Brian H

The rev 1 has the older power transformer main board and a RF board. Much heavier as you have seen. None of my rev 2 have a daughter board in them. Since they have the 2413 main board in then with built in RF features. The old 2442 SignalincRF units. Had the same power transformer main board but a different RF daughter board and an external antenna rod. Smarthome converted a few of my 2442 models to 2443 models. By exchanging the RF board to one found in a rev 1 2443. Probably a firmware change also.

Metal electrical boxes. Can also effect Insteon RF communications. All the Dual Band switches I saw in the FCC database. Have their antenna on the rear side of the module. Deepest into the electrical box. Though Dual Bands power line commands can add reliability. RF only devices don't have.

There have been reports here. That using a 2413S Serial Port daughter board in a 2413U. Worked well for them. The 2413U and 2413S use the same main board. Only the daughter boards are different. If you do a command Get IM Info. That reports the PLMs information. A 2413U with a 2413S daughter board. Will report its Category and Subcategory as a 2413U not a 2413S. Unless a device using it wants to know what it is using. Most likely would not mater. Since they both used the same main board. Both the 2413U and 2413S have the exact same capacitors in them. Later hardware revisions have some capacitors in them designed for switching power supplies. The revision 2. 2443 Access Points also have the same base 2413 main board in them. I had a pair of them also go bad.

I thought they had the universal power supplies. So both 120 and 230 volts 50 60 Cycles would work. Only thing I could see different would be the RF frequency matching the local countries standards.

What is the hardware revision on the 213U/

I believe the swap was from a 2413S serial board into a 2413U PLM. The 2413S serial board has a faster speed link database memory chip. Not sure how a 2412U main board would mix with a 2413S serial board. Possible memory access issues. If the 2412U was an early version hardware. It may have firmware in it for the original 417 link data base used in the early versions. I did put a 2413S serial board into a 2412U PLM. I did not do any testing of this. Other than using a few PLM test programs to see it it even worked. It did work with the tests but not a test with an ISY994i.

If the 4 test does not work. There are a few modules that you have to look at the manual for it. Then perform the Beacon Test. Through a series of set button pushes and LED color and flash patterns. To start it. It is in a flow chart in the modules manual.

Smart Meter communications. May possibly be it but I have only seen one brand meters communications protocol. Cause the issue. A majority of them. Where not reported as the causing issues. Any X10 RF remotes and transceivers in the home?

9E is the firmware in the PLM. It has been in a few hardware revisions now. On the back of the PLM should be a hardware revision label. Along with the Date Code and 6 digit Insteon ID number. The revision number maybe a help. You may want to go into Tools, Diagnostics, Show PLM Link Table. To see if the links are there and about how many of them there are.

On the two wire X10 dimmer wall switches. The slider switch disconnects the line power into the switch. So you can safely change a burned out bulb. As they get power through the load. Do you have any X10 repeater between the two incoming power lines? They have been known to see the end of an Insteon message as a bogus X10 message and resend it. If you have one. I would try disconnecting it as a test. J Status Request is all data bits in an X10 message as a 1. X10 message 11111111. It maybe noise as you thought. You may want to go around and start disconnecting things. Like phone and other rechargeable device chargers. Electronic devices. Computing equipment, sound equipment and see if anything changes. In the Event Viewer in Level 3. You maybe able to see the changes as you test with disconnecting things. Do you have a Smart Electric Meter? I did see one communications protocol reported the cause X10 issues.

Thank you for the information. Good idea on the Modem Availability Alerts thread,

The 2448A7 is Insteon RF only. So you need a Dual Band module to pass the information between it and the rest of the system. It also does not do X10 at all. The 2413U should do X10 power line commands.

You may want to run the Event Viewer in Level 3. To see if the messages show anything. Since the I/OLinc is power line only. You may want to try in a different location and branch circuit as a test.

What firmware in the unit and does the UI match the firmware version. Have you tried the ISY Launcher as it is the recommended way to access the ISY unit.

