glacier991 Posted February 20, 2018 Posted February 20, 2018 I have been a satisfied ISY user for a couple years now having migrated an X-10/ Insteon HA setup over to ISY as my controller, and adding some Z WAVE as I did so. Mobilinc and Alexa got added to and it all worked swimmingly. Then, I moved to a house I have been renovating, and all that had to briefly wait for this "new" house. The day to start anew is dawning but I am unsure the best way to start. How do I "wipe the slate clean" to start anew? . Are there other opportunities I should consider? I plan to keep both the best parts of my old X-10 and Insteon, but to expand my Z-wave portion. Any suggestions or advice out there? Thanks! Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
stusviews Posted February 20, 2018 Posted February 20, 2018 Since you're starting anew, it's best to factory reset each and every Insteon device. Cut an extension cord in half and use it to supply power to the now removed Insteon device. One side of an extension cord has a rib, that side is the neutral. You can connect the other half to plug in a lamp as a test. Note: ground is not required, so a 2-wire extension cord is adequate. Also exclude any Z-Wave device. Excluding twice is a good idea.
lilyoyo1 Posted February 20, 2018 Posted February 20, 2018 Since you are reusing your old devices i would follow what Stusviews said. A clean slate is definitely worth it as you'll be able to customize your experience to this house. Depending on how you're paying for the renovation, I would swap out the X10 stuff for newer Insteon or zwave equivalents. Depending on how old your Insteon devices are, I would add the old stuff to extra rooms and any possible new stuff to frequently used rooms. In order to build out your zwave network, I recommend purchasing zwave outlets. My personal favorite is the Cooper aspire. Jasco/GE has a new zwave plus outlet available which will work as well. I would use that myself except they feel cheap compared to Cooper. I put 1 zwave outlet in each room.
Guest Glacier991 Posted February 20, 2018 Posted February 20, 2018 Thanks to both of you for your advice! I am sure I can run it down, but are there a series of steps for resetting insteon devices? Or are they all device dependent (I can get the product sheets if so). Finally any advice on necessity to and how I should go about "wiping" ISY ?
lilyoyo1 Posted February 20, 2018 Posted February 20, 2018 Just factory reset the isy by holding in the reset button (small hole on isy) for 10 seconds. Resetting Insteon devices is based on the device itself as well as age (it's changed over the years). Typically you'll want to pull the set button out to disconnect power. Then push and hold all the way in. Depending on unit, you'll hear a long buzz. Once that stops you can release the set button.
Teken Posted February 20, 2018 Posted February 20, 2018 If the renovations involves any electrical and its going to be where the ISY Series Controller. I would ask you to consider running a dedicated outlet / breaker for the Insteon 2413S PLM. Having a clean power line will serve you well into the future and reduce the possibility of injected noise impacting the Insteon network. Lastly, use the note pad feature in the Admin Console (AC) to document install / purchase date, firmware, hardware revision / production date, and special use case.
stusviews Posted February 21, 2018 Posted February 21, 2018 On 2/20/2018 at 9:23 AM, Guest Glacier991 said: Thanks to both of you for your advice! I am sure I can run it down, but are there a series of steps for resetting insteon devices? Or are they all device dependent (I can get the product sheets if so). Finally any advice on necessity to and how I should go about "wiping" ISY ? Most devices use the same method, but it's really device dependent. It's best to view the manual.
lilyoyo1 Posted February 21, 2018 Posted February 21, 2018 20 hours ago, Teken said: If the renovations involves any electrical and its going to be where the ISY Series Controller. I would ask you to consider running a dedicated outlet / breaker for the Insteon 2413S PLM. Having a clean power line will serve you well into the future and reduce the possibility of injected noise impacting the Insteon network. Lastly, use the note pad feature in the Admin Console (AC) to document install / purchase date, firmware, hardware revision / production date, and special use case. In addition to what Teken said, I would recommend installing a whole house surge protector at your panel (at a minimum). Depending on your area a meter surge protector will help as well.
