ResIpsa Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I have been experiencing persistent communication problems with two LampLincs, both of which are in the same bedroom and on the same circuit. I have tried moving my four AccessPoints all over the place, but the two devices continue to give me all sorts of headaches. After mapping out the circuit this morning (the house was built in the 1960s and the circuits are, shall we say, random), I believe I have eliminated all potential sources of noise on that circuit except for one five-year old fluorescent fixture. Couple questions: 1) Is there any way to know whether that fluorescent ballast is putting noise on the line without actually disconnecting it and testing my LampLincs? 2) Assuming that ballast is fine, is it possible that there's a noise maker on another branch circuit that's causing the interference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Hi Tim - Is the fluorescent fixture connected to a standard ON/OFF switch? If so, turning it OFF should cut all power from it. If it's on an Insteon switch, pull the airgap on the switch to cut all power to it. What is having problems controlling those two LampLincs? Is it the ISY/PLM, or other switches on your powerline? If the destination circuit is as clean as can be, try cleaning up the source circuit. If the problem is sending commands from the ISY, then make sure nothing is on the PLM circuit that could be diminishing its signal. To ensure you don't have a pair of bad LampLincs, temporarily move them to your PLM circuit and be sure you can control them reliably from the ISY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ResIpsa Posted February 25, 2009 Author Share Posted February 25, 2009 Hi, Mike. Thanks, as always, for the quick response. Your questions have made me think about this in a new way. I never considered that the problem could be interference on the ISY/PLM circuit. The fluorescent fixture is on a standard ON/OFF switch. Testing communications while it was OFF showed no improvement, so I guess that fixture isn't the culprit here. Most of my communication problems with the LampLincs originate from the ISY/PLM. The LampLincs are controlled by a KPL in the bedroom on the same circuit as the lamps. That seems to work reliably 100% of the time. The ISY/PLM are on the same circuit as my LCD TV because I use the IR receiver on the ISY in my home theater setup. I just got a few 15-amp filters, so I'll try throwing one of those on the TV to see if that improves things. My question would be why the PLM would have trouble communicating with these particular LampLincs when it seems to work pretty reliably with the other devices in the house. I will also try moving the LampLincs to the same circuit as the PLM to test them. FYI, I did try replacing one of the LampLincs today with a SwitchLinc placed in a tabletop enclosure (which I customized with a second cord to bring in the "LINE"---I will be writing up a HOW TO about this with pictures for the forum). That SwitchLinc displayed similar communication problems as the LampLincs. In fact, running the Scene Test on it showed that it failed the test about 75% of the time. The KPL button which controls the scene passed 100% of the time. Hi Tim - Is the fluorescent fixture connected to a standard ON/OFF switch? If so, turning it OFF should cut all power from it. If it's on an Insteon switch, pull the airgap on the switch to cut all power to it. What is having problems controlling those two LampLincs? Is it the ISY/PLM, or other switches on your powerline? If the destination circuit is as clean as can be, try cleaning up the source circuit. If the problem is sending commands from the ISY, then make sure nothing is on the PLM circuit that could be diminishing its signal. To ensure you don't have a pair of bad LampLincs, temporarily move them to your PLM circuit and be sure you can control them reliably from the ISY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 My question would be why the PLM would have trouble communicating with these particular LampLincs when it seems to work pretty reliably with the other devices in the house. Location, location, location. I might also suggest you have a pair of "weak" LampLincs, but if the SwitchLinc you put in their place performed the same, I would say that particular area of your house is simply a weak spot compared to the location of your PLM. I recently went through an overhaul of my Insteon system to clean up a few very intermittent but nagging communication issues and here is my post if you're interested: http://forum.universal-devices.com/viewtopic.php?t=2089 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ResIpsa Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 I believe I have narrowed down the problem to loose connections. Turns out both outlets are fed from the same switchbox by the door. It happens that there is an outlet in the room that, while on the same circuit, is fed from another location. On a whim, I plugged in my "problem" LampLincs at that other outlet and voila! no communication problems. The bad news is that I now have to tear into that 3-gang switchbox, which houses a SwitchLinc, a KeypadLinc, and a Hunter fan control. Looks like I better clear my schedule for the afternoon! My question would be why the PLM would have trouble communicating with these particular LampLincs when it seems to work pretty reliably with the other devices in the house. Location, location, location. I might also suggest you have a pair of "weak" LampLincs, but if the SwitchLinc you put in their place performed the same, I would say that particular area of your house is simply a weak spot compared to the location of your PLM. I recently went through an overhaul of my Insteon system to clean up a few very intermittent but nagging communication issues and here is my post if you're interested: http://forum.universal-devices.com/viewtopic.php?t=2089 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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