There is a way to test the PLM independently but it is not totally easy thing to do. You need the Insteon Serial Port cable in the PLM box. Maybe in the folds of the cradle holding the PLM in the box. A serial port on the computer. BusyRats PLM test program or Docklight Scripting program. You can get and run it in the demo mode. DockLight Scripting was what they had us uses. When the Insteon Developers Group was active. Docklight Scripting is the easier on the use. As I have a modified test program you can use and then pick tests from a menu. Sends it basic commands and you should get a response back if it is working. Are the RX and TX LEDs on the ISY994i flashing. When you try and access the PLM?

During boot up. The ISY994i checks to see if a PLM is connected and responding. So a powered up PLM first before the iSY994i. Is the suggested way to go.

The ApplianceLinc has been gone for a long time as you noted. Was me in my way back machine again. Showing that Smarthome liked to reuse their module names.

The SwitchLinc name was used on the X10 compatible and early Insteon modules. With Insteon it was SwitchLinc V2. When you could get both X10 and Insteon modules from Smarthome. Eventually the X10 line want away and only the Insteon modules. Where being sold and the name changed. Same for the ApplianceLinc modules. When both X10 and Insteon types where being sold. The Insteon ones where ApplianceLinc V2.

Your memory is good. The maximum was dropped from 9 minutes to 8 minutes. Trying to set 9 minutes goes back to around 2 seconds. I don't think there is a secret way to get 9 minutes on the updated modules ramp rates.

Depending on the hardware revision you are trying to rebuild. You may find a different size capacitor in the C7 and C13 positions. The kit has the latest 100uF/50V capacitors in it. In mine they are too large physically to fit into the locations on the main board. So they are parallel to the board and the two leads are bent 90 degrees into the solder pads. If you choose to get the 7 capacitor kit. Check the revision sticker on the rear of the case. Hardware V2.4 and above. Has a new serial board and no C2 or C5. The older serial board has a C2 and 4 small capacitors 1uF/25V that I have see anyone try and change. As far as I can tell. C5 is only in the Smartenit EZIO relay module.

Most revisions of the 2456S3 Appliancelinc and 2856S Icon On Off modules. Remember if it was on or off. With a power loss and restoration. It will be on or off depending if it was on or off when power was lost. I have a revision 4.2 of the 2456S3 module. Always powered up off. Even if it was on after a power loss. I believe in my spares there is a 2856S Icon with the same always power off action.

There where a few revisions of the 2456S and 2856S Insteon Appliance Modules. That defaulted to Off when On before the power loss. I have not seen any Insteon Modules presently sold with that action.

The schematics are for the older 2412S PLM. Though the basic information has not changed that much. The memory on the daughter boards schematic is the slower speed memory and transformer type power supply. In the 2413S it has a faster access memory chip and the F1 fuse is not installed or the newly designed one. The 2412S could also send unregulated 12 volt DC out on the serial cable. To power things like the ISY99i and ISY994i. 2413S has enough power supply issues to not have up to a 400mA output to an external device.

If the 2443 Access Points are a revision 2.0 and above. They are built on the base 2413 PLM main board. Subject to the same power supply issues we see in the 2413S PLM. They can also be rebuilt with the power supply repair information. The older ones where built on the older interface module. I imaging {but never did} you could change the caps in them and they may also work. I do have extra Insteon modules. So for now I am OK but in the future. Not sure which way to go.

Since the ISY994i does not check what type PLM it is connected to it. A working 2413S Serial Board in a new 2413U USB PLM should work. If you where using software that checked what it is connected to. It may cause an issue. As a 2413S serial daughter board in a 2413U USB PLM. Will report the USB PLMs Category and Subcategory ID. I would not try a serial port daughter board from a 2412S PLM. The link memory is on the daughter board. Has a slower speed than the memory in a 2413. Could also be the original 417 link size or the >2000 size. That seems to miss things over about 800 links. On a ISY994i. I did see Smarthome say they had some serial port failures on the daughter boards. The Revision 2.3 the serial interface chip was changed to one with a better ESD rating. V2.4 added some signal protection on the serial port. signals and the later chip.