Oddest thing I have seen yet in Insteon setup!

[GDavis01]

I have a light in my swimming pool that I control with a Switchlinc On/Off switch (2467S). The light has not been in use for the winter months. However, shortly after I opened the pool I noticed that the pool light would come on every evening. Yet when I checked with Mobilinc or on the Admin Console the light had an OFF status!

 

I checked through my many programs and confirmed that there no programs turning on that light. So I was totally puzzled as to why it would come on and then eventually turn off with the other lights. If I manually clicked OFF, using the Admin Console, the light would turn off.

 

By coincidence the other night when I turned off the Insteon light in our family room I saw the pool light turn off! The only program I have associated with turning off the family room light is a program which turns off an X10 lamp module. We are currently in the midst of a home reno so the X10 module is no longer plugged in.

 

So I then ran the THEN part of the X10 program which has following lines of code:

 

      Send X10 'C2/off (11)'

      Wait 4 seconds

      Send X10 'C2/off (11)'

 

(I double the Off command because the first time doesn't always work with the X10's)

 

Interestingly, this program now turns off my pool light!! (the similar X10 program to turn on the X10 module also now turns on the pool light!)

 

Has anyone seen this before?

[stusviews]

The SwitchLinc has an X10 hosue/unit code assigned. The only way to delete it is to do a factory reset. Then do a Restore Device, possible followed by a Write Updates to Device.

[GDavis01]

Thanks... I will do the factory reset. 

 

Assuming that the Swtchlinc doesn't come with an X10 code pre-assigned... how would this unit have been assigned an address? I haven't had an X10 controller for many years!

[stusviews]

Some Insteon device do arrive with an X10 code that was added during testing. Most are erased before shipping, but that doesn't always happen. This is not the first time someone posted about that.

[Brian H]

Most seasoned Insteon users. Do a Factory Reset on all new modules.

As Stu mentioned. We have seen both Insteon and X10 test addresses in them. When the factory didn't clear it out before shipping.

[larryllix]

Wow!

I thought my Switchlincs could do a decimal shift multiplication function. I guess x10 means something else.

 

From the Swichlinc  manual

---------------------------------------------------

Remove X10 Address

1) Press and hold Set button until it beeps

LED will start blinking green

2) Press and hold Set button until it beeps

LED will start blinking red

3) Send the X10 address 3 times (with or without commands)

SwitchLinc will double-beep and LED will stop blinking

5) Test by sending X10 on and off commands

SwitchLinc will no longer respond

[stusviews]

Except that:

 

I haven't had an X10 controller for many years!

[Wingsy]

I think I have a similar issue. I have 60 various Insteon devices throughout my house, plus an ISY994i. Just a while ago I noticed that the ceiling fan in the MBR was on. And the MBR bathroom fan, and the family room fan. I went to check on the deck and those two fans were also on. Those are controlled with two Fanlincs 2475F and the others by On/Off switches 2477S. The two ceiling fans on the deck have no switches for control - I turn them on or off via my phone. I have no ISY program that has anything to do with fans.

 

The two 2475F's and the three 2477S's are the only ones in the house, and they all came on at about the same time - hard to tell since I just suddenly noticed they were all on. They came on within at least an hour of each other, but I suspect all at the same time.

 

Sure am glad I didn't wire up my well pump to one of these boxes. Can you imagine that? I've been thinking of connecting other things, more important things than lights & fans, to the Insteon system, but now after this it's totally out of the question.

 

Reliable, it's not. Disappointed, I am.

[stusviews]

Wingsy, it's highly unusual for all those devices to have the same X10 house/unit code. More likely, the event you saw was a partial All On. Check the log to see if there's any evidence of those devices turning on. Also report the firmware of your PLM (Tools, Diagnostics, PLM info/Status).

[Wingsy]

Wingsy, it's highly unusual for all those devices to have the same X10 house/unit code. More likely, the event you saw was a partial All On. Check the log to see if there's any evidence of those devices turning on. Also report the firmware of your PLM (Tools, Diagnostics, PLM info/Status).

 

ISY firmware: 4.3.26, UI: 4.4.6

PLM: 30.6B.34 v9E

 

And as for the Log File -- can't get to that. Says "Couldn't Open the Excel macro /Users/{my_acct_name)/isy/UDReport.txt"

[stusviews]

Your ISY firmware and UI should be the same revision. Update the firmware.

[Wingsy]

Well that's just great. Now when I try to do a backup it says "Could Not create the ZIP File".

 

This reminds me of Windows 3.1

[stusviews]

Time for ISY support.

[Wingsy]

Thanks Stu. Appreciate your efforts.

[Wingsy]

Going to add one more oddity. This morning I noticed that both of my IOLincs that control my two fireplaces were on. I didn't check these yesterday. I turn on these IOLincs via my phone when I want the gas logs on (they are lit via thermocouple control - close a switch and the gas comes on). I've had the gas lines to the fireplaces turned off since winter so nothing happened. Hate to think if we had been away for a week during the winter and this occurred. I'll be unplugging these IOLincs if we ever go off for more than a day when the gas is on. And this isn't the first time these 2 IOLincs have come on spontaneously (both at the same time). The last time it happened I thought I had done it by mistake. This time i know I didn't.

[Wingsy]

Maybe I should start a new topic but this thread is close enough.

 

In the 9 months I've had my system running I've had several occasions where things would come on unexpectedly. I've chalked it up to someone hitting a switch by mistake or tapping the wrong button on their phone. But the deck fans were the exception. Both have come on at the same time, and both controlled by separate Fanlincs via iPhone only. Now with the events happening here recently I've come to realize that the only things that come on by themselves are on/off devices and the FanLincs. None of my dimmers have done this. (The dimmers have their own quirks - if not at 100% the 6-button devices cause the light to flicker with Insteon traffic, but not every time.)

 

I'm wondering if the comm protocol has sufficient (or any) protection from corrupt data. It's almost like one bit in the stream gets toggled to trigger all on/off devices and this erroneous bit goes undetected. That or there are some obscure software issues in the ISY. 

[mwester]

http://forum.universal-devices.com/topic/10516-random-all-on-event

 

A 41-page thread (and not the only thread on the topic at all!) devoted to one such issue/concern with reliability.

 

I have NO critical systems that can be impacted by such an event -- the one system that demands control by the ISY has been set up so that the normal (safe) state is with the IOLinc in the "on" position (I needed an external relay to do this, but that's a small price to pay for peace of mind).  My garage door is controlled via z-wave now, which (if you read the forum) may have connectivity issues for some homes, but at least it doesn't suffer from the Insteon issues.

[Michel Kohanim]

Hi Wingsy,

 

First of all, I am so very sorry to hear about all the problems you have been having. Before considering these events as All On/Off events, please do take a look at your Tools | Log as it will have enough information to let you know:

1. Whether or not these devices were turned on/off

2. Who turned them on/off (last column: user)

3. What events preceded these

 

With kind regards,

Michel