xlurkr

I forgot to add: having an ON level of <100% is really nice built-in Insteon behavior. If the ISY is down, or you want to or need to remove it from the environment, you can still have a low lighting level set with the first press, and go to 100% with the second. I remember loving it when I was first starting out with Insteon and didn't have my ISY, 20 years ago. -Tom

Thanks for the clarification. I only have 6 button KPLs, but I can understand why an 8 button toggles the load on/off by default. There's no off button! I still don't see how variables can fix the following issue: a switch doesn't appear to generate either a control or status event if it is turned on when it is already at its ON level. Without a means to trigger the ISY to know this has happened, how can the ISY do anything to establish the desired state? If you suggest using variables along with not having an ON level of <100%, then I get it. -Tom

This may be true for the non-load-controlling keys on a KPL, but I believe that the KPL load acts like a dimmer or relay, so it will go to the ON level on first press, then 100%, then ON level, then 100%, etc. Looking at the Event Viewer, it looks like an ST event is triggered when the switch is turned on manually ONLY if the status is not the same as the ON level when it happens. If so, it goes to the ON level (whether that is higher or lower than the status; i.e, down or up) and there's an ST command. If it is at the ON level, it goes to 100%, with no ST command. So maybe the solution will involve setting the light programmatically to be 1% away from the ON level, so you will always get an ST command if it's manually manipulated. Also, turning the switch on, no matter what its current state, always generates a DON 0 event, so maybe just look for those somehow. Dimming doesn't generate a DON 0, but does always lead to an ST event, in my testing. -Tom

I think the problem is one I noticed a few months ago - that the ISY does not change the status of a switch when it is turned on a second time. The status remains at the pre-defined ON level of < 100%, if that's how it is defined. I just checked, and if the on level is defined as 100%, and you programmatically lower it, then when the light is turned on again, status correctly shows 100%. So maybe you need to set the light's ON level to 100%, and lower it to wherever you want it every time it is turned ON from OFF. -Tom

Thanks. BTW, "Fast On" is triggered in Insteon by a double click. Maybe that's why there's no double press. If you're willing, please test this. -Tom

@edentel: Sorry, but I missed your response to my Zen32 thread. I think you made it very clear. -Tom

@edentel: Can you detail what you did to get it to work, if anything? Did it just get discovered and create all of the right nodes automatically? I have a Zen32, and the scene controller functions are not working. I'm on 5.0.16C though, with the series 300 dongle. I just bought the series 500 dongle, and am looking for motivations to install it. This could be one. -Tom

OK, so I bought one. The picture shows the nodes that were created in 5.0.16C. The first one (Binary Switch) is the only one that changes under any circumstances. Pushing any of the 4 scene buttons does nothing, other than toggle the LED state for that button. I guess that's the bad news. The good news is that the Binary Switch status is updated instantly when actuated, and it can be controlled by the ISY. So once again, a ZooZ switch has met my minimum requirements. If you have been following my saga, you will know that I now have the 500 series dongle. Some day I'll install it - I'm still worried that my Schlage lock won't be reachable based on others' reports. But then maybe the scene buttons will do something. I'll probably start a new thread at that point, but I'm curious if anyone has been able to get ZooZ scene activations to do anything useful with 500 series/5.3.X or greater. -Tom

This thing looks like it would make a great fan timer controller if it is fully supported on the ISY. The big upper button controls a load. The smaller lower 4 scene buttons could probably be used to both turn on the load through the ISY, and start a timer, so you could get 4 pre-defined timer settings. I'm still unsure if the ISY currently supports scene controllers like this well, and specifically if it would support all 4 scene buttons as control triggers. Control of the LEDs on the scene buttons (e.g. turning off when the timer expires) would be great, but not necessary. Anyone with experience? -Tom

From this post: Scene with only Zooz ZEN23 switches - ISY994 Z-Wave - Universal Devices Forum (universal-devices.com) It looks like scenes and Control as a program trigger were reported as not working in 5.0.15, and I don't see anything in the release notes to suggest that this was fixed in 5.0.16. I have ordered the 500 series dongle and will upgrade to 5.3.3 (or later) when it arrives. Wish me luck on my Schlage lock when I do. -Tom

You might be right, but let's see if anyone else who is still on 5.0.16C can help me out. -Tom

Thanks, but I'm in that post at the end. @asbrilrecommended something, but it's only available in >5.2. Unless I'm wrong, there's nothing in that post that describes how to fix the problems I'm having on 5.0.16C and series 300 dongle. Did I miss something? -Tom

Short story: I recently installed a Zooz Zen30 dual switch. It has a dimmer on top and a relay below. It's only partly working. The relay reports its status when it is manually actuated. The dimmer does not. Both report status when controlled by the ISY, or when queried. Neither will generate a "Control is switched On" (or off) trigger in programs. As you might guess from the observation above, "Status is On" (or off) will trigger programs for the relay, but not for the dimmer. Please give me your advice for getting the dimmer to report status, and for both to generate Control triggers - if it's possible. Note: I'm on 5.0.16C with the 300 series dongle, so my Z-Wave menus will be somewhat different than yours if you are on 5.3.X. Thanks. -Tom

