Fanlinc and KPL6 - fan only works when light switch on

[pauliep]

Hello. Thank you for reading this. After going through several pages of tips and tricks for the Fanlinc, I am about ready to pull what little hair I have left on my head.

 

I have a Fanlinc and a KPL 6 with the Smarthome buttons for Fans High, Medium, Low, and Off. I believe I have these programmed correctly into 4 separate scenes (Fan High for one button which turns the light on the button on and the others remain off, with the remainder doing the same thing for their respective buttons and lights.)

 

What I can't figure out is why I can not get the fan to work on any speed without having to turn the ON switch at the top of the KPL in order to "power" up the fan buttons. It seems the only way to get the fan to work is if the ON switch is on, and then I hit the Fan High button to activate that function. I would like to be able to control the light and fan separately, but I am racking my brain as to what is going wrong.

 

I looked at the manual for the KPL and note the ON/OFF buttons are load controlling (page 3 of the KPL instruction manual). Does this mean the ON button has to be on for the Fanlinc to work properly? Or am I doing something completely stupid and can't figure it out?

 

Any help would be truly appreciated. The wife is on me to have the functions work properly. If I don't, well, you can guess the outcome. Anyone have a spare couch I can use if I can't solve this?

 

Paul

[LeeG]

It sounds like the KeypadLinc ON/OFF buttons are controlling main power going to the Fan itself rather than being linked only to the FanLinc for Light control.

 

Explain how the KeypadLinc and FanLinc are wired to the Fan. How many wires going to the Fan (and color) and what they are connected to at the Fan, KeypadLinc and FanLinc.

[pauliep]

Hmmmm....

 

That is what I am doing. I have the typical white wire, a black wire that is the load, and another wire that is the line. I think I am getting what you are saying. If I am using the KPL to control the lights and fan, then the power overall is controlled by the KPL and will never turn on the fan if the light is not on.

 

I should have thought of that before. I am wondering why I didn't. I am NOT going to tell the wife.

 

Well, if this is the case, how do I set it up to where the KPL controls the light and fan without the power issue? Do i somehow wire the uint to where it is always powered? This seems dangerous, doesn't it?

 

Paul

[pauliep]

Sorry, didn't post all of the info you asked for.

 

The Fanlinc wires are hooked up like this: blue wire is connected to the lights, whereas the red is connected to the fan, black is connected to line, and white is connected to neutral.

 

Hope this also helps.

[LeeG]

The KPL is linked to the FanLinc (red wire on KPL is capped), ON/OFF buttons linked to the FanLinc Light node, buttons A,B,C,D linked to the FanLinc Motor node.

 

Assuming the FanLinc is installed in the shroud of the Fan, unswitched power must be connected to the Fanlinc. All power to the Fan Light and Fan Motor come through the FanLinc. The FanLinc is just like a KPL or SwitchLinc, they are supplied with unswitched power (Line and Neutral) all the time.

 

I found it best to never tell the spouse the real story. Facts just get in the way.

 

I have some standard electrical switches that provide power to InLineLincs in outside floods. The standard switches were there controlling the old floods before converting to Insteon. I put a small Red sticker on the up side of the face plate to remind me to never turn the switch Off. The same thing could be done if you want a way to shut off power to the FanLinc. There is no reason to be more concerned about a FanLinc than all the KPLs, SwitchLincs, OutletLincs etc that have unswitched power. That is what circuit breakers are for.

[pauliep]

Ok, will have to try to provide always on power to the Fanlinc and then have the KPL control that. I should have thought of that as well. I do see a second wire in the junction box, probably for a switch for light or fan in a different situation. In one of my other rooms in the house, there is a switch for a fan and a switch for a light on two separate rocker switches. Looks like they did the same here but did not run the extra switch.

[pauliep]

OK, I have set up always on power to the Fanlinc and have been able to setup the buttons properly (Fan high - the fan turns on high; Fan Medium- the fan turns on medium, etc. including Fan Off).

 

Now I can't get the light to turn on with the ON/OFF button but can turn it on using the ISY 994. I created a Patio Fan Light scene and have the 21.67.C4-Light within the scene. When I click on the main scene button (Patio Fan Light), I see a 21.67.C4-Light On Level set to 100 and a Ramp Rate set to .1s.

 

When I click on the individual 21.67.C4-Light, I see a current state of 0 (because the light is off), the On Level (Applied Locally) set to 100 and the Ramp Rate (Applied Locally) set to .1s.

 

So when I go to the KPL and hit ON, nothing happens. When I hit ON via the ISY 994, the light does turn on.

 

What am I missing?

[oberkc]

I created a Patio Fan Light scene and have the 21.67.C4-Light within the scene.

 

Is the keypad main button also in this scene, as a controller?

[pauliep]

Alright, I found what I was missing. I found the Patio Fan link and had to add it to the Patio Fan Light scene in order to make it work properly with the KPL. After doing so, everything is working properly.

 

I have now added a second Fanlinc and have it working properly, too.

 

A lot of work, but well worth it. My wife is allowing me to stay in the home. Another victory.