Failed reading device link

[cardician]

Just got started with all of this and I'm of course immediately having trouble. With my luck though this was inevitable. So I'm posting here to get some ideas on what the most likely culprit is so I can figure out how to address the issue.

 

I started off small. I have an isy994i pro, a plm, and one 2477D switchlinc. Got the switch installed and working well. Then I plugged in the PLM and the ISY and everything seemed to be working. Detected the switchlinc and I was shocked that it all worked properly. A little while later, I go to play around with things some more, log into the admin console, and I see a message that it can't connect to the switchlinc. Connection error. Well there we go, that's the way things normally work for me. So I try a few things and one of the errors I get when I query the device links table is Failed reading device link [-200000/-5]. 

 

The connection with the PLM seems fine so I'm hoping some people here have some thoughts on what the problem might be. Maybe it's line noise and I could use a filterlinc? But the switchlinc is dual band and therefore should use RF if it can't connect over the wires right? I tried going around and unplugging various things and for a bit it seemed like that allowed communication to be intermittent, but then at some point it just stopped being able to communicate entirely. I tried doing a factory reset of the switchlinc, linked it through the ISY again, and that worked. But then it shortly started losing communication again.

 

So mainly I'm just curious what people think the most likely culprit is? Should I get a few filterlincs and start placing them infront of some of my possible culprits? Is there something else I need to do or try instead? I will add, the PLM is on a different floor than the switchlinc, so I wouldn't be entirely surprised if the RF was just not succeeding. They aren't very far away physically, but there are floor boards between them. Would more devices help in some way? What do people think?

 

Also, I'll just add, I saw in the event viewer a lot of INST-ACK events with the switchlinc's address. I don't know if those are acknowledgements or not. There are also some writing 0 bytes to device lines. Anyway, I'd appreciate any help someone could offer or advice that could be thrown my way. I was hoping I'd get lucky and just not have any problems but electronics and I don't tend to get along that well. What does failed reading device typically result from? Thanks.

 

Two more things I thought I'd add, I just noticed that when I turn the lights on or off with the switchlinc now, the LED flashes red a few times. Not sure what that means. And the other thing is that I tried putting the PLM into phase detection mode and the switchlinc did flash green twice every so often but otherwise the LED just stayed white. No idea what that means. The guide for the PLM says that means they are on opposite phases, I guess. Of course I don't even know if that's desirable. Just adding more info to be thorough.

[stusviews]

Most of your symptoms seem to be related to communication difficulties. Whatever you do, don't just go around filtering suspected culprits. If unplugging a device doesn't help, then neither will a filter. Although wood doesn't block RF, it's not unlikely that the orientation of the RF signal of INSTEON device is primarily horizontal. If the problem is communication, then additional devices will help.

 

A simple, albeit inconvenient, test is to cut a 2-wire extension cord in half and use it to power the SwitchLinc. Plug the extension cord into the same duplex receptacle as the PLM. Optionally connect the receptacle end of the extension cord to the load side of the SwitchLinc and plug a lamp into that end.

 

When wiring the extension cord, note that the neutral side has a rib, the line side is smooth. BTW, I test all new device using such an extension cord.