What causes a device to turn off then back on at random?

[Drexx3]

I have a ToggleLinc in the mud room that every now and then when the light is on it will turn off then immediately back on again. Doesn't happen all the time, but sometimes. The setup for that room is a 3-way with two ToggleLinc's.

 

I've actually replaced a ToggleLinc in this 3-way once already and am RMA'ing the one that was on the load side (the original one had this behavior too). Eventually it got to the point where after about 3 days the switch would not control the load any more (light on ToggleLinc was on but the toggle would not control the load). If I pulled the air gap that would make it functional again for about another 3 days or so.

 

I spoke to SmartHome and they had me do a factory reset on the ToggleLinc. If that didn't fix it they said they'd RMA it and replace under warranty.

 

I installed another ToggleLinc (same firmware version) that was for another project and it has been working fine for about 2 weeks now. However this random off-then-on behavior has me puzzled.

[Xathros]

What is the load connected to the toggleinc? Is this a relay or dimmer?

 

 

-Xathros

[Drexx3]

It is a basic 3-way with two ToggleLinc relays and a standard overhead light with two LED bulbs (9W each I believe. The newer CREE LED bulbs bought from Home Depot). The line side TL on the other side of the room is in a crowded 2-gang box, shared with another TL also in a 3-way (but no odd behavior on that one), load side is a single gang, not as crowded.

 

Hopefully miniaturization will kick in some day on these Insteon devices! These things are killing me they take up so much room!

 

Thanks,

-Doug

[oberkc]

I suppose it is possible that the load might be putting some sort of noise on the line that might cause the switch to behave like this, but this is something I have not noticed with my Cree light bulbs.

 

Were this me, I would check the event log when this happens next in an attempt to isolate the problem. Is there any chance you have a program misbehaving? Have you checked to confirm that there are not other controllers linked to these three-way switches? Do both switches turn off/on, or just the one controlling the load?

[Xathros]

If the suggestions from oberkc bear no fruit, I would try swapping the LED bulbs for incandescent for a test and see if the behavior changes. That said, I also have had no issues with LED bulbs so far beyond poor dimming performance on some models.

 

-Xathros

[arw01]

No toggle lincs in my house, but I saw a set of 4 cans all on an older dimmer to this once. Kids tell me the lights do it all the time, but I haven't seen it.

 

Lord help you if the bathroom light goes off on the wife!

[Drexx3]

Interestingly enough, the new TL started to have the same behavior yesterday. The little LED light is on but the relay has no effect and doesn't turn on the light. Had to pull the air gap for 10 secs to make it work again.

 

I was also unable (via MobiLinc) to control the family room lights which the load toggle happens to share the same box as the secondary for the mud room light this thread was about. I could control it manually by the switch itself but not via software (I was able to control over devices, just not this particular set of devices).

 

Oddly enough, today, the ISY software upon start up said it couldn't communicate with the MBR bathroom toggle that controls the outside light by the bathroom door. It is a toggleLinc by itself in a single gang box. Pulled the air gap and it was back to working again. Has been fine for months...

 

Something in common with these ToggleLinc's having issues is that they're all 2466SW V6.1 1252.