OutletLinc and ISY 994i IR Pro

[smokegrub]

I posted the following two messages on the Smarthome Forum...awaiting a reply.

 

"I had an OutletLinc installed for a few months, and it worked well. It failed and was replaced under warranty. The replacement was installed yesterday morning and by evening it was no longer accessible from my ISY. I deleted/unlinked it and began a factory reset. However, tapping the reset button does not restore the load! Sounds like this one has failed as well. Any thoughts before I call Smarthome?

 

I enlisted my wife to man (woman) the breaker, and we did the factory reset. We were successful in the reset with power restored to the controlled outlet. I then tried to relink the device to the ISY. When I pressed and held the button I got a solid light. If I waited a few moments the light went out. If I pressed it again and held the button I got the blinking light signaling it was ready for linking but the ISY could not "see" it. I then tried to have the ISY autodiscover it by entering its device number...nothing. Now when I reboot the ISY I sometimes get a message with something about nodes. I take it that the ISY may be trying to communicate with the device but can't. I await hearing from you."

 

Do any of you have a suggestion?

[Xathros]

smokegrub-

 

I have to say the the outletlinc has been my most problematic device in my install.  I many times needed to reset and restore the device to get it working again and it seems to have a very weak PLM inside.  I have several switchlincs on the same circuit that are all flawless yet the outletlinc in the middle of the circuit often fails to communicate.  The load I'm controlling with it is just a small doorway fan to move heat from my pellet stove into the next room.  It's possible that a spike from cutting power to the fan motor is whats upseting the OL and forcing me to restore but that doesn't account for the poor comms issue and adjacent devices on that circuit have not had any issues with spikes.

 

At some point before the heating season begins again, I will replace this with a ZWave outlet and be done with the problem once and for all.

 

-Xathros

[smokegrub]

Thanks for the reply, Xathros. I am rapidly coming to the same conclusion except I will return to a standard outlet at this location and use an ApplianceLinc. The OutletLinc seems extremely fragile. I had an electrician install it both times at $25 a pop plus all the hassle of getting a replacement and traveling to a drop off point for the return. All-in-all the device has cost me out of pocket at least $70, not including the cost of the device!

 

I hope Smarthome gives me a refund and doesn't insist on another replacement.

[EricK]

I did reply over in the smarthome forum. I have 4 outlet lincs and have not had any comm problems. For the one behind my nightstand and the one behind a foyer cabinet I wish I would have used a plug in module instead.

E

[smokegrub]

I used an extension cord and powered the PLM from the controlled outlet and it linked, indicating a signal strength issue. That is really weird because I have used ApplianceLincs there every year at Christmas but now one of those will not link either! Weird. I am going to have the wiring for the OutletLinc checked out by the electrician who installed it yesterday before proceeding further with my investigation. 

[Xathros]

@smokegrub-

 

Sounds like you may have a signal sucker on the circuit.  Unplug any power strips that are on that circuit and test again.

 

-Xathros

[paulbates]

I recently replaced the x10 supersockets outside my home for a virtual yard light circuit recently with outletlincs.

 

2 of them immediately exhibited the symptoms you did and I had to cut power to them to reset them after a few hours after being on. The recreate is simple:

• If the devices stay turned off, no problems.
• If load is switched on to the outletlinc powering the yard light transformers, after about an hour, the switch becomes unresponsive. Even the button locally on the outletlnc stops responding. cutting power to the outletlinc revives it... until load is on for another hour.

THERE IS A FIX:  I got home last night am plugged an x10 noise filter into the outletlinc, and the transformer into the noise filter. I was not able to recreate the problem after leaving the yard light transformer on all day

 

The other solution is an X10 wire in filter installed in the noisy device itself, not in the wiring to the outletlinc from the house.

[Brian H]

The only problem with the X10 XPPF is it is rated at five amps.

If you push it close to the five amps. The internal coils get quite warm and start to smell hot.

[paulbates]

That's true brian. In that case the XPNR would need to be used. I have a number of those on low voltage lighting and my furnances. Its harder to deal with these as they need to be connected on the device side, in the device itself or special box added for that purpose.

[smokegrub]

I checked the wiring connections and they were fine so, instead of spending a lot of time chasing the signal strength problem, I moved the device to another location. It linked and is working properly at least for now.

[paulbates]

What is being plugged into the outletlinc, a noisy device like motor, fan etc? Or a transformer? The problem is most likely a noisy load that overwhelms the outletlinc and locks it up, requiring the restart.

[smokegrub]

I have now tried to sync with MobiLinc Pro on my iPhone and the OutletLinc does not show as a device. I have deleted it from the ISY, relinked it and synced with MobiLinc--it still doesn't appear on the MobiLinc!

[smokegrub]

With help from Wes at MobiLinc, I created a new profile in MobiLinc and synced with the ISY. Voila! The device appeared.