Question about Switchlink Dimmers v35 and ISY

[jhimmel]

I have replaced several of my older Insteon dimmers with new ones. I noticed two things about these new v35 dimmers and wanted to inquire about it here.

 

1. The new dimmers actually seem LESS reliable with regular communication than the older ones. I am getting more cleanup "flashing" from keypadlincs and remotelincs that are trying to operate linked v35 dimmers. My testers show no new noise on my powerlines. The problem seems to ONLY be with the V35 switches - and they are in locations where older versions performed perfectly (until a power surge killed them).

 

2. While the ISY is working at programming these v35 dimmers, the attached load actually keeps turning on and off throughout the process. Is this normal?

 

Jim H.

[jhimmel]

Okay - since nobody had a comment, thought I'd add the following -

 

It seems that the biggest problem I have is that my older keypadlinc has trouble communicating with the new i2 dimmers and vice versa. The i2 dimmers appear to be doing okay with each other.

 

I do have a new keypadlinc and I plan to do some testing to see if the new keypads work okay with the new dimmers. This is getting to be a real P.I.T.A.

 

My communications with the old stuff was rock solid and it is disappointing to say the least to find that my brand new replacement switches are having communication problems where the old stuff had none.

 

Edit: Did some quick testing, and as I suspected, the brand new keypadlinc communicates fine with the new dimmers. Now I may be put into a position of having to move around old and new stuff to group certain revision levels together. The joys of Insteon...

 

Jim H.

[MikeB]

Hey Jim -

 

That is quite discouraging! What firmware versions are your older KPLs? Have you talked to Smarthome about the issue?

[jhimmel]

Hey Jim -

 

That is quite discouraging! What firmware versions are your older KPLs? Have you talked to Smarthome about the issue?

 

The old keypadlinc dimmer reports v.00 in ISY.

The new dimmers report v.35

[MikeB]

Any idea what the label on the KPL says? My v1.65 KPLs show as v.2C on the ISY.

 

I would give Smarthome a call if you haven't.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Jim,

 

Apologies for a tardy reply. May I ask which version of ISY you used to program your devices? Please note that 2.6.8 and below do not support i2 and 2.6.10 is the only one that does it correctly.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Hey Jim -

 

That is quite discouraging! What firmware versions are your older KPLs? Have you talked to Smarthome about the issue?

 

The old keypadlinc dimmer reports v.00 in ISY.

The new dimmers report v.35

[jhimmel]

Hi Jim,

 

Apologies for a tardy reply. May I ask which version of ISY you used to program your devices? Please note that 2.6.8 and below do not support i2 and 2.6.10 is the only one that does it correctly.

 

With kind regards,

Michel

 

Michel, I had programmed them with 2.6.9.

After installing 2.6.10, I tried running "restore" on the devices in question in the hope that it might correct the problem by reprogramming them - it didn't help.

Now, based on your response above, I tried removing the devices from the scene and re-adding them. I seem to be getting better results at the moment. I will test further and report back.

 

One other thing, Michel (and Mike) - is the v.00 that ISY reports for the old KPL correct? Is that a valid v number? the sticker says version 1.0, revision 1.3.

 

P.S. - Michel - no need to apologize - you are doing a great job of support.

 

Jim H.

[jhimmel]

Well, now that the v35's are getting out there, I see more threads popping up with similar themes. Shame.

I'll be trying different v35's in some of the trouble spots to see if it makes a difference, or if they are all problematic. Sigh...

 

Jim H.

[ulrick65]

...One other thing, Michel (and Mike) - is the v.00 that ISY reports for the old KPL correct? Is that a valid v number? the sticker says version 1.0, revision 1.3....

 

I have several version 1.0, revision 1.3 KPL's and they all report as v.29 in ISY.

[ulrick65]

Well, now that the v35's are getting out there, I see more threads popping up with similar themes. Shame.

I'll be trying different v35's in some of the trouble spots to see if it makes a difference, or if they are all problematic. Sigh...

 

Jim H.

 

Jim, what version and rev do your SWL's have on the tags on them? Mine are 4.0 and report in ISY as v.35 and I assume your's are 4.0 as well?

 

I have 49 new ones arriving tomorrow (replacements for the paddle microswitch problems). I am going to be really upset (like others are I imagine) if I traded 49 switches that you had to beat on to get to work for 49 that switches that switch real nice, but don't communicate.

 

I will report on the version numbers and how they act when I get some installed.

[jhimmel]

Update on my situation -

 

Today I finally found time for testing some things out. Most issues I was able to settle down by resetting and reprogramming the new switches as 2.6.13 developed. However, I still had problems with reliable communication with one (v.35) switch and a Keypadlinc button. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. This in a location where an older dimmer worked perfectly for years.

 

Today I switched out the v.35 dimmer for a different v.35 dimmer. The replacement seems to be working fine. Right now I'm hoping that I just came across a bad switch. I probably put about 8 or 10 new v.35 switches into use.

 

Jim H.