madmartian Posted March 18 Posted March 18 I had a particular Insteon switch stop responding - the one furthest from the eISY - and I believe I found the problem to be faulty range extenders. I have a pair that's been setup for years and was working at one time. I tried to test them following the directions (press button on unit A 4 times, unit B should blink green) and all I get on unit B is solid green, indicating no communication with unit A. I tried plugging them into the same circuit (2 plugs on the same wall) which should have resulted in unit B being red, but it's still solid green. I have also tried swapping which is unit A and which is B. I cannot get one unit to acknowledge the other in any way. Am I doing something wrong or is one of my range extenders bad, even though both appear to function in text mode as unit A?
paulbates Posted March 18 Posted March 18 Do you have plug-in modules, either on/off or dimmer? They act as range extenders Temporarily replace one range extender at a time with plug-in modules and re-test
madmartian Posted March 18 Author Posted March 18 Well. I plugged one into an outlet that has an appliance module and when I put it in test mode, the appliance module light blinked. I tried the same with the other range extender and the appliance module did not react. Looks like I found the bad range extender. As these things are no longer made and people ask too much money for used ones, any idea what common repairs on a range extender might be, ie a likely bad part I can swap out with a soldering iron?
paulbates Posted March 18 Posted March 18 You can get an appliace module from insteon instead of a range extender. I'm not sure that the old range extenders were i2cs capable, where the plugin modules will be.
Brian H Posted March 18 Posted March 18 (edited) The Range Extender's I have checked out. Are a 2457D2 LampLinc with the dimmer electronics not installed. You probably will see the 2457D2 LampLinc FCC database on it. Most here are use a plug in Dual Band module to do range extending and as a bonus. If you eventually need the dimmer or On/Off function. You already have one in hand. I am using a 2457D2 as a Range Extender. Not even in the ISY994i system. As it is range extending only for me and not needing any ISY control or access. Edited March 18 by Brian H Add something
hart2hart Posted March 18 Posted March 18 Replace the capacitors. I’ve got several that are 15 years old after a little TLC and yes the C is capacitors. 1
Brian H Posted March 18 Posted March 18 8 hours ago, hart2hart said: Replace the capacitors. I’ve got several that are 15 years old after a little TLC and yes the C is capacitors. You have several Range Extenders not Access Points? I don't think they have not been sold that long ago. They have all surface mounted capacitors except one high voltage one in the primary off the switching supply. Now the Access Points with all electrolytic capacitors could easily have the caps replaces. Especially the V2 Access point as they on the same PLM base board including the famous switching supply capacitor issues.
hart2hart Posted March 18 Posted March 18 6 minutes ago, Brian H said: You have several Range Extenders not Access Points? I don't think they have not been sold that long ago. They have all surface mounted capacitors except one high voltage one in the primary off the switching supply. Now the Access Points with all electrolytic capacitors could easily have the caps replaces. Especially the V2 Access point as they on the same PLM base board including the famous switching supply capacitor issues. Yes, they are access points with board just like PLM.
madmartian Posted March 19 Author Posted March 19 21 hours ago, paulbates said: Do you have plug-in modules, either on/off or dimmer? They act as range extenders Temporarily replace one range extender at a time with plug-in modules and re-test I tried a trail of modules leading up to the switch and the switch is available now, but is still not responding to programs. This has been super frustrating as this worked without issue for years and now I can't get it to work. To be clear, the on command is working but the off command is not. Simple dusk to dawn turn the light on, else turn the light off. Worked for years on the old ISY994i. I thought the eISY might be the culprit until I found the range extender issue. Now I am back to wondering if this has something to do with the eISY (5.8.0). I already tried deleting the program and rewriting it. I know it's running the else command as I added a notification for when it does.
paulbates Posted March 19 Posted March 19 On working and off not is usually the symptom of a noisy load... The on powers the noisy load and blocks the offs Did you replace the light recently? 1
madmartian Posted March 19 Author Posted March 19 18 minutes ago, paulbates said: On working and off not is usually the symptom of a noisy load... The on powers the noisy load and blocks the offs Did you replace the light recently? A few months ago? How would I prevent the light itself from generating noise and blocking the off?
paulbates Posted March 19 Posted March 19 That's a theory that needs to be proven... is it a light bulb that you can swap with another type to see what happens?
madmartian Posted March 19 Author Posted March 19 I should mention that the switch is 2466S ToggleLinc, which is not dual band.
madmartian Posted March 19 Author Posted March 19 54 minutes ago, paulbates said: That's a theory that needs to be proven... is it a light bulb that you can swap with another type to see what happens? No, I replaced the old bulb fixture with a perm LED structure.
paulbates Posted March 19 Posted March 19 3 minutes ago, madmartian said: I should mention that the switch is 2466S ToggleLinc, which is not dual band. Which makes it more susceptible to the theorized problem... there's no rf to potentially get around it. An Insteon filterlinc is an option if it's a plug the fixture in. If not, I believe you can still get the X10 XPF wire in filter between the fixture and the switch would curb the noise
Brian H Posted March 19 Posted March 19 (edited) Official X10 sales site. Shows both the XPPF and XPF in stock. Only downfall for the XPF wire in filter is. Size. As it is a 20 amp filter and large in size. Insteon.com is also showing the FilterLinc in stock. Edited March 19 by Brian H
paulbates Posted March 19 Posted March 19 I forgot about the XPNR wire in noise filters. I used these on low voltage lighting transformers with success. They are a little cheaper, and while a little big, I had luck wiring them into the box / fixture https://www.x10.com/products/xpnr
madmartian Posted March 19 Author Posted March 19 Thanks for the tip - might try that - though I can turn off the device manually through the admin console without issue, so I'm not so sure it's noise.
paulbates Posted March 19 Posted March 19 (edited) Ok.. That's new info. You can manually activate the switch on and off using the AC, but you have a program that stopped working just for the off? If so, can you post it? Edited March 19 by paulbates
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