Cannot communicate with (random device)...defective PLM?

[stef2]

I have recently added 10 dual band switchLinc into my house.

 

I already have 40 other devices (switchlinc and keypadlynk mostly) installed and working, and the whole house is controlled with my isy99i.

 

The whole system had been left alone (for about a year) and was seemingly working fine until now. When adding the new swithches, I updated some of my scenes, and my isy started working very badly:

 

I get the same and frequent random message from isy: cannot communicate with device (any device). After that, isy shows a red exclamation mark next to the problematic device. The communication problem seems to affect any insteon device, randomly. The keypads seem to suffer from this problem the most often.

 

If I disable the problematic device and then enable it again, the red exclamation mark becomes a green arrow. I can then write updates to the device or restore the device, and usually it will work.

 

The thing is, the problem is very random. For example, if I update a scene controlling 20 devices, one or two devices show the above problem. If I try updating the scene again, those two devices might update correctly while another device might get the exclamation mark.

 

The Keypadlincs seem to suffer the most from the problem, my guess is since there is so much to write to them, the chance something goes wrong is higher.

 

I suspect none of my devices is broken, aside from my PLM maybe. I have tried to restore the PLM, but the same problem occurs: many random devices get the red exclamation mark, after which I can get every one of them to work by restoring each one of them one by one...

 

Could someone help me troubleshoot this problem? Dont hesitate to ask for any additional info, etc... I really want my whole house system to work, and right now the whole isy thing is unusable...

[LeeG]

Run the 4 tap Set button test on the Access Points to verify they are working and on opposite 120v legs.

 

Any new devices installed, holiday lighting for example?

 

Anything new added to the electrical circuit powering the PLM? Are other electronics isolated with a FilterLinc?

[Xathros]

Possibly a bad SWL. To diagnose, you can pull the airgap switch on all the new switches, then test comms to the old devices. If they all work, add back a few of the new SWL's at a time and continue testing till the problems re appear. Airgap the SWL(s) that appear to be the problem and continue adding and testing with the remaining SWLs.

 

-Xathros