clockwrkz Posted March 28, 2022 Posted March 28, 2022 I'm seeing an issue where if I manually turn on/off a light switch in my detached garage I'm not seeing a status update in the ISY (this is a problem as I want it to trigger a program). But, if I use the ISY to turn off/on that same switch everything works. Any known issues where the switch would not send its status back when switched manually? The closest house switch is maybe 10 feet from the garage switch. The house and garage are on the same circuit as well.
larryllix Posted March 28, 2022 Posted March 28, 2022 I'm seeing an issue where if I manually turn on/off a light switch in my detached garage I'm not seeing a status update in the ISY (this is a problem as I want it to trigger a program). But, if I use the ISY to turn off/on that same switch everything works. Any known issues where the switch would not send its status back when switched manually? The closest house switch is maybe 10 feet from the garage switch. The house and garage are on the same circuit as well.In the admin console right click on the device name and select Restore. You may have lost a link that provides that information.Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk 1
clockwrkz Posted March 28, 2022 Author Posted March 28, 2022 3 minutes ago, larryllix said: In the admin console right click on the device name and select Restore. You may have lost a link that provides that information. Sent from my SM-G781W using Tapatalk Thanks for the quick reply. I hit "restore device" for both light switches (there are 2 in the garage) but got the same result. Manually turning on either switch and the status does not update in the ISY. I also opened up the log viewer and checked for device communication. I don't see anything in the log there after manually adjusting the switch. I do see Inteson communication if I send an ON command from the ISY though.
brians Posted March 28, 2022 Posted March 28, 2022 The signal may not be strong enough coming back from the switch. What models are these - dual band or plc? I had a problem in my attached garage with three older plc only switches being unresponsive. Changing just one to a dual band rf model fixed. 1
clockwrkz Posted March 28, 2022 Author Posted March 28, 2022 23 minutes ago, brians said: The signal may not be strong enough coming back from the switch. What models are these - dual band or plc? I had a problem in my attached garage with three older plc only switches being unresponsive. Changing just one to a dual band rf model fixed. Thanks for the reply. Good thought - I just checked one is a 2476S and the other is a 2477D. At least the 2477D is dual band but neither is working so it doesn't seem like the dual band is the fix in this case sadly.
lilyoyo1 Posted March 28, 2022 Posted March 28, 2022 (edited) 3 minutes ago, clockwrkz said: Thanks for the reply. Good thought - I just checked one is a 2476S and the other is a 2477D. At least the 2477D is dual band but neither is working so it doesn't seem like the dual band is the fix in this case sadly. What kind of lights are they controlling? How close is the nearest dual band device Edited March 28, 2022 by lilyoyo1
clockwrkz Posted March 28, 2022 Author Posted March 28, 2022 Just now, lilyoyo1 said: What kind of lights are they controlling Overhead dual 4' LED tube lights. 6 lights on each switch.
Goose66 Posted March 28, 2022 Posted March 28, 2022 I'm betting the power supplies in your LED lights are causing interference in the PLC communication from the switchlinc. Try a filter between the switch load wire and the lights.
clockwrkz Posted March 28, 2022 Author Posted March 28, 2022 3 minutes ago, Goose66 said: I'm betting the power supplies in your LED lights are causing interference in the PLC communication from the switchlinc. Try a filter between the switch load wire and the lights. Thanks, if I pulled the switch and disconnected the load line to the fixture and tested again would that answer if it's interference? Also, would you expect the interference to only be one way switch-PLM not PLM-switch?
Goose66 Posted March 28, 2022 Posted March 28, 2022 1) Yes. Also, you could see some differences when sending off commands, or subsequent off commands, after turning off the load. Check your ISY logs. 2) Also yes, in that it's the receiver on the PLM that's probably the weak component, IMO.