I want to turn on the fan in another bathroom. They both exhaust into the same duct, and there's some crossover. So I want to have both fans on whenever either one is switched on. Eventually I'll add some timer logic, too. Status will probably work. I won't know until I automate the other fan. It doesn't need a double switch, so I might go with Insteon for that one. Still mulling it over. -Tom

According to the release notes, this "Basic Node" stuff was added in 5.2.0, so I don't have that option. -Tom

Cool. But I found this, so be careful: Smarthome Forum - EZIO8SA / 2412S PLM / ISY99i problem Check out the 2nd to last post. BTW, LeeG is the "authority" I referred to earlier. But if Smartenit says the one they are selling on eBay will work with the EZIO8SA, OK. -Tom

It seems to work with Status, but not Control. Maybe I can make that work. -Tom

I think the 5010K is just a rebadged 2412S. So I'm guessing it would, but you can always just ask Smartenit. -Tom

I declared victory too soon. The relay switch does report its status to the ISY when manually actuated. But a program that starts with If 'ZW 033.1 On-Off Power Switch' is switched On' never triggers. Dang it. @asbril, I'm guessing you have programs triggered by the relay. Do you do anything special to make it work? -Tom

Oh, and Smartenit is selling new SmartHome 2412S PLMs on eBay for $30 right now. Plus $10 shipping. But it is listed as "Best Offer", so maybe you can get one for less. Let us know how low they will go if you do. -Tom

In my recent experimentation, I was able to set up the analog inputs correctly and read out their values with the SHN utility. But the ISY could never read them. I did some searching on this forum and found what looked like an authoritative post claiming that it isn't possible, so I quit trying. There are lots of open source projects out there that you might be able to leverage to write your own program to read the analog inputs. You can figure out what commands are needed either from the SHN documentation, or from observing the chatter in the SHN utility when you push the buttons to return the values. It might make an interesting nodeserver project for someone who can code better than I can. -Tom

Well, as luck would have it, I was exercising my EXIO8SA myself recently. I'm still not sure you can get a PLC to do what you want. The EZIO8SA connects directly to a PLM, and I'm pretty sure can't connect to a PLC, even a serial one. On the other end, you might be planning on running the SimpleHomeNet utility. It is true that it supports both the PLM and PLC, but for the latter, you need to run that flaky SDM program. You might have an old Windows PC that can run it, but if what I'm saying doesn't ring a bell, beware of more work and possible disappointment ahead. -Tom

Pretty sure the PLC can't be used to control i2cs devices, so be aware of that. I hope others will correct me if I'm wrong. -Tom

Wow, that ended up being a lot of worry for little reason. The solution started (I think) when I observed by accident that the Zen30 worked well when I had the dual outlet box rotated so that the GE outlet was facing the ISY. If rotated the other way, it was flakey. Was the Intermatic shielding the GE, or interfering with it, or intercepting the signal and relaying it incorrectly? Who knows, but I took the Intermatic out of the box and, lo and behold, the Zen30 worked as long as the GE was between it and the ISY. That gave me the confidence to proceed with the installation. I replaced my bathroom outlet with the GE, and installed the Zen30 and a KPL. Right now, it's all working...except the dimmer STILL needs to be queried if I want the status to be correct when it is manually actuated. Later I'll capture some logs and post here and/or create a support ticket. I can turn it on and off in programs, and the status shows correctly then, and that's probably all I really need. But I'm accustomed to being able to use every switch as a controller or program trigger, so that's my ultimate desire. @asbril, thanks for the support, and especially for being the original guinea pig for this switch. It is an (almost) perfect solution for me. -Tom

@asbril As far as (*), that's exactly how it is configured. I have always included it about 5 feet away from the ISY (since first trying about 10 feet away and failing). It works fine there, with rapid response and no communication errors. When I unplug it and move it any significant distance from the ISY, the errors start, and get intolerable by the time it gets to where I want to install it, which is less that 20 feet from the ISY, with a few walls between. As far as (**), I have done that, too. I have another pigtailed box with two outlets in it: a GE/Jasco and an Intermatic. Both of them are easily controlled by the ISY. As my final attempt to fix the problem, I plugged it in halfway between the ISY and the Zen30 final location, with only one wall and less than ten feet between them. First I tried it without healing, and then with a network heal. I still get the errors. All this time, all of my other Zwave devices - that double outlet box, another GE/Jasco outdoor plugin module, and my Schlage lock (thank God) - have continued to work without a hitch. So I'm thinking it's the Zen30, and either it's bad, or it isn't well enabled with 300 series/5.0.16C. Given that it does work OK within 5 feet, I'm thinking the former. But also given that the relay and the dimmer behave differently, and the dimmer doesn't report status for me like you say it does for you, maybe the latter? I'll probably never know unless I upgrade, but I'm worried about the Schlage lock and 500 series range problems. -Tom