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How to adjust on level on 3 way switches?


Blackbird

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Posted

I have one dimmer switch and one 8 button keypad on 3 way at either end of a hall.  I have both in a scene "Hallway".  If I want the on level for both to be on at 28% then what is the best way to switch it? 

Seems like there are 3 options:

1. Adjust the on level of the scene

2. adjust both switches on level within that scene

3. adjust the individual switches outside of the scene

 

Whats the best way and is it also possible to have the 8 buttton keypad turn on at 28% and the dimmer on 50% when the buttons are pressed?

 

Thanks

Posted
5 hours ago, Blackbird said:

I have one dimmer switch and one 8 button keypad on 3 way at either end of a hall.  I have both in a scene "Hallway".  If I want the on level for both to be on at 28% then what is the best way to switch it? 

Seems like there are 3 options:

1. Adjust the on level of the scene

2. adjust both switches on level within that scene

3. adjust the individual switches outside of the scene

 

Whats the best way and is it also possible to have the 8 buttton keypad turn on at 28% and the dimmer on 50% when the buttons are pressed?

 

Thanks

There is no best way. The best way is what fits what you're trying to do. Your 3rd option doesn't work though for 3 ways

yes it's possible to set different levels for each device

Posted

Yes, there are three options you listed, but you may need to do all three depending on your goals.  You could choose your option number 1, but that would only change when the scene is controlled via ISY action (it would have no effect when devices are manually controlled, nor when responding to another controller device.

Assuming you want the stated on-levels regardless of how a device is initially turned on, 

1.  Click on the scene and set the on-levels of the two devices to suit your 50/28 preference.

2.  Click on each controller device within the scene and set the on-levels of each of the two devices to suit your 50/28 preference.

See if this works for you.

 

Posted (edited)

@Blackbird Here's an example of a three way switch with 3 switches changing between 35% at midnight back to 100% at sunrise. 

2022-09-27_8-40-49.png

The tricky part is that for each switch in the program you need to set the "Controller" and "Set" individually.

 

2022-09-27_8-49-09.png

I put in a ticket last year to have these all linked, but it was deemed a low priority so this is the only way I know to do what you want.

Here is an example of one of the three switches in this program with the "Controller" and "Set" shown.

 

2022-09-27_8-47-12.png

 

2022-09-27_8-47-32.png

 

2022-09-27_8-47-52.png

Edited by kzboray
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Posted
12 hours ago, Blackbird said:

I have one dimmer switch and one 8 button keypad on 3 way at either end of a hall.  I have both in a scene "Hallway".  If I want the on level for both to be on at 28% then what is the best way to switch it? 

Seems like there are 3 options:

1. Adjust the on level of the scene

2. adjust both switches on level within that scene

3. adjust the individual switches outside of the scene

 

Whats the best way and is it also possible to have the 8 buttton keypad turn on at 28% and the dimmer on 50% when the buttons are pressed?

 

Thanks

 

This is a bit confusing because of the way Insteon works.  It is not a bad thing, it allows for great scene versatility, but with versatility comes confusion.  

First, remember the PLM/ISY is a member and controller for every scene.  It is listed in the admin console tree as the root folder of each scene, but it is effectively no different than any other controller in the scene.

To your specifics, you have to do all 3.

1) Scene on level when controlled by PLM.  In other words, if ISY (or ud mobile) turns the scene on, the on level and ramp rate you set for each device is what will happen.

2) There is the local device on level.  This is what THAT device does when you push the on paddle.  You will need to set this for all devices in the scene.  This does not need to be the same as when it is a responder to the scene.

3) There is the on level for the other devices in the scene SPECIFIC to which device turned it on.  Basically this is the same thing as number 1 except instead of the plm being the source of the on command, it is what happens when any of the other devices in the scene initiate it.  Because of how things are presented in the admin console, this is a bit different looking when you set it up, but it is the same thing as number 1.

The way Insteon is set up, a scene is defined globally ONLY as the devices in the scene and whether they are controllers/responders, not how the devices respond.  There is no global on level or ramp rate.  If you have 3 devcies in a scene, you can have the 3 devices turn on differently depending on which of the 3 devices (plus PLM for a 4th version of the scene) you initiate it from.  It is 1 group of devices that can behave 4 ways depending on which of the 4 controllers initiated it (3 devices or plm).

In short, if you want a regular 3 way where you have 2 switches and ISY, all controlling the scene and you want the scene to behave the same regardless of which device you use to turn it on, then you have to set the on-level and ramp rate 3 times to the same values.  Once for the scene as controlled from plm, once for the scene as controlled by each of the 2 devices, plus the local on level for each of the 2 devices.  This allows for huge versatility, but it also means if you have a large scene with lots of controllers, you have a lot of settings to put in.  

It used to be that ISY had a "copy to all devices" button where you just clicked that button and it set all the devices levels in the scene to the same settings as the main PLM controlled scene.  But they did away with that when they started adding non-insteon nodes since I guess it got too complicated.

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