EISY runs programs after power outage unexpectedly

[IndyUDIuser]

Saturday night 8/16/2025 I had a thunderstorm and my house lost power for a second or two and came back on.  This happened twice several minutes apart.  Each time, my EISY rebooted and started running a few programs unexpectedly.  It was bizarre sitting in my living room as EISY turned on modules unnecessarily after the power restored.  Just now I was able to replicate the issue by simply unplugging the EISY and plugging it back in.

In the log file there are 134 entries in the few seconds after each power blip.  Like it is maybe polling information from modules, getting Status, On Level, Ramp Rate, etc. from just about every device in my house.  Is that normal?

Here is one example program.  It turned on an appliance module for my basement blower for 5 minutes and turned it off again, even though it wasn't 6AM or 5PM.    In the Summary tab, this program is not set to Run At Startup.  (I have very few programs set to Run At Startup.)  Yet this one did.  Despite the conditions not being met.

Any idea why this would happen?

7D Bsmt blower - [ID 005A][Parent 0023]

If
        (
             Time is  6:00:00AM
          Or Time is  5:00:00PM
        )
    And $sOnVacation is 0
 
Then
        Set 'Basement / BSMT Blower' On
        Wait  5 minutes 
        Set 'Basement / BSMT Blower' Off
 
Else
   - No Actions - (To add one, press 'Action')
 

I've attached an excerpt from my log.  The outages were at 9:43:45PM and again at 9:53:22PM.  I inserted a couple blank lines to break them apart.

The X10 Universal Modules at lines 20-25 all triggered on even though their programs are not set to Run At Startup.

THANKS!

Partial EISY Log.xlsx

[hart2hart]

Do you have eISY config for catch up at restart?

[Geddy]

1 hour ago, IndyUDIuser said:

This happened twice several minutes apart.  Each time, my EISY rebooted

This is why I run my eisy on a battery backup (UPS). Specifically I have this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FWAZEIU (just the eisy...NOT the PLM!)

That battery supply only runs the eisy, cable modem, primary wifi router, and yolink hub. 

I figure with that little power pull on the battery it should last a while before it dies and if I'm home/awake when the power goes out I can power things down. But for storms when the power flickers I don't want the eisy to reboot.

Now, to this program running...very strange, and you said it's not set to run at startup. But as @hart2hart points out do you have the entire system set to catch up when turned on? (that's on the configuration tab)

Your program is odd to begin with. It's set to run at exactly two time occurrences and if onvacation = 0. The issue is with the "wait" in the THEN. When it's not EXACTLY that time the program would be false. When a program is in wait and the condition of the program changes it will evaluate again. In that regard this program should turn the fan on, but never turn off. Usually people would suggest you run this as 2 programs so the wait doesn't mess you up. 1st program would trigger at those times and if onvacation = 0. your THEN would trigger the 2nd program (that should always be disabled and NOT have an IF statement). The 2nd program would then turn on the blower, set the wait, and then turn off the blower. 

In your log it looks like just a status update of the BSMT Blower being off. Then apparently another power outage happened and it was then status on. Didn't see anything that specifically turned it on. Is it possible you have another program controlling BSMT Blower? You can use "Find/Replace" on the programs tab and look for text or a node to see what programs reference BSMT Blower. (Right click any program and it should show up in the menu). 

 

Catch up in the wiki: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:Program_Summary_Tab

Find/Replace in the wiki: https://wiki.universal-devices.com/ISY-99i/ISY-26_INSTEON:Tree_View

 

[IndyUDIuser]

I found the setting for "Catch up schedules at restart" and it IS checked.  This is the first time I've seen that setting, so it must have been a default.  I would think this is OK so that any programs scheduled AFTER the reboot will happen on their appropriately scheduled times.  What other ramifications do I need to consider?  I left it checked for now.

I also see a "Query at restart" which probably explains why the EISY queried every device.  I guess this should be harmless.  I left it checked.

I'm not quite understanding Geddy's comments about the wait.  The program seems very simple.  Twice a day it turns on the blower, waits 5 minutes, and turns it off again.  It has been working fine for months.  It has never left the blower turned on for more than 5 minutes.  The Onvacation variable simply allows me to prevent the blower from running unnecessarily when I am on vacation.  I set that variable to 1 before I leave, and then set it to 0 when I return.  I don't have any other programs that affect the BSMT Blower.

Perhaps you are saying "what if the reboot occurred during that 5 minute wait?"  I guess I don't know to be honest.  Is the software smart enough to know that it has to catch up to the middle of that 5 minute wait and continue on where it left off, finishing out the wait and turning the blower off?  Or if the power is out for, say, 10 minutes, will it recognize the current time is now past when the blower should have been shut off, and go ahead and shut it off immediately?

The X10 Universal Modules I mentioned are used to turn ceiling fans on or off.  Two of them are programmed to turn on at noon every day (they turn on my kitchen and living room ceiling fans).  A third one turns on again in the evening (to turn off the kitchen fan).  None of those programs has "run at startup" set to true, yet they did run.  I could hear the modules clacking on and off during the reboot.  Not a big deal, just odd.

I kind of understand what you are saying about using 2 programs, but I'm hesitant to make this more complicated that it needs to be, given how rare the problem comes up.  Thank you nonetheless.

Oh well, I'll just chalk this up to "live and learn".

P.S. I did move the EISY to a UPS so it shouldn't be affected by power outages (at least relatively short ones).

I'm a retired batch programmer and have used Insteon and UDI for many years, but still learning a new trick here and there.  Thank you for your assistance and have a good day!

Jon