Mustang65

Since my PLM bit the dust and I received the USB version I am officially moving to ISY on Polisy. I shut down my ISY994i and decided that I am going to stick with the Polisy version of ISY. So, after getting through some speed bumps with the help of support I am moving on. I am setting up Polisy one device at a time. For me it was time to move on. I may have encountered my first device/program issue and it includes Sunrise/Sunset (Next Day) with a Motion Sensor II. Program 1: The basic program works perfectly WITHOUT Sunset/Sunrise. Program 2: Added Sunset/Sunrise and the Car Port light comes on, but does not turn off. Tried reversing the order of sunset/sunrise and motion sensor in the "IF", with no luck. Worked fine on the old ISY. PGM-1 Lights - Car Port - [ID 000D][Parent 0001] If 'Motion Sensor - Car Port' Status is On Then Set 'Lights - Car Port - On-Off Mo' On Wait 1 minute and 15 seconds Set 'Lights - Car Port - On-Off Mo' Off Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action') PGM-2 Lights - Car Port - [ID 000D][Parent 0001] If 'Motion Sensor - Car Port' Status is On And From Sunset To Sunrise (next day) Then Set 'Lights - Car Port - On-Off Mo' On Wait 1 minute and 15 seconds Set 'Lights - Car Port - On-Off Mo' Off Else - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')

While on the subject of my electrical issues, here is what I am in the process of doing to enhance my house's outdated electrical system. Replacing my VERY OLD service panel with this new "Remote Controlled" Leviton Load Center. Nice! One more thing to go bad. I was going to go with the Schneider Electric "PowerLink" product which would have allowed me to control each breaker with a micro-controller interface of my own, but the city would not approve the job if I did not have the control leads from the each of the breakers connected to anything. The Powerlink would have given me 2 way control to either trip or reconnect a breaker whereas the Leviton system only allows me to disconnect the breaker. Per a conversation with Levinton, they are looking into upgrading the breakers for both connect/disconnect capabilities. I also purchased some NON-Remote activated breakers for backup.... just in case! I was going to program the Raspberry Pi to monitor for lightning intensity (with lightning sensor) and if it was a bad storm disconnect the breakers that have sensitive electronics on them. After the storm passed and based on the lightning sensor, it would reactivate the breakers. This option would have been nice while we were traveling. Levinton's concern was that if a breaker tripped on its own that the owner would just remotely reactivate it without researching the problem. A valid reason. Also included in the Levinton system that I purchased is the ability to monitor the loads on each breaker. I currently have a Brultech system which I would consider the top of the line for Energy Management and this is not going to be eliminated. Levinton does not have an API interface in order to get and store Energy data. They said they are looking into that also. I will not hold my breath on that one. There also is an iPhone app (below picture) that you can use to open a circuit and get the Load Center information. I also like the feature where the Hot and Neutral wires for each circuit are terminated at each breaker location. Better for trouble shooting. Ignore the 220VAC dryer cable which is terminated in the panel. This is for testing purposes only. I connected it to the dryer outlet to insure that everything was working properly. I did have one breaker that was non responsive and Leviton sent me a replacement that I received in 2 days. Nice! This week I hope to begin wiring in the regular circuits with 12/2 AWG w/Ground Romex wire. I measured what is needed for each circuit and I am pre-cutting each length. All the existing cables (except HVAC, Hot Water Heater, Electric stove, Dryer) run into the soffit and about 8' to numerous electrical 4x4 electrical boxes. I have added a 2nd 2.5" conduit that goes between the load center and soffit as the existing 2.5" conduit is packed solid with wires. On the day I get the electrician to come out, I will get up early and disconnect the existing wiring in the attic and wire in the new circuits so that it will be ready for the electrician to pull the electric meter, shut down the electric service, remove the old circuit wiring, swing the new load center into position, mount it, connect the HVAC, Dryer, Hot Water Heater, stove cables and hook up the main service to it. Should be an easy job for the electrician. Wait, nothing goes that easy!

I just ordered the replacement capacitor parts kit from ebay. Thank you to whomever is making this available, sure beats manually ordering the parts. As I am very busy now.... my wife has found a new meaning to "Voice Activation" since ISY is down. She yells out "ISY turn on the living room fan", so I run over there and turn it on. I hope that this does not become a habit.. haha

Thanks @Teken

When I look at data from my Brultech Energy Management system the highest voltage recorded was I believe 128Volts.

