MorningLinc stopped working

[rvandersteen]

I've had a MorningLinc transmitter and two Morning Industry deadbolt locks for a little under one year. Everything has been working really well and I have not had a single issue .... Till now.

 

Within the last month or so, every time we would manually lock our lock via the keypad, it would beep very rapidly. I assumed It was some sort of low battery indication it something. There really is no way to know, as Morning Industry has zero documentation. About 1-2 months later, the locks (we have two linked to a single MorningLinc) stopped working.

 

When we pushed the lock button, it would beep three times, and wouldn't lock the door. Non of the unlock codes worked, etc. I tried swapping out the batteries on the lock. Nothing. Eventually my attention gravitated towards the MotningLinc. I unplugged it and noticed the led wasn't working at all. I tried a factory reset, but it did nothing. The led, doesn't work at all.

 

I ended up calling Morning Industry (locks) customer support, who was able to help reset the locks. They now work, without the MorningLinc linked to them. The customer service rep from Morning said that the MorningLinc was the problem and that they've had a lot of calls about this issue.

 

I'm curious if anyone else on the forum has had a bad MorningLinc or one that worked and then just stopped working? If so, do you know the root cause / how to fix? I still have yet to see if SmartHome offers any type of warranty on their stuff.

 

Thanks in advance for any replies.

[LeeG]

Was the lockset tested with the MorningLinc unplugged?

 

I could see the MorningLinc sending a constant RF signal to the lockset but that would have been corrected when the MorningLinc was unplugged.

 

Note that when the MorningLinc was factory reset the authorization link between the ISY PLM and the MorningLinc was erased. It will have to be Deleted from the ISY and added back. Also note that factory reset of the MorningLinc does not affect the link (not an Insteon link) between the MorningLinc and the lockset as that information is maintained in the lockset.

 

A reset of the lockset would remove the link between the MorningLinc and the lockset. The MorningLinc has to be positioned close to the lockset and the link between the MorningLinc and the lockset reestablished. Of course if the MorningLinc is defective it has to be replaced.

 

I have two MorningLincs linked to one lockset for around a year. Both are working fine.

[oberkc]

I had an issue with my morning industries lockset that may (or may not) be related to yours. I started getting intermittent response to pushes to keypad buttons. Sometimes you would hear the faint beep on each button press...other times not. Sometimes you would get the multiple beeps when pressing the unlock button (after entering the correct combination).

 

It turns out that this problem was solved by reseating a little connector inside the lockset. In case you don't remember (I didn't), when you install the lockset, there is a little connector between the interior and exterior parts of the lock set. I assume a bit of corrosion had set in on that connector and that reseating this connector re-established continuity. Regardless, my lockset was NOT working, now it IS WORKING.

 

It took about three minutes and a phillips screwdriver. You might give it a try if you run into this problem again.

[oceanman93]

To my surprise, both of my Morning door locks stopped working completely. Neither would even accept codes to unlock manually. This happened to two units being controlled by one MorningLinc at the same time so my first inclination was the MorningLinc controller. I unplugged it after noticing that the LED was out and that it did not seem to respond to anything. After unplugging the module, both door locks worked again with their manual codes. This was really bad as I was almost locked out of my home since both entry doors have keypads and I had another issue where my PLM went bonkers at the same time so I didn't have any control of my garage doors except for the old fashion RF remote. Of course all of this occurred when I was not even home away on vacation and a friend went to my house and had a hard time getting in.

 

This lock issue is particularly troubling as I wouldn't have expected something that is battery operated to be locked out by a bad/defective MorningLinc controller. I'm not sure I will replace it since I don't want a repeat of this issue. I may look for another door lock solution. I just wanted to let everyone know of the potential here. Now on to figure out all of my other troubles that the PLM caused.

[LeeG]

The MorningLinc must have been sending an RF signal all the time. All the lock codes are stored in the locksets themselves not the MorningLinc. The MorningLinc functions as nothing more than a battery button remote would function. That is why the MorningLinc can be Insteon Factory Reset without affecting the relationship between the MorningLinc and the lockset.

 

I have two MorningLincs and have not seen that behavior. I'm wondering if there was a power surge or similar that affected both the PLM and the MorningLinc.

[stillen_i30]

I had issues with my morninglinc and lock (one lock) a year ago.

 

The lock behaved similarly to what you described, and my morninglinc was seemingly unresponsive. I think it even showed up in the ISY console as not responding. At any rate, I think I rectified the problem by having smarthome send a new unit (morninglinc only). I believe I reset the entire thing (destroyed old link between lock and ML and re-establish with new ML). It has now worked. I believe the ML they sent me was also updated compared to the prior one I had (version-wise). My morning lockset isn't very durable...the keypad has already glazed over from the afternoon sun exposure of one summer. To unlock (or lock, can't remember which), you have to enter the code and press the button twice to get it to respond. Other than this it has been ok...but honestly not impressed with this lock solution as it is extremely flaky and I hate replacing the batteries every few months.