Using ISY to control lights in range hood?

[markinpgh]

Hi all,

 

Please pardon my ignorance as I am not the most knowledgeable when it comes to matters electrical. 

 

Essentially the problem I have is this: Every single light in my house, from the attic right down to the basement, is controllable via my ISY, with the exception of the four halogen lights in the range hood over my kitchen island. This bugs me to no end I am therefore trying to determine which Insteon product(s), if any, I would be able to hook up to those four lights. I’m guessing either the In-LineLinc or Micro On/Off module?

 

The range hood is made by Jenn-Air and has a button for controlling the lights. Successive presses of the button cycles the lights from Off -> Bright -> Dim -> Off. (I’d be willing to do away with the Bright/Dim settings if that was needed to make this application work, but ideally I’d still be able to switch the lights on/off using the physical button.)

 

I’ve attached some photos showing both the range hood (exterior and interior) as well as the bulbs themselves. If anyone would be kind enough to take a look at them and point me in the right direction, I’d be extremely grateful!

 

Kind regards,

 

 

 

Mark

 

[Teken]

Hello Mark,

 

It really comes down to the wiring and the controller that has command and control of the light fixture. You may find inside of the vent hood the wiring does not have all different modes because its being controlled by a IC.

 

If you don't mind losing out on the various functions (assuming) the bulk of the controls isn't handled by a computer IC. Your next step is to gain access to the wiring harness for the lights.

 

I've used the Micro On/Off module in mine to control the 3 speeds in my over head range. I didn't bother with the lights because they are rarely ever used in our environment.

 

NOTE: The Micro Dimmer can only support 5-100 watts at 120 VAC / 5-200 at 240 VAC. If dimming is required you may have to use the ILL.

[io_guy]

I use an appliancelinc on the input to my hood. On plug in it defaults to fan and lights off.

So I just turn it off and have an ISY program to turn it back on 15s later.

[Javi]

Looking at the wiring diagram for your hood a (http://www.manualslib.com/manual/503112/Jenn-Air-Jxi8036ws.html?page=13#manual) you should be able to use either the inline or micro dimmers.

 

However this may require dismounting the unit to gain access to the wires.

 

If using the micro you would have to splice into the wires after they come out of the "Electronic Power Board". this will allow you to keep using the controls on the "Electronic User Interface". This may seem like the best solution but depending on how the hood is setup you may not have room to place the micro in a place which will not be affected by heat or grease, which can be dangerous.  So you may have to run the wires to outside of the unit to a jbox.

 

Edit, This may require more than one mico depending of power consumtion

 

The option I chose was to splice into the wires after the "Electronic Power Board" and cap the end coming from the "Electronic Power Board" then run a new cord from the lights out of the unit, exiting in  same location as the original power cord. Now there are 2 power cords, one for the fan and one for the lights. With this option you will lose control of the lights from the "Electronic User Interface". I chose this option as (unlike your setup) my hood is along the wall with cabinets which have cabinet lights, When the cabinet lights are turned on the range hood lights are also turned on.

[stusviews]

Javi, thanks for the schematic.

 

Mark, one Micro Module can be used to control the lights. Connect line and neutral to the Micro Module. The Micro Module load connects to P5 on CON4 (pair of yellow wires). At this point, if either the Micro Module or the hood light control is On then the lights will be on, that is if the manual control is on, then the Micro Module cannot turn them off. Another choice is to disconnect the yellow wires from P5 and connect then exclusively the the Micro Module. The manual control will be disabled.

[Javi]

Javi, thanks for the schematic.

 

Mark, one Micro Module can be used to control the lights. Connect line and neutral to the Micro Module. The Micro Module load connects to P5 on CON4 (pair of yellow wires). At this point, if either the Micro Module or the hood light control is On then the lights will be on, that is if the manual control is on, then the Micro Module cannot turn them off. Another choice is to disconnect the yellow wires from P5 and connect then exclusively the the Micro Module. The manual control will be disabled.

