in this post that appears to be the case. 2. If it is a thermocouple, what is the type? I use a type T and some J at the office. 3. Does the wired thermostat also use a thermocouple? Thanks.

I recently purchased the DS18B20 to connect to an EZIO8SA. My plan was to monitor and control swimming pool water temperature. Searching for wiring schematics I found some disappointing information. From what I've read the ISY994i doesn't support that analog input. It seems that the only options for reading temperature (without adding another communications protocol, i.e. z-wave) are the Insteon thermostat and its wireless partner. From what I can tell only the wireless thermostat supports a remote sensor that would allow me to monitor water temperature in a thermowell. Am I missing something?