ingeborgdot Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 I have been using insteon for many years now. I have an isy994i pro. I have had to replace every insteon switch I own once and it looks like I'll be maybe needing to replace some more, but I'm not sure at this time. I opened up my isy today and one of my 8 button kpls can't be read. It is a fairly new switch that I just replaced 2 years ago. The lights on it are not showing up, but that is also probably because the isy doesn't read it. I have pulled out the reset tab and tried restoring and writing but it still says not recognized. It works but in the dark I can't find the buttons without the lights on them. I then updated to 5.2 from 5.0.16C. After the update it won't recognize 2 more switches that are brand new only 1.5 years ago. No matter what I do, they remain unable to be recognized. Frustration is setting in. Is there an alternative to the insteon - isy combination that is more stable? My friend just got new lutron caseta switches that really seem nice. I don't think they have the capabilities of the insteon though. Can anyone point me in the right direction or is there something that I am missing? Thanks for any help anyone will give. Thanks.
inovermyhead Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 I’m not trying to be critical but I think there is something unusual is going on in your situation. Have you tried “restore device” for these in the AC? I have had numerous Insteon switches, keyapads, hidden door sensors and motion detectors in my house for over 10 years. I have had next to no failures at all. Even my PLM, with the bad caps, lasted for 8 years. Recently a motion detector (2842-222) seemed to be getting flakey but it’s been outside, exposed to weather, for more than 6 years. I live in the foothills outside of Boulder so perhaps less line “noise” but more lightening strikes. I do have two older Togglelinc switches that seem to lose their programming and links to the ISY at “regular” intervals (say every 8 months to year). A factory reset at the switch then a restore device and they’re good for another long length of time. So I might explore if there are unusual conditions causing your failures. And whether a device restore helps 1
ingeborgdot Posted January 21, 2021 Author Posted January 21, 2021 Unusual, you mean like poor quality switches. Most have either just died, or the paddle stops working. I did the reset at the KPL switch and then tried the restore. Nothing happened. When I say nothing happened, I mean the restore didn't work. There was no progress bar that ever showed up and nothing was going on. The only way any activity happened is if I did a write updates to this device. This is the 2nd KPL that I have had in this room. I did get the LED lights to come back on the switch, but they went off again. As for the other 2 switches, last night they were found again by the isy, but this morning one of them is now not being seen by the isy. I'm not going to be replacing any more of my insteon switches with insteon products unless I can find what is going on. The two 2477D had not had any issues until I did the update to my isy. I'm at a loss. I have not installed anything new in the house at all in the last week. No new lights or anything.
DennisC Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 Does your firmware match your UI? Make sure you are using the Launcher to access your ISY. If you are not, you can find it in the same post you found the firmware for your upgrade.
DennisC Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 (edited) I would suggest removing power from the device, waiting 5 minutes, restore power, factory reset device, and then restore device. Edited January 21, 2021 by DennisC Spelling
ingeborgdot Posted January 21, 2021 Author Posted January 21, 2021 When you say remove power from device, which device are you talking about? I do have a question though about Java. I don't think that is the issue, but after the update it says to clear java. I tried, but got an error.
DennisC Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 Start with one device that you are having communication problems with. Here are the instructions for clearing Java: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:Clearing_Your_Java_Cache You should be clearing Java cache before downloading and running the Launcher.
ingeborgdot Posted January 21, 2021 Author Posted January 21, 2021 I did try to clear the cache right after the upgrade. It does not clear. It says error. How do you remove power from the device? You mean unhook it at the wires? Sorry for the ignorance here.
DennisC Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 You can remove power by turning the circuit breaker off, disconnecting the wires, or if the device has an air gap (like switches, look in manual) slider you could use that. The idea is to start with a clean slate.
ingeborgdot Posted January 21, 2021 Author Posted January 21, 2021 Ok, I thought you could shut off power to the switch with the little plastic piece and pull it out for the air gap as you say. But how is the factory reset done then like you suggest? Is that not the same thing?
DennisC Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 Factory resets might be different between devices, that's why I suggested you look in the device manual. Pulling the air gap and then pushing it in removes power, it is not a factory reset. Check the manual for the device in question.
ingeborgdot Posted January 21, 2021 Author Posted January 21, 2021 I pulled it out like the manual said and waited 10 minutes. I then pushed it in and held it until the beep like the manual said. I released and then came down and did a restore. Same old crap. Cannot communicate with ...... I'll try the other two and see what happens.
ingeborgdot Posted January 21, 2021 Author Posted January 21, 2021 I tried another switch and same crap. Cannot communicate with ..... I'll try the last one and see.
DennisC Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 Then I would suggest you follow the communications troubleshooting guide from here: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=INSTEON:_Troubleshooting_Communications_Errors As a last resort, you can submit a help ticket with UD.
ingeborgdot Posted January 21, 2021 Author Posted January 21, 2021 The only thing that would be a viable solution would be a noise filter but smarthome is sold out. They are also sold out of switches. Are they going out of business? They don't seem to have hardly anything in stock.
MrBill Posted January 21, 2021 Posted January 21, 2021 22 minutes ago, ingeborgdot said: I pulled it out like the manual said and waited 10 minutes. I then pushed it in and held it until the beep like the manual said. I released and then came down and did a restore. Same old crap. Cannot communicate with ...... I'll try the other two and see what happens. You might have skimmed the directions too quickly, pull the air gap, wait 10 SECONDS, then press in and hold until the long beep subsides (or stops), then you should hear a double beep. Page 28. Holding until the long beep starts doesn't factory reset the device. I agree with @inovermyhead something is unusual. I've only had one switch out of about 100+ devices go bad (killed by lightning). 1
ingeborgdot Posted January 21, 2021 Author Posted January 21, 2021 I actually found the culprit, but I 'm not sure. I remembered I had an old access point in an outlet. I unplugged it and did a restore. It worked. I'll let you know the result after several days if it still holds true. As for switches. They have just gone down, one by one. Some just quit totally, and others would just not turn on unless you pushed the paddle real hard and in it had to be in the perfect spot. You guys have been some of the lucky ones. I have read story after story about the insteon switches, so I know I'm not alone. I have had insteon for over 15 years because of what they were capable of doing. I do like them. None of my new ones have gone bad yet, so let's hope I have luck like you guys have with the rest of mine. It looks like the KPL is going to be fine now. Weird. I don't know why I didn't think of unplugging the access point before. I guess I thought it would help.
Brian H Posted January 22, 2021 Posted January 22, 2021 If the 2443 Access Point was any revision 2.0 or later. They where built on the base 2413 PLM board and had the same problems with poor capacitors in the power supply area. I had to rebuild a pair of mine that started causing strange issues in my setup.
ingeborgdot Posted January 22, 2021 Author Posted January 22, 2021 Now that it is out of the system, all of my stuff is actually running better. I wish I would have thought of this earlier.
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