 

If connected in another way the light can be controlled by both the micro and the manual control, however the manual control will now be a toggle instead of on and off.

 

Only one light shown for simplicity

[markinpgh]

Teken, io_guy, Javi, Stu,

 

Thank you so much for your helpful guidance and suggestions—you are all awesome!!! I am going to go ahead and order a Micro Module and give it a shot. Any ideas on where in the range hood (which part of the interior) would be least prone to being affected by heat or grease?

 

Kind regards,

 

 

Mark

[Javi]

 

Teken, io_guy, Javi, Stu,

 

Thank you so much for your helpful guidance and suggestions—you are all awesome!!! I am going to go ahead and order a Micro Module and give it a shot. Any ideas on where in the range hood (which part of the interior) would be least prone to being affected by heat or grease?

 

Kind regards,

 

 

Mark

 

No problem.

 

The reason I chose not to go with the micro was the operating temperature of "32° to 104°F (0° to 40°C)".  So I did not believe I could achieve these values inside the unit, you may be in a different situation, but it would be really frustrating to rewire the unit and have it fail in the future.

 

As a side note I had a lamplink in the kitchen to control cabinet lighting in the past and it fail presumably because it was getting too warm.

 

Good luck!

[stusviews]

If connected in another way the light can be controlled by both the micro and the manual control, however the manual control will now be a toggle instead of on and off.

 

Only one light shown for simplicity

 

The "switch" in your diagram shown below is external to the Micro Module. Where is that to be located?

 

Or do you mean that it's the existing hood switch? If so, that won't work because the yellow wire supplies a constant voltage and turning off the Micro Module will result in the light coming back on.

[Javi]

The "switch" in your diagram shown below is external to the Micro Module. Where is that to be located?

post-3996-0-33985600-1459916343.png

 

Or do you mean that it's the existing hood switch? If so, that won't work because the yellow wire supplies a constant voltage and turning off the Micro Module will result in the light coming back on.

Stu,

 

I forgot to connect the wire where the switch used to be, but is should have been obvious, attached is the connected wire with letters for each wire.

 

A) is line power, always powered

 

B is Neutral

 

C) is Neutral

 

D) is load, which is switched on and off by the "Electronic Power Board" so this wire does NOT always have power, It is only powered when switched ON by the "Electronic Power Board"

 

E) connects to Neutral as it has passed the light (load)

 

F) is the Load from the Micro

 

If "A", "B" and "F" are connected to the micro and "E" is connected to Neutral then you can control the light with the Micro.

 

If "D" is also  connected to "Sense #1" on the micro then when the "Electronic Power Board" switches power on or off the micro will toggle the current state of the load.

 

 

I just recorded a video with a magnification mirror in our bathroom which has a similar circuit.  the original switch on the mirror had "on" and "off" settings. Now it toggles the micro from either state.

 

[stusviews]

D is, as I suggested in my edit, the yellow wire from CON4  which connects to the yellow sense #1 wire. The light button is, (based on the description--Off -> Bright -> Dim -> Off) as required, a momentary switch. But the voltage at P5 is not momentary.

 

As long as the voltage on the yellow sense wire is held constant, the Micro Module will return to On even if it's the Micro Module is remotely turned off.

[Javi]

 

 

As long as the voltage on the yellow sense wire is held constant, the Micro Module will return to On even if it's the Micro Module is remotely turned off.

This is incorrect, if you see in the video it does not matter the on or off state of the manual switch. The sense will only toggle the micro if the state (powered, not powered) is changed.

[Javi]

 

Stu I think our confusion is between the different Micro "Switch Operation Modes". My diagram works for the default "Latching Mode". I used the "Switch"  diagram by mistake, as I just copied the pic from the smart home website and not the manual.

[sloop]

either broan or best by broan (I think) used insteon 6 button keypad switches to control their liners - and had an accessory light bar with extra halogen lights that mounted inside the liner - I changed them to xenon to match the undercabinet lights and connected the light bar to the controller for the undercabinet lights