The only solar is in my work area and it is not tied into the house's electric system. It keeps my batteries fully charged in case I need to run an extension cord from my inverter (not hooked up) to the Refrigerator

We live in Central Florida and this house is no stranger to close lightning hits. The last major hit was almost a year ago that took out about $2000 worth of electronics (TV', microwave.....). The bolt of lightning hit about 50' from the house. I then installed a Leviton Type 1 surge protection device (51020-WM) next to the electric service panel. Many close hits since then, usually power transformers, but no problems. The last 2 PLM's have been since I installed the Leviton unit, the previous 2 were prior to the install and not on the UPS so we are 50/50 on that theory. Duke energy just upgraded all the equipment between their substation and our location over the last 6 months. A much needed improvement. The number of momentary power outages has been greatly reduced, although still a pretty good amount.

My PLM works fine plugged into my IOT/Home Network UPS, unlike some others that have issues having the PLM plugged into a UPS. So power surges probably are non existent, although I may wire in my Arduino 120VAC voltage level monitor into the UPS and monitor it since it is unemployed at this time. The last 2 PLM's have been using the UPS.

Or just slowly move over to another vendor, ZWave, Wi-Fi, Sonof...., The liability issues related to a repaired PLM going south and causing other issues (fire....) would be my concern.

There is a post with a parts list. I just need to look at it again.

It just happened again for the 4th time. Last night I went out the back door and the motion sensor did not trigger the outdoor lights. That happens every once in a while, no big thing. At 11:31PM I noticed that the Living room lights were still on, the random 45 minute "OFF" never happened. The front door outside light never came on. Panic... PLM? Needless to say there was no quality sleep last night.. Verified... Another "DEAD" PLM. I used my last spare PLM last time and SmartHome was out of stock then, so I could not reorder. Numerous times since still no stock. I still have about $700 worth of Insteon devices that have not been installed yet, still in the boxes. It will really suck if they are not planning on producing the PLM any longer. If they decide to stop production I hope that they at least share the information to Universal-Devices to carry on. Something like X10 did. Ahhh, still have a FULL box of X10 devices in the attic probably will have a box of Insteon devices next to it. Earlier this summer I purchased a Z-Wave outlet to start experimenting with and was thinking that I should start using Z-Wave devices and stop purchasing Insteon devices. Well, I guess the time is here. Wife is NOT happy about having to manually trigger some things around here. I had better make a quick order of some basic Z-Wave devices. For the time being, I am going to have to hook up my old Insteon Hub (2245-222) that has been collecting dust on a shelf. Quick question. Is there any communications link between the ISY and the Insteon Hub (2245-222) that could be used temporally? Wishful thinking! Granted there would be a delay, but it would still work. I guess I will also look at the PLM repair posts to see what parts I need to purchase, so I can possibly get some of these old PLM's back in operation again. Still going to move to Z-Wave and other devices. This Insteon is getting to be to stressful.

Is it possible that Nokia is just positioning themselves to purchase/takeover not so SmartHomes for the patents and then throw them and their product line in the dumpster?

Sounds like my REAL memory issues

Thank goodness I ordered 10 of the hidden door sensors when I purchased all the wall switches to redo the house. Just need time to install them.

Come on..... build yourself a device that will take advantage of your sidewalk access, program it to use your Google 501Mbs and your done. Now there is a new product to be sold to the masses. A sidewalk JAMMER!

About 2 months ago I read about this and it still is not displayed on my iPhone. I check each day. My son had it and deleted it. Strange!

As a teen, I had a lot of proof reading classes

What would be great is if the interface manufactures would design their modules/door locks.... with an interchangeable ZigBee chip module so that the end user could change the desired frequency between 2.4 and 915. The module firmware could determine which module is being used and adapt accordingly. This would be a nice security feature for door locks.

Probably not in my lifetime:-(

They also have units with the 915Mhz frequency, which are the ones that I use on some of my home DIY installs.

I believe that I was reading that Amazon Smart Plug can be used with ISY. I was just on Amazon (where else would I be) and the Amazon Smart Plug is on sale for PRIME members for $14.99, if you are interested. The price changes from $24.99 to $14.99 when you get to checkout. Don

Just checking, and not sure if it will be an issue, are both switches on the same line? What line is the PLM on? Do you have a signal bridge between L1 and L2". I am guessing it is an Insteon switch. Just wondering

