Common symptoms to PLM Failure

[jrainey]

Hi all,

 

I am currently struggling through what is (I hope) a PLM failure.  I have a replacement on order, which will be arriving next Tuesday. (again - I hope).

 

The problem for me in all of this is that it took me quite a while to arrive at the conclusion that it was a PLM failure in progress that was causing my issues.  I tried multiple iterations of program changes, change out a couple switches, did a few resets, etc.  I finally concluded that it was the PLM that was causing all of this grief when, at the suggestion of several of the fine participants in this forum, I attempted to 'move' the PLM by plugging it in to an extension cord.  It has been unable to connect to more than a few of my Insteon devices ever since.

 

I started this topic in th hopes of ringing together in one place the symptoms one might see when your PLM is beginning to fail, and what actions you might take to confirm the failure.

 

To that end, the symptoms I observed early on were as follows:

 

    -a single light consistently failed to turn off daily as should have in the morning when the program ran on schedule

      ->Other elements of the program executed properly on schedule

      ->The scene tested OK and controlled the light properly when activated manually

      ->When activated manually the program shut the light off correctly.'

      ->Status was displayed incorrectly in admin console and Mobillinc - light showed off when it was on.

 

Eventually (but slowly) the problem worsened, to the point that I did not trust anything Mobillinc was telling me.  This led finally to an almost complete failure of the device.

 

The problem I had with all of this is that the initial symptoms did not lead me to suspect any problems with the PLM itself.  

 

For another, clearer description of a similar failure, please check out this link:

 

     http://tcbf62auto.blogspot.ca/2014/11/insteon-powerline-modem-plm-issues.html

 

Hope this helps someone having similar problems before they spend weeks trying to figure it out.  

 

If any of you out there have had a PLM fail that had other misleading symptoms, please post a description for the benefit of confused troubleshooters.

 

Thanks to all of those who took the time to help me out with this (see topic 'Strange Problem - looking for Ideas)

 

Jack

[Brian H]

Age. Most start failing at about two years and a few months old.

Link Database empty or has few entries. Sometimes a Restore Modem (PLM) will correct it for a short time.

Power Cycling the AC Off for a few minutes and then connecting again. Sometimes restores operation for a short time.

LED on side dim or out.

On the back  of the 2413S you should find a white sticker with a hardware version and date code. Sometimes that can give added clues.

 

One thing not too often mentioned.

If you have any 2443 Access Points. Hardware version 2.0 and above. Are on the same base 2413 main board with the same power supply issues.

I had a pair mess me up. Tap tests where messed up. Power supply repair in the PLM thread. Also works on the V2 2443 Access Points.

 

Smarthome posted a note in the reviews section of a 2413S page. A part was found to sometime caused issues. Hardware V2.3 and above are supposed to have the improved parts. My 2.3 is not over two years old. So the jury is still out as far as I can see.

 

The Smartenit {Simplehonmenet} modules are also built on the base 2412 or 2413 main boards depending on the age. So the ones on 2413 boards could also be subject to the power supply issues.

[oberkc]

I suspect many symptoms have multiple causes with few symptoms being conclusive.  I would not, for example, assume that a single device that consistently fails responding is a sign of PLM failure (though it could be).  In my single experience, it appeared to me that a failing PLM resulted in general communication problems.  

 

For me, it was more random failures, general slow communications (event viewer), inability to write changes to devices.  It got to the point where I feared making changes to my system because writing changes to devices often failed repeatedly or otherwise took so long.  

[jrainey]

I agree oberkc, the consistent single failure does not necessarily indicate a failed PLM.  It is a possibility though, that could and should be checked out.   In my case, the possibility of a PLM failure never crossed my mind, and I was unaware of the known issues with the reliability of these devices.

 

Had I been aware of this as a possible cause, I would have done a lot more reading, noted that the device had been in operation for over seven years, and was hardware rev 1.0.  Probably would have saved a bit of time for me.