DocDave Posted September 5, 2019 Posted September 5, 2019 My system has been operating for 5+ years. In the last weeks programs stopped functioning now and then. About a week ago, some devices stopped communicating. I temporarily unplugged them. Now everything has lost communication. I have tried purchasing and installing a new PLM. Restored PLM, restored devices, etc. I am at a complete loss. I have replaced a PLM in the past for these issues (about two years ago), but after some frustrating hours did get it working. I feel there has to be another piece of the puzzle here. Screen shot of all the failing communication attached.
lilyoyo1 Posted September 5, 2019 Posted September 5, 2019 Was the isy unplugged when you hooked up the new plm
DocDave Posted September 5, 2019 Author Posted September 5, 2019 Not at first. My Bad. So I unplugged everything and mythological went through the sequence in the correct order, and then rebooted the system again. Could that have caused an irreversible problem?
lilyoyo1 Posted September 5, 2019 Posted September 5, 2019 7 minutes ago, DocDave said: Not at first. My Bad. So I unplugged everything and mythological went through the sequence in the correct order, and then rebooted the system again. Could that have caused an irreversible problem? yes it could've. The isy was still connected to your old plm which was not there. By plugging in your plm first and then powering up the isy, it was able to recognize the new plm and write the links properly. With the ISY, it is imperative to avoid shortcuts. To ensure it runs properly.
DocDave Posted September 5, 2019 Author Posted September 5, 2019 Thank you for the reply. So, I made a backup right before all this went down. If I plug in the old PLM restore the backup, then go through the procedure the correct way, maybe better results?
Techman Posted September 5, 2019 Posted September 5, 2019 Follow the "replace PLM" procedure which is attached. Do a factory reset on the PLM before you do the restore PLM. Try the procedure without restoring a backup. It should work. Replace ISY PLM.pdf
lilyoyo1 Posted September 5, 2019 Posted September 5, 2019 55 minutes ago, DocDave said: Thank you for the reply. So, I made a backup right before all this went down. If I plug in the old PLM restore the backup, then go through the procedure the correct way, maybe better results? You don't have to do that. You just have communication errors due to how you originally set things up. Plug plm into port A of the isy>power up plm> power up isy. Once done go to file>restore plm>restore devices
DocDave Posted September 5, 2019 Author Posted September 5, 2019 I have tried this procedure multiple times. Same results, no communication.
lilyoyo1 Posted September 5, 2019 Posted September 5, 2019 Does the plm that shows up in the admin console have the same id as the one you're using? If so you're good there. Try right clicking on a device and choose write updates. What happens then?
DocDave Posted September 5, 2019 Author Posted September 5, 2019 I put the old PLM back in and went through the procedure above, just to try a take things back to partially working. The PLM ID matched. But communications to nothing. So I then did the same procedure with the new PLM; verifying that the PLM ID matched the new PLM. It Does. Still no comms. I tried right clicking on a device and clicking 'restore device'. The result was, no comms to any device. I tried 'write updates to device' on some devices. The result was, no comms to any device. I am starting to think something on the power lines is killing the PLM signal to all devices.
Techman Posted September 5, 2019 Posted September 5, 2019 Quote In the admin console, click on tools | diagnostics | show PLM Links Table. How many PLM links does it show? About how many devices do you have installed in your ISY? Is your PLM plugged directly into an outlet? Do you have any other electronics plugged into an outlet near the PLM?
Michel Kohanim Posted September 6, 2019 Posted September 6, 2019 @DocDave, Please note that: 1. This might be related to an aberrant INSTEON device especially INSTEON thermostat, KPL v2A or 2D, or SwitchLinc v35 2. If you do a restore on a dead PLM, you MUST restore a good backup from before doing a restore and then do File | Restore Devices with a new PLM With kind regards, Michel
DocDave Posted September 10, 2019 Author Posted September 10, 2019 I was out of town so I had to table this project. Your comment about the thermostat leads me to believe it is the problem. I was never able to get my Insteon thermostat to work. So I gave up. Is it true, even though it is not 'in' the system it could be causing issues? I believe you mentioned to me in a support case that it could. I will try installing a generic thermostat and restart the process. At what point is deleting everything and rebuilding the setup from scratch a better option?
lilyoyo1 Posted September 10, 2019 Posted September 10, 2019 5 minutes ago, DocDave said: I was out of town so I had to table this project. Your comment about the thermostat leads me to believe it is the problem. I was never able to get my Insteon thermostat to work. So I gave up. Is it true, even though it is not 'in' the system it could be causing issues? I believe you mentioned to me in a support case that it could. I will try installing a generic thermostat and restart the process. At what point is deleting everything and rebuilding the setup from scratch a better option? Unless you only have a couple of devices, it's never a better option. Insteon devices automatically talk once powered on (non battery powered devices) so the thermostat could be sending out erroneous messages. You could try to factory reset it to see if it calms down or temporarily unplug the c wire
DocDave Posted September 19, 2019 Author Posted September 19, 2019 Finally figured this one out after an exhausting couple of weeks. After tearing the system down to nothing and adding components one at a time I kept getting the same communication problems. I even purchased a new PLM (kinda nice having a spare anyways), and no better results. The final test was to eliminate the Insteon Thermostat; I had to wait for a new thermostat to arrive because I did not want to have no heating & cooling. I am happy to report I installed a new Honeywell smart thermostat (outside the ISY system) last night and within minutes the system started coming back to life on it's own. I logged into the ISY and did the rebuilding procedures and bam, all good. In fact everything is responding much quicker as well. Program changes take seconds to update instead of taking 5-10 minutes. Obviously the Insteon 2441TH Thermostat was the problem. It's laying in my Insteon box 'o parts now. Thanks all for the feedback and suggestions, it ultimately got me looking in the correct direction.
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