bertible Posted December 29, 2021 Posted December 29, 2021 I've had my ISY 994i Pro for a few years, running exclusively Insteon after giving up on X10 awhile back. Recently after a go round with my PLM, I decided I needed to move towards an alternative to Insteon so acquired a ZWave dongle for my ISY, and a couple of ZWave switches (GE Enbrighten) I am now trying to add a new zwave on/off switch (with additional add-on switch) to an existing scene: Insteon Motion Sensor Controller, Senses Person in Room in the laundry room Insteon On/Off Switch as responder. Turns on Laundry room lights on entry Adding GE Enbrighten On/Off Switch as responder Turns on Stairway lights on entry (tried as responder to both the PIR sensor, and the Insteon switch) I've tried adding all six Zwave nodes to the scene (Switch On/Off, Basic Scene Ctl 1/2, Multilevel switch 2/3, and Scene button 1/2 No combination of these nodes in the scene seems to work to turn on the Z Wave Switch, only the Insteon switch responds to the Insteon PIR. So I tried adding a program to sense either the PIR sensor, or the Insteon switches being on, then turning the ZWave on. This didn't work either. So, is it possible to mix Zwave and Insteon devices in a scene? or do I need a ZWave PIR? I have searched high and low in the Wiki, and can only find scenes with one, or the other, not both.
lilyoyo1 Posted December 29, 2021 Posted December 29, 2021 (edited) It would help if you gave system details such as firmware and UI. Generally yes, you can mix scenes with insteon and zwave. You just have to configure your devices within the scene and controller to do so. You only need the switch on/off in the scene not the other stuff Edited December 29, 2021 by lilyoyo1
bertible Posted December 29, 2021 Author Posted December 29, 2021 Thanks lilyoyo1, I am using Admin Console, and ISY version 5.3.4, Zwave version 6.82.01 , just upgraded ISY firmware in order to add ZWave. I had already moved my ISY closer to devices with extension cords/ethernet cables, but may try moving even closer (line of sight). Thanks for the on/off switch advice. Will stop trying with all the other stuff. Gary
MrBill Posted December 30, 2021 Posted December 30, 2021 17 hours ago, bertible said: I am using Admin Console, and ISY version 5.3.4, Zwave version 6.82.01 , just upgraded ISY firmware in order to add ZWave. I had already moved my ISY closer to devices with extension cords/ethernet cables, but may try moving even closer (line of sight). Thanks for the on/off switch advice. Will stop trying with all the other stuff. Can the ISY control the device? Have you gotten it added? Z-wave needs a mesh of devices.. and the ISY's transmitter doesn't reach far, the nearest device will repeat and will reach further. You may also discover that the ISY standing on it side edge may have better reach. see this post:
DaveF Posted December 30, 2021 Posted December 30, 2021 (edited) Before you get into the scene, which should work, I have mixed Insteon and zwave scenes, does the GE switch work on it's own? Can you control it from the ISY? Does the isy see changes in the switch? Sorry, didn't see MrBill's response before I posted, browser didn't refresh. Edited December 30, 2021 by DaveF
bertible Posted December 30, 2021 Author Posted December 30, 2021 Thanks Mr Bill and DaveF for responding. Answer is pretty well Yes to most of your questions: Enbrighten switch and Add-on switch work fine physically The main enbrighten switch is about 50 feet walking from ISY, but around some corners, so 25 feet direct with two walls between. (I realize not ideal) Yes, the switch (all 6 "nodes) added fine in Admin Console as you'll see below. Some initial difficulty seeing these switches in Admin Console was overcome by firmware upgrade, exclude/include actions, and moving ISY higher in my equipment room, and i did just try turning in on it side too. (yesterday I actually had it running down the hall with wires with no improvement to this scene issue) Switch works fine turning on/off from Admin Console, from Mobilinc App, and even from Alexa. This would lead me to believe that the ISY:switch communications are fine, unless Scenes require a stronger signal than on/off commands. Here is a screenshot of the Scene. The PIR-Sensor and Laundry Rm nr Hall switch are both Insteon. I've also tried a new scene where I let the PIR turn the insteon switch on, then try to use the insteon switch as the controller to the Zwave switch. That didn't work either. I've also tried a few times, moving the On setting to 100% but it keeps reverting back to the value as shown below. I do have one more zwave (dimmer) switch I could install in between the ISY and this switch, but these wouldn't be my preferred location to use up a $50 switch.
bertible Posted December 30, 2021 Author Posted December 30, 2021 Hi lilyoyo Here is the controller/responder perspective from the PIR sensor 2842-222. Since my last post, I deleted the scene completely then recreated it (with no positive effect) Gary
lilyoyo1 Posted December 30, 2021 Posted December 30, 2021 Click on the controller in the scene itself
bertible Posted December 30, 2021 Author Posted December 30, 2021 I tried writing a program again, and got this version below to partly work, but not with the PIR sensor controlling the On/Off, only by pushing the Laundry Rm nr Hall On/Off button in Admin Console. The ZW switch follows the Insteon On/Off commands almost immediately. Trying the same program but with the PIR sensor status or switching on in the IF statement and it wouldn't do anything .
lilyoyo1 Posted December 30, 2021 Posted December 30, 2021 37 minutes ago, bertible said: Ahh okay. here it is Is this truly the older 2842 sensor or newer 2844 sensor
bertible Posted December 30, 2021 Author Posted December 30, 2021 Yes, 2842. I've wondered if it's the sensor, so if an older version that could support that it's the culprit (since it couldn't possibly be a user-induced error, LOL). Gary
bertible Posted December 31, 2021 Author Posted December 31, 2021 (edited) Looked online for replacement insteon detectors, either 2842 or 2844. Scarce as hens teeth and expensive when you find one. So ordered a no-name z-wave detector for troubleshooting. In meantime will continue to retry scene and programming fixes. Still seems strange that the detector succeeds in sending to ISY, and ISY succeeds in sending to Zwave switches, but the two can't be combined. Edited December 31, 2021 by bertible
lilyoyo1 Posted December 31, 2021 Posted December 31, 2021 3 hours ago, bertible said: Looked online for replacement insteon detectors, either 2842 or 2844. Scarce as hens teeth and expensive when you find one. So ordered a no-name z-wave detector for troubleshooting. In meantime will continue to retry scene and programming fixes. Still seems strange that the detector succeeds in sending to ISY, and ISY succeeds in sending to Zwave switches, but the two can't be combined. Try removing both devices from the scene. Add the zwave device first, configure, and then re-add sensor
bertible Posted January 1, 2022 Author Posted January 1, 2022 Okay, getting somewhere! Your suggestion was good and started me on the path to success. I ended up completely deleting the scene, resetting the sensor to factory default and writing changes to it (i.e. no scene) to get to a zero baseline. Then I started from scratch using your suggestion to add the Zwave switch even before the sensor or other Insteon switch. When I added the sensor, I started getting intermittent success, i.e. the sensor sometimes turned the zwave switch on. I kept retrying writing the changes to the PIR sensor from admin console (each time putting the PIR in write mode). Also saving changes in the Program screen, since I know this is necessary for mobilinc, even if the change is in the Main screen. I think the saving in the sensor was the sticky point, that the sensor was not always getting the changes. But at this point, I now have both switches responding to the PIR sensor with no delay... Phew! Thanks for your help.
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