rick.curl Posted October 24, 2020 Posted October 24, 2020 I recently had to replace my PLM because it kept going offline. Seems that these last about two years and the capacitors fail. I think this is the third time I've replaced it (a couple of years apart). The previous times, all went well, but this time the PLM often fails to communicate with several devices that were previously reliable. This morning there were nine "cannot communicate" messages. Have I received a marginal PLM? If it could never communicate with some devices I would think it's a programming issue, but since it can sometimes communicate I'm suspicious of the PLM. Thoughts? Thanks! -Rick
Brian H Posted October 24, 2020 Posted October 24, 2020 (edited) If your last PLM was a Version 2.5 (The latest reported) or 2.4. They have new capacitors rated to be in a switching power supply and new Daughter Board with ESD protection for the I/O signals and serial chip. V2.3 the new capacitors and older daughter board. It sounds like you could have some noise or signal sucking on the power lines at times. Anything new electronically in the house or maybe moved an existing device to a new location? Edited October 24, 2020 by Brian H
rick.curl Posted October 25, 2020 Author Posted October 25, 2020 The PLM I just got from Amazon is version 2.5. Is that the one with the bad capacitors? Aside from the PLM, nothing changed on my system. The replacement PLM is plugged into the same receptacle as the one that failed.
larryllix Posted October 25, 2020 Posted October 25, 2020 17 minutes ago, rick.curl said: The PLM I just got from Amazon is version 2.5. Is that the one with the bad capacitors? Aside from the PLM, nothing changed on my system. The replacement PLM is plugged into the same receptacle as the one that failed. Read the post just above yours.
Brian H Posted October 25, 2020 Posted October 25, 2020 V2.5 has the improved series capacitors and new serial port daughter board. By chance. Is the PLM on the same branch circuit. As some computing equipment or AC input side of an UPS?
rick.curl Posted October 28, 2020 Author Posted October 28, 2020 On 10/25/2020 at 6:50 AM, Brian H said: V2.5 has the improved series capacitors and new serial port daughter board. By chance. Is the PLM on the same branch circuit. As some computing equipment or AC input side of an UPS? Yes it is, but it is plugged into the same receptacle where the previous PLM worked perfectly (until the capacitors died). The PLM is plugged directly into the wall receptacle. I have an Insteon FilterLinc plugged into the other side which in turn feeds a UPS.
Brian H Posted October 30, 2020 Posted October 30, 2020 If the UPS and computing gear is on a FilterLinc. They probably are not effecting things. Only other thing I can think of. An electronic device is starting to make electrical noise. Disconnecting things ad testing may show something.
rick.curl Posted November 9, 2020 Author Posted November 9, 2020 UPDATE: This just got really wierd. I discovered that I can turn certain modules on and off using my phone through MobiLinc Pro but not from the Administrative console. I get "Cannot communicate" messages on the console. I verified the address of one of the devices. Then I tried writing updates to the device and then I tried restoring the device. Neither one helped. I removed the device from the system and attempted to re-install it, but I got a "Cannot determine Insteon engine" error. I moved the device (a 2635-222) to a receptacle adjacent to the PLM and it installed without any errors. I moved it back to its original location, and now it's rock solid. Baffled.
Goose66 Posted November 9, 2020 Posted November 9, 2020 "rock solid?" That has not been my experience with Insteon ever. I also have a SwitchLinc located in the electrical closet of my home along with the breaker panels and the PLM/ISY that has "rock solid" response from a KeyPadLinc key elsewhere in the house and remote control from my phone through Mobilinc, but only about 50% response reliability from a program that runs on the ISY every night. I can put WAITS in the program, put the SwitchLinc in a separate program at a different time, etc. but the reliability from programs on the ISY through the PLM stays around 50-80%. I don't think I have EVER hit the KeyPadLinc key and not had the SwitchLinc respond. Nor do I remember not having the SwitchLinc respond to Mobilinc (which I realize goes through the ISY/PLM). I believe these type of errors are timing errors - especially when the PLM has both a PLC path and an RF path directly to the device (SwitchLinc), it just seems not to work reliably. But I think Mobilinc must have some logic in it that if a command doesn't work the first time, it either retries or just shows absolutely no feedback on the screen, making you think you just didn't touch the right thing the first time. Not helpful in your diagnosis I know - but I think it's just an Insteon reality, especially when communication has to go through the PLM.
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