Insteon Device State Stuck

[dpfrez]

I have a number of insteon switches in our home and occasionally the devices will stop responding to an ISY program command such as a program that turns the lights on at sunset.  When I log in to the management console of the ISY device, it shows an incorrect status.  Manually initiating a query updates the status and seems to bring it back in response to the program.

I further tested this with stuck devices by initiating the on command by triggering the IF statement in the ISY program.  It will not respond.  I thought if I programmed a query into the program ahead of the on it would clean up the status and keep this from happening but it did not.

So, there is clearly something different about how the ISY program initiates a query and how the ISY admin console (via a right click / query) initiates a query.

Does anyone here know what the difference is or what else I can try to get the devices out of this stuck state?

PS - after further testing it appears a fast on responds in this stuck state but an on does not.

[larryllix]

You have Insteon noise makers in your house. You need to find them and eliminate them.

You can try to restore messed up links in each device with the Restore command in the admin console.

[dpfrez]

can you explain what noise has to do with the issue?  I've see noise in the system before, but it produces random results.  This stuck status produces the same results once its stuck until it is queried.

Also, the links are never lost and do not need restored.

The only thing happening is the device will not respond to an "on" command until it is queried. 

[larryllix]

When an Insteon signal is interfered with by noise, anything can happen. Eventually a link is changed or destroyed and one or more parts of the many connections are lost. If a command link is lost then other devices cannot control one or more aspect of the device. If a status link is lost then status cannot be reported to another device. When you query a device the status is sent to the querying device. A simple SwitchLinc dimmer will require a link for commands and several links for status fields. Then there will be  scene links to every device linked to it, including ISY. Insteon devices can contain up to about 250-300 links each.

I suspect you posted the last statement incorrectly. The device does not change state when queried. ISY gets a fresh copy of the status with the correct information from the device when queried. The last status update was sent via a bad or lost link that was affected by Insteon noise in your home. ISY never got it.

Links are lost or destroyed frequently with Insteon noise in a home. This can be evidenced by using the load device links option in the admin console and then using the compare button. You will likely see a few links that do not match indicating the links do change, or get lost. In that case they will need to be restored.

Of course this all assumes that your device was properly linked to ISY originally.

If you didn't factory reset your devices (especailly if new) before linking each and every one to your ISY you can expect this kind of trouble.