Teken Posted February 21, 2018 Posted February 21, 2018 2 hours ago, lilyoyo1 said: In addition to what Teken said, I would recommend installing a whole house surge protector at your panel (at a minimum). Depending on your area a meter surge protector will help as well. RE: Surge Protection -> Following a layered approach is not only best practice but is recommended by industry leaders in the field and those who test such devices for compliance and performance which meet ANSI / UL 1449 3rd Edition. Ideally, all five *Types* of SPD's would be used and deployed in a persons home / business but many need to balance costs, need, and long term investment. Type 1 SPD's are on the line side and normally connected at the meter base. Type 2 are installed and connected on the load side more commonly in the electrical service panel. These devices are connected to a over current device such as a breaker. Type 3 more commonly known as *Point of Use* SPD devices can range from a outlet, surge strip, isolator, to AVR. Its important to note these devices need to be at the minimum of 30 feet from the main service panel to operate effectively. Type 4 & 5 are primary seen in component level hardware but can be deployed in situations which allow such SPD's. I use several of these at major appliances to ensure a measure of protection & fail over. For those who have a limited to no budget the easiest thing to do is leave rarely used items unplugged. Another method assuming the electrical was planned well is to leave breakers in the open *off* position or to turn them on for *Just in time use*. <-- I do this now in my home. In a whole 31.2 seconds a random member named Westom may chime in about spec's, numbers, values, etc. Lightning from the sky where huge amounts of energy streams across the air . . . So let me preempt his mini rant and state the obvious and common sense information. Proper grounding is paramount to ensure the most protection but the reality is every home in North America follows NEC / CEC codes. These codes are the *Minimum* that needs to be followed when a home is built its not the best way or method to ensure proper grounding! There isn't a soul I have ever met never mind a electrical inspect who has broken out a meggar to determine how much resistance is present, ever. Ideally the ground rod needs to embedded 15~XX feet depending upon your local codes etc. When the ideal resistance of 25 ohms is not seen single point - parallel ground bars can be installed to obtain a resistance below 25 ohms. The most ideal grounding system is the use of the Ufer grounding system. This is what I used in my home and essentially its wiring all the concrete / re bar piles (50 ~ 100 foot deep piles) together with one single (No.#4) copper wire around the entire perimeter which than connects to meter base, service panel, etc. Keep in mind even going this extra insane mile does not assure you will see 0 ohms! If your environment (ground soil) is rock, clay, sand, dinosaur bones. That will ultimately determine what resistance you will obtain for the ground in your home. If we assume a person lived in a desert (dry) area and his soil was sand no matter what you do that mythical resistance will be extremely hard to obtain!! Now that I got that out of my system we haven't even addressed *Induction* or *EMI* which most people relate to EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse). No amount of grounding will protect a device from induced voltage or a EMP event, none. People can tell you fanciful things about shielding, deploying a Faraday cage / bag, etc. Let's try to stay on Earth here and consider how many people have even taken the time to install a Type 1~5 SPD?? Never mind all five, Ufer ground, measured their ground rod for a value below 25 ohms, none . . . Moving on, more appliances and electronics are impacted and damaged per year by what?!?!? Wait for it . . . In band surges and sags . . . Not from lightning, surge from the POCO, or the lightning fairy. Anything that has a motor / compressor will cause a surge on the line and this can come from HVAC, Sump, Fridge, Freezer, Well, etc. More electronics fail due to a voltage sag then a surge. More electronics fail per year also due to a sustained over voltage condition where the line voltage is not well regulated. Think CA or any old American town in the USA . . . Most POCO's try to maintain 110 ~ 120 RMS with a waver of 5% so it can be 100 ~ 130 at the most. If a home see's a under voltage (voltage sag) of 90 VAC things will start to go poof! If the line voltage sustains a steady RMS of 130 plus things will get crispy, quick! This is where Insteon did well by deploying multi voltage devices which can operate safety at 100 ~ 277 VAC RMS. This allows the hardware to operate and sustain long and short term voltage swings with out issue. Lastly, it doesn't matter how many layers, types, or kind of protection you have none of this will supersede the need for proper home owners insurance!! This is the only thing that will cover you and make you whole . . . No amount of grounding, fairy dust, or layered SPD's will give you back a home burnt down to the ground, ever. No amount of grounding will ever protect your home from a direct lightning strike to the roof, ever.
lilyoyo1 Posted February 21, 2018 Posted February 21, 2018 Looks like you covered everything....lol. For me it's simple. I protect my tvs and other electronics with some type of surge protector. It only makes sense that I do it for my switches as well since they are electronic.
glacier991 Posted February 22, 2018 Author Posted February 22, 2018 Good ideas all. I definitely will have a dedicated line for my ISY. An idea passed thru my head today, as a part of this "brand new" install, should I factory reset my ISY?
stusviews Posted February 22, 2018 Posted February 22, 2018 48 minutes ago, glacier991 said: Good ideas all. I definitely will have a dedicated line for my ISY. An idea passed thru my head today, as a part of this "brand new" install, should I factory reset my ISY? Yes, you should: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=Resetting_Your_ISY
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