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Resolution to my PLM/ISY communication errors


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Posted

If some of your Insteon modules have been in use for around ten years. They are probably the power line only versions. You could have power line issues from new electronics in the home or some electronics degrading with age.

If the PLM goes off line sometimes and a power cycle reconnects it. It is possible it is starting to fail. Most times it is the power supply. A weak power supply in theory could cause communications problems. You may want to try the replacement PLM.

The replacement procedure is in the UDI Wiki. https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:File_Menu#Restore_Modem_.28PLM.29

Posted
14 hours ago, Brian H said:

If some of your Insteon modules have been in use for around ten years. They are probably the power line only versions. You could have power line issues from new electronics in the home or some electronics degrading with age.

If the PLM goes off line sometimes and a power cycle reconnects it. It is possible it is starting to fail. Most times it is the power supply. A weak power supply in theory could cause communications problems. You may want to try the replacement PLM.

The replacement procedure is in the UDI Wiki. https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:File_Menu#Restore_Modem_.28PLM.29

I'm pretty sure all my insteon devices are the dual band versions but maybe not? I went ahead and replaced the PLM and so far so good - the network seems more stable. Also the one keypad that I thought was bad (would not communicate at all) came back online - so for now that saved me some $$. I still have to go around to all the motion and leak sensors and put them into update mode so I can write the new PLM data (what a pain), but other than that the PLM swap was painless. Thanks all for the help!

Posted

Now that I've replaced my PLM I'm no longer seeing random communication failures, but I cannot consistently display the device links? Often I get the message "Failed reading device link [-2000000/-5]. Is this normal?

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

After my ancient PLM failed earlier this month I replaced with a new 2413S v2.5. I have far less communication issues now - in fact none. In hindsight it had been old PLM causing me grief for years. Sometimes a light wouldn’t go off from a program  or I would login to the isy and see old errors that it could not communicate with certain devices. I did also this last week replace a couple switchlinc which were unreliable where they would not respond to scene right away and and now everything seems 100%. About 30% of my switches are upgraded to dual band now due to failures last year and to introduce more dual band into network for reliablity. This improved network at the time last year but the new PLM was the final thing I needed to make reliable. 

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted

Ok, I'm still having issues.  I replaced the PLM to the latest version.  Last night, I had a light come on in the middle of the night (about 2am), and there are no programs running at that time. This is for a plug in lamp module. 

All of my insteon devices are dual band. I did have some extenders in the garage (though I have 4 light switches in the garage anyway), but I took those out in case they were causing problems. 

I really, really, really wish all of my entries in the UD Report did not say "system". I would like to know whether it came from the ISY, was local (button) or web (Alexa for me), but they all say "system". I have almost 84,000 entries, and every single one says "system".

I have noise blockers on any power strip.  I have several of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009HKEXM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

However, these are supposed to be just plug adapters (not power strips/surge projector). 

How do I possibly debug this? 

Posted
2 hours ago, ctviggen1 said:

Ok, I'm still having issues.  I replaced the PLM to the latest version.  Last night, I had a light come on in the middle of the night (about 2am), and there are no programs running at that time. This is for a plug in lamp module. 

All of my insteon devices are dual band. I did have some extenders in the garage (though I have 4 light switches in the garage anyway), but I took those out in case they were causing problems. 

I really, really, really wish all of my entries in the UD Report did not say "system". I would like to know whether it came from the ISY, was local (button) or web (Alexa for me), but they all say "system". I have almost 84,000 entries, and every single one says "system".

I have noise blockers on any power strip.  I have several of these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009HKEXM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

However, these are supposed to be just plug adapters (not power strips/surge projector). 

How do I possibly debug this? 

Run a diagnostics on the lamplinc you're having a problem with. Do a show link tables, then a compare link tables. If you have mismatched links then do a restore device

These are the noise filters you should be using, https://www.smarthome.com/filterlinc-10-amp-plug-in-noise-filter.html

Here's some troubleshooting tips:

https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=INSTEON_Signal_/_Noise_Troubleshooting

https://wiki.universal-devices.com/index.php?title=INSTEON_Random_All_On_Events

 

 

 

 

 

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