clockwrkz Posted April 8, 2022 Author Posted April 8, 2022 On 3/28/2022 at 4:07 PM, Goose66 said: 1) Yes. Also, you could see some differences when sending off commands, or subsequent off commands, after turning off the load. Check your ISY logs. 2) Also yes, in that it's the receiver on the PLM that's probably the weak component, IMO. Thanks to everyone for the feedback and help so far! So I finally had a chance to go do some testing today. I disconnected the load side of the switches, opened the Event View on my laptop in the detached garage and watched "Device Communication Events" when turning on/off the switch. No activity at all. So it doesn't appear the load side of the switch was causing interference at least. I also took a ApplianceLinc with me to test and could see any communication from there as well. As before, I could send a command from the ISY and turn the light on but I was unable to see the status change from the ISY when I manually turned on/off the switch. Is there some other way I could boost the commands going from the switch to the PLM if those are weak? One of the switches is dual band the other is not. Both have this same issue. The closest other dual band switch is at the back door which is about 10 feet away. Thanks again.
chris932 Posted April 16, 2022 Posted April 16, 2022 Take a look at your breaker panel is the outlet the PLM is connected to and your detached garage on different sides (left or right) of the panel? In any case try to move the PLM to an outlet that's controlled by a breaker on the opposite side and see if that helps. Ideally an outlet that's close to the panel and doesn't have a long cable run or with very many "noisy" devices. Another option is try to move the PLM close to a window facing the detached garage, regardless of where on the breaker panel it corresponds to, and hope the wireless signal is able to travel to the garage.
MrBill Posted April 16, 2022 Posted April 16, 2022 1 hour ago, chris932 said: Take a look at your breaker panel is the outlet the PLM is connected to and your detached garage on different sides (left or right) of the panel? In any case try to move the PLM to an outlet that's controlled by a breaker on the opposite side and see if that helps. Ideally an outlet that's close to the panel and doesn't have a long cable run or with very many "noisy" devices. Another option is try to move the PLM close to a window facing the detached garage, regardless of where on the breaker panel it corresponds to, and hope the wireless signal is able to travel to the garage. Keep in mind that American split phase panels phases are every other full sized breaker, not left side/right side. Generally speaking one phase is odd numbered breakers the other phase is even numbered breakers. You can know for sure if that general rules holds true in your panel by looking at a a double handled or 220V breakers (stoves, Air Conditioning, dryer, etc) if 1/2 of that double breaker is an even number and half is in an odd numbered slot, then in fact your panel is following the even/odd numbering scheme. (It's used by most panel manufactures, but I have seen an odd ball or two over the years). Other than that the advice is correct, try to get the PLM on the same phase as the detached garage.
Brian H Posted April 17, 2022 Posted April 17, 2022 Unless you have a breaker box like in my house. There are I believe six in a row on one phase then six in the same row on the other phase. Same for the other side of the box. So there are only a few spaces where you have 220VAC on breakers next to each other. 1
clockwrkz Posted April 18, 2022 Author Posted April 18, 2022 Hi All, Thanks for all the replies. Been trying different approaches over the weekend. I did not have success moving the PLM around so, eventually, I gave up and removed the dual band switch from the ISY and then adding it back. Well that worked! I could see the updates in the ISY when manually turning off/on the switch. So I tried that same thing with the non-dual band switch which is right next to it (connected to the same wires) and that did not work. Any thoughts why removing/adding the dual band switch would work and the non-dual band would not? Thanks!
Techman Posted April 18, 2022 Posted April 18, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, clockwrkz said: Hi All, Thanks for all the replies. Been trying different approaches over the weekend. I did not have success moving the PLM around so, eventually, I gave up and removed the dual band switch from the ISY and then adding it back. Well that worked! I could see the updates in the ISY when manually turning off/on the switch. So I tried that same thing with the non-dual band switch which is right next to it (connected to the same wires) and that did not work. Any thoughts why removing/adding the dual band switch would work and the non-dual band would not? Thanks! The single band device is powerline only, dual band devices send the signal on both the powerline and via RF. Your single band device could either be defective or you may have interference on the powerline. The UDI Wiki has a powerline troubleshooting section that may help you locate the source of any powerline noise. Additionally, the two legs of the powerline need to be bridged in order for the powerline only signal to reach the other leg of the powerline from the one the PLM is on. Your dual band device may have had some bad links, removing and reinstalling would overwrite the device link tables. Edited April 18, 2022 by Techman
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