Unable to turn light on/off in admin console

[smarthome_newbie]

I have two dimmer switches that control the same light. I can turn the light on/off using one of the switches in both the admin console and by physically using the switch. The other switch I can only control with the physical switch. When I try to turn the light on/off using the admin console, the lights on that switch go up and down as if the light is turning on/off, but the light actually doesn't turn on/off. Any idea what could be causing this? Thanks!

[Guy Lavoie]

Well you can't really have two physical switches controlling the same light (unless you wired two relay switches in parallel or something...). Sounds like you have one switch, the one that works, actually controlling the light. The second one would probably be set up as a virtual 3 way switch, controlling the first one. If that's the case, then it probably doesn't have any load connected to it. Thus turning that switch on or off remotely, such as through the admin console, wouldn't do anything. It won't receive the command and then retransmit it as if it had been manually activated. 

So that sounds normal.

[oberkc]

I assume that you have the light powered by a single insteon switch, and a second insteon switch that you want to control, and be controlled by, the first switch.  Correct?  Did you create a scene that included both switches, and both as controllers?

[smarthome_newbie]

On 11/30/2024 at 1:40 PM, Guy Lavoie said:

Well you can't really have two physical switches controlling the same light (unless you wired two relay switches in parallel or something...). Sounds like you have one switch, the one that works, actually controlling the light. The second one would probably be set up as a virtual 3 way switch, controlling the first one. If that's the case, then it probably doesn't have any load connected to it. Thus turning that switch on or off remotely, such as through the admin console, wouldn't do anything. It won't receive the command and then retransmit it as if it had been manually activated. 

So that sounds normal.

This is a dining room light and before the Insteon switches were installed, both switches controlled the light. Are you saying that only one of those switches would have had the load connected? If so, how did the light without the load control the light? Sorry, not experienced on this and curious how it was set up originally. Thank you.

[paulbates]

What you're describing is normal:

Swtich 1: controls light and it's red lead connects to the actual load line to the physical light
Switch 2: Joined to Switch 1 with a scene.

• Both switches control the light properly at the switch
• Remotely controlling Switch 1 from iox works
• Remotely controlling Switch 2 changes it's status, but the light doesn't come on
• Remotely controlling the scene should work as you expect.

This is Insteon working as designed. Once you crate an N-way relationship with multiple switches in a scene, you've created a virtual circuit. You control the scene from iox and not the individual switch. In your iox programs' set commands, Set scene on/off, not the switch.