dpace Posted July 15, 2019 Author Share Posted July 15, 2019 19 hours ago, Brian H said: JV Digital Engineering still has the XTB-F15. 15 Amp plug in filter available. If 15 amps is heavy enough for you and it has an acceptable look for where it maybe installed. http://jvde.us/xtb-f10.htm Thanks. I never was going to find that. I just bought that and will see how it works. As your link makes clear, going to 15 amps does actually decrease the amount of filtering possible, so I go into this knowing it may not be the perfect fit, and might try his (or the FilerLinc) 10 Amp version if it fails to do the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian H Posted July 15, 2019 Share Posted July 15, 2019 FilterLinc has a soldered in fuse in it. I would say the worse that can happen is the fuse opens up. Too bad ACT dropped their A10/X10 devices. The ACT AF120 was a nice 15 amp filter. Not sure if even the auction web sites have any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpace Posted July 16, 2019 Author Share Posted July 16, 2019 17 hours ago, Brian H said: FilterLinc has a soldered in fuse in it. I would say the worse that can happen is the fuse opens up. Too bad ACT dropped their A10/X10 devices. The ACT AF120 was a nice 15 amp filter. Not sure if even the auction web sites have any. I grabbed a FilterLinc as well - SmartHome has a 35% sale yesterday and today (with free shipping). All the input on this thread tells me I will likely find a need for at least one more filter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpace Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 I received the first filter and applied used it to the electronics in my server closet. No improvement. So then it finally hit me that I could immediately answer the question of whether noise is coming from any of the electronics from this closet by just unplugging them - the UPS keeps power going for the critical elements. The result? Same problem. Proceeding forward with what I consider "logical steps" involves flipping off circuit breakers until I narrow this down. But that, in some way, defies the other logical path which I already know will work: just use a different outlet. So I went forward with the unfortunate "solution" of wiring up a new ethernet jack next to an outlet that I know works. So, for now, we are good. Now that my PLM is on a dedicated circuit (in my dining room, and all other outlets are unoccupied), hopefully things will be better. But I admit I am not happy with this solution. I now have four of these new on/off dual band switches installed, and feel my Insteon system is less reliable now than it was before. It should not work this way. I have four more of these switches to install. I might still open a support ticket on this, just to have this scenario documented. Perhaps there really is something else going on, or something specific with the latest on/off dual band switches. I will continue adding the switches and might do some additional tests. I will report back on this thread if there is anything of note to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Techman Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 It's possible, but rare, to have a defective Insteon device that's putting noise on the powerline. It's easy to eliminate each one by pulling out the set button which shuts off a/c power to the switch. If the problem increased by adding more dual band devices then I think they may be exacerbating the problem by passing the (possible) powerline noise onto the Insteon mesh network. If the problem isn't coming from the server closet then there must be something else that's creating noise on the powerline, I'm also assuming that both sides of your powerline are properly coupled. How many dual band devices are currently installed in your system? What's the approximate square footage of your home? Do you have any X10 repeaters or couplers installed? What type of wiring does your house have, i.e. Romex, Steel Flex, etc. Do you have any CFL or Fluorescent bulbs in your home, if so their ballasts can sometimes go bad and create powerline noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brians Posted October 20, 2019 Share Posted October 20, 2019 Is your PLM dual band? Newerr PLM are dual band so if your current one isn’t replacing it with a dual band PLM may solve issue. Also sometimes PLMs run fine and will just go stupid if disturb then you alter their settings. Mine was doing strange stuff for 6 months or longer before it just died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpace Posted October 22, 2019 Author Share Posted October 22, 2019 On 10/20/2019 at 2:53 PM, brians said: Is your PLM dual band? Newerr PLM are dual band so if your current one isn’t replacing it with a dual band PLM may solve issue. Also sometimes PLMs run fine and will just go stupid if disturb then you alter their settings. Mine was doing strange stuff for 6 months or longer before it just died. Funny you mention on the dual band PLM. Got an email from SmartHome with a deal on my PLM for $30 a little over a week ago so I grabbed it as insurance. With relocating my PLM, things have been fine about 99% of the time. The last few days I have had some errors from Alexa saying the device is not responding when trying to control an Insteon device, but there are enough variables in that chain I hesitate to blame the PLM without more tests. Yes, I am all but certain the current PLM is dual band. I bought it almost exactly a year ago. Based on all the educated responses in this thread (which I am thankful for), I am lead to believe that - while the relocation of my PLM worked for me - there is something else at play which is disrupting signals, and I just have yet to locate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpace Posted October 22, 2019 Author Share Posted October 22, 2019 Just realized, I never replied to the many questions from Techman: On 7/22/2019 at 1:15 PM, Techman said: It's possible, but rare, to have a defective Insteon device that's putting noise on the powerline. It's easy to eliminate each one by pulling out the set button which shuts off a/c power to the switch. If the problem increased by adding more dual band devices then I think they may be exacerbating the problem by passing the (possible) powerline noise onto the Insteon mesh network. Good points. I forget about that trick of pulling out the set button. That's really handy for this! Considering most of my devices are almost eight years old, and have suffered the emotional trauma of being installed in a good home, only to be ripped out and moved to another home, it would not surprise me to find at least one did not escape that without some injury. Quote If the problem isn't coming from the server closet then there must be something else that's creating noise on the powerline, Makes sense. Quote I'm also assuming that both sides of your powerline are properly coupled. I believe so. I did the "4 tap test" and at least one of my other dual-band modules blinks green to indicate it is bridging the two phases. Quote How many dual band devices are currently installed in your system? Four On/Off Dual Band switches as well as the dual-band PLM, for a total of five, and placed in five different rooms, and each within around 30 ft of each other. Quote What's the approximate square footage of your home? About 2500 sq. ft, two story, and pretty compact overall. (I can almost get away with a single wifi point for the whole house.) Quote Do you have any X10 repeaters or couplers installed? No Quote What type of wiring does your house have, i.e. Romex, Steel Flex, etc. Standard 14 ga. Romex primarily, with 12 ga. Romex for some long GFCI runs. Quote Do you have any CFL or Fluorescent bulbs in your home, if so their ballasts can sometimes go bad and create powerline noise. No. Well, I have two small fluorescents behind hard/manual switches that are almost always off. Thanks again for your thoughts on this, and sorry it took me five months (to the day) to reply to your questions! This is what happens when you find some way to get it to work. I am interested to locate the noise, but until something else starts acting up, that interest is academic, and there are plenty other "active" problems for me to address. Haha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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