OK, so on January 3rd or 10th of this year, we took a nasty lightning strike at 4AM on the Duke Energy's power lines. Some of the neighbors had some electronics damage along with us. I had a regular whole house surge protector which did nothing. My main ISY bit the dust along with other electronics. This is the third MAJOR lightning strike near our house in the last 5 years, the last one scared the crap out of my neighbor that was standing on his driveway (dumb) and the area lit up like a massive strobe light and the thunder was instantaneous. Every motion sensor in my house activated (Alarm company and Insteon). I was in the GA Mountains and my alarm co/ISY alerts were going off one by one for each sensor. Alarm company calling me, I was looking at all my cameras and saw no activity. Bridged in neighbor and he explained what happened. After this January hit, I started investigating the house ground and was very surprised to find that the Service Panel #4 AWG ground wire was was connected to the service panel ground buss, but was going into the attic. I followed it to the area where the city water comes up out of the ground some 40 feet away and it was just hanging behind the water heater, with no connection to anything. This coincides with the work done by the plumber that replaced the city water main water line to the house about 8 years ago. It was copper pipe and he replaced it with PVC. Yup, the electric service panel had no direct ground connection. The ground wire was hidden behind the water heater. As for Duke Energy's ground connection, I dug up the end of their 4AWG ground cable that was loose in the ground rod connector. Finally, the only possible ground was through the metal conduit connector between the Duke electric meter box and our service panel. The lock nut was not even tight against the service panel wall, which I tightened (checked for any voltage issues first). The short connecting conduit was full of paint from the previous owner, not a good connection. There had to be some sort of connection as the outlets did show a ground when tested. Removed the 40+ feet of unused 4AWG ground wire and reused it for the following. Ground overkill? - (1) New 96 inch ground rod connected to the electric service panels ground buss. (8' 1" from existing Duke ground rod... local code) - (1) New 96 inch ground rod connected to my Satellite service panel ground buss. - (1) NEW Leviton Commercial/Residential Grade protector 51120-3R (See Below) - (4) NEW Gas surge protectors (1 at cable modem, each sat antenna connection) (See Below) - (1) NEW APC Surge Protector for Ethernet Data Port (between cable modem and Ubiquity controller) (See Below) - I am still thinking of replacing the Duke Energy ground rod with a new one as this one has been in the ground since the 50's. Probably do not need to do this. After all of this, will this protect my house's electronics... probably not but may give it a slightly better chance of some survival. Time will tell. One last item on my Lightning Strike Prevention "To Do" list is to get a 3' in diameter Weather balloon filled with helium, a 100' thin metal cable so ISY can detect lightning, open the weather balloon enclosure top and start the motor to extend the balloon and cable 100' so lightning will use the metal cable to direct it to the ground rod holding the cable in place. Wishful planning. Hopefully the installed equipment will help some. I know one of the gas surge protectors is not connected as I am having an issue with that circuit and I am trouble shooting it. It may be bad, as the Sat receiver keeps searching for satellite with it connected. Also, 3 Insteon modules, 1 wall switch and one outside module bit the dust with the lightning hit.

My transition, Home-Made (Z80/8051/Sinclair ZX1000/relays/hard-wired - early 1980's)>>>> X10 >>>> Insteon >>>> now my 1st Z-Wave+ module purchase, for evaluation. I also have had PLM issues.... I am on my 3rd one and I have one spare sitting on the shelf . I have decided that the PLM on the shelf will be the last one that I purchase. Maybe, I should go back to home-made/wired (Arduino/Raspberry Pi), but when the kids sell the house after I bite the dust it would be a negative selling point. Wait, at that point it would not matter to me anyway.. only kidding. The utility room work area lamps will be the first Z-Wave module victim, as those lamps get the most action each day/night. Unlike some others, and even though the house was built in 1956, I do not have any issues with line noise (Amazing). The opposite of my house up north, although, down here in Florida I do have issues with line surges from frequent lightning hits (on the electric lines) near the house. I just installed a Leviton commercial surge unit unit on the house, keeping my fingers crossed as the Florida Lightning season is fast approaching So, I will be installing the Z-Wave module and will see how it works with ISY/Polisy and based on its performance will keep adding/replacing with Z-Wave until the next great technology comes out. Next is the Z-Wave motion sensor.... wait I need to research the reviews on it first.

Well, I have been researching remote controlled electric breakers for the main electrical service box for some time now. I was originally going to go with Siemens version, but decided against it, as I could run into some local ordinance issues with the wiring of the control leads off of each breaker. I have now decided on going with Levinton's Outdoor Load Center with Smart Breakers and the Smart Breaker Data hub. Hopefully, Home Depot will follow through and deliver it this week. It looks a lot easier to install than the Siemens version and also allows for pre-wiring. The nice thing about this product is that each breaker location has each circuit's Hot and Neutral wires connected directly to it, which eliminates the need for wiring all the neutral wires to a Neutral buss. It has capability of remotely tripping the breakers monitoring the electrical usage of the entire system at this point. I do not see any API's on their website, but I did send them an email requesting API information. We will see if they answer. Maybe an ISY nodeserver down the road. I still intend on keeping the GEM/DashBox for more detailed energy information. I will keep you informed.