Fanlinc Light Unexpectedly Dims

[ISYhbsh01]

Hi all,

 

I have had a fanlinc for almost two years. Ever since I installed it, every once in a while when the light was on to full brightness, it would all of a sudden dim considerably. The ISY, as well as the keypads linked as controllers to the fanlinc, were not aware of this change. The ISY would sill show the status as fully on, and if I would do a fast on either via the ISY or via the keypad nothing would happen. The only way to get it back to full brightness was by turning the light off & then turning it back on. Sometimes after doing this it would stay on at full brightness for a while & then it would dim again. Plenty of times though, when the Fanlinc would be in a bad mood it seems, it would dim again like 30 seconds after getting it back to full brightness, and it would continue doing it over & over again.

 

I finally got around to call Smarthome & got a replacement under warranty. I installed it this week & the same thing is happening with the new one.

 

Has anyone had something like this? Any ideas?

 

TIA.

[Techman]

What type of light bulb are you using?

[ISYhbsh01]

What type of light bulb are you using?

 

I am using three 60 watt candelabra base incandescent bulbs that came with the fan.

[LeeG]

Two FanLincs are not failing the same way (lets hope). Does/did the Fan have some control over the bright level of the lights before moving to the FanLinc?

[ISYhbsh01]

Two FanLincs are not failing the same way (lets hope). Does/did the Fan have some control over the bright level of the lights before moving to the FanLinc?

The fan on its own does not have a dimming capability. Also this did not happen before I installed the Fanlinc.

 

Thanks.

[LeeG]

I was thinking of some issue between the FanLinc light control and a similar Fan capability.  The next choice would then be wiring.  

[ISYhbsh01]

I was thinking of some issue between the FanLinc light control and a similar Fan capability. The next choice would then be wiring.

The fan has a neutral wire, one wire for the fan motor, one wire for the light, and a ground wire. I connected them to the approriate wires on the Fanlinc. What could I have wired wrong?

[stusviews]

You didn't mention a line conductor at the fan.

[ISYhbsh01]

You didn't mention a line conductor at the fan.

Yes sure there is a line conducter connected to the proper wire on the fanlinc. I was just listing the wires from the fan.

 

Could it have something to do with the ground wire? I just looked now at a picture I took of the wiring before I disconnected the first Fanlinc, and I see two green wires and a bare metal wire connected together. I don't remember why there are 3 ground wires there.

[stusviews]

Ground wires are not required for proper operation. They're a safety measure. The two green wires are probably one from the fan and one from the mounting bracket. The bare wire is from the Romex cable. How did you control the fan/light before installing the FanLinc?

[ISYhbsh01]

 

 

How did you control the fan/light before installing the FanLinc?

I had a standard 2 way switch with one line wire only going to the fixture's electrical box. The fan has two pull chains for the fan & the light. The light was always on at the pull chain & I used the wall switch to control it. I rarely used the fan at the time. If I did want to turn on the fan I used the pull chain to do it.

 

When I installed the Fanlinc I followed Smarthome's instructions on how to repurpose the traveler wires etc. when changing from a standard 2 way switch setup to two Insteon switches. With one difference that none of the switches are directly controlling the load. Rather the load wire always has power, and it's just the switches controlling the fanlinc via ISY scene linking.

[LeeG]

With the Fan, FanLinc and wiring judged good, what is left?

[ISYhbsh01]

With the Fan, FanLinc and wiring judged good, what is left?

That's what I would love to know...

[stusviews]

I'm confused. It has nothing to do with you, only the terminology. There is no such thing as a "2 way" switch. There is a configuration that's called 3-way. That means that there are switches in two locations that control the same load. They are called 3-way because each switch has three screws, two are brass and one is black. Is that the configuration you originally had? Or was the original switch a single on/off switch? On/Off switches do not have travelers, 3-way switches do.

[ISYhbsh01]

 

 

I'm confused. It has nothing to do with you, only the terminology. There is no such thing as a "2 way" switch. There is a configuration that's called 3-way. That means that there are switches in two locations that control the same load. They are called 3-way because each switch has three screws, two are brass and one is black. Is that the configuration you originally had? Or was the original switch a single on/off switch? On/Off switches do not have travelers, 3-way switches do.

Sorry about the wrong terminology. Yes it was a 3-way switch. Thanks.

[stusviews]

"It" cannot be a single device if the configuration involves a 3-way configuration. There are at least three electric boxes involved, the two 3-way switch boxes and the ceiling box. Describe the wiring in each box.

 

BTW, "it' is a virtually useless word. OTOH, in some contexts. it makes sense.

 

Keep it green in '15

[ISYhbsh01]

"It" cannot be a single device if the configuration involves a 3-way configuration. There are at least three electric boxes involved, the two 3-way switch boxes and the ceiling box. Describe the wiring in each box.

 

BTW, "it' is a virtually useless word. OTOH, in some contexts. it makes sense.

 

Keep it green in '15

 

Thanks. I will have to make some extra time one of these days to pull out the switches & document all the wires there. I will then come back and post what I find.