Simple solution to ISY-PLM cable issues (RX light on solid)

[tabraham]

I have been having a hard time getting my new ISY-26 and PLM working due to the fact that the ISY does not see the PLM. The symptom is that the ISY's RX light stays on solid.

 

In communications with Universal Devices and reading through posts here, I read many times about pushing the cable hard into the PLM. This didn't make much sense to me since RJ-45 is a robust connection standard both physically and electrically. I tried pushing the cable hard into the first and second PLM's that I received but it made no difference, and I did not really expect it to.

 

Michel was nice enough to test out another ISY, PLM and cable combination at his office and ship those to me as a set. I haven't received them yet, and after thinking about the situation again last night, I finally made the obvious realization (while feeling really dumb) that all of this talk about pushing the cable in was just about trying to make an electrical connection in the PLM RJ-45 jack. I got hung up on the "push hard" statements and missed the obvious answer.

 

I went and grabbed the PLM, made a simple J-shaped tool with a 24-gauge-ish wire, and used it to bend the pins inside the PLM's RJ-45 jack straight up about 2-3mm. Only three pins are actually used, so the middle ones are irrelevant. Plugged in the PLM and the ISY, and problem solved. Grand total: 5 minutes.

 

In the end, I do not think Smarthome's PLM's are defective as I originally believed, at least in regards to this specific issue. They should perhaps use a different vendor for their RJ-45 jacks that has a taller angle on the pins, or switch to a different cable that can make contact with the low angle pins that seem to ship with the PLM's today.

 

If you have any trouble with your ISY-PLM communication, I'd encourage you to just (very carefully!) bend the pins in the PLM's jack a bit higher to make a more solid electrical connection.

 

Thanks again to Michel and Universal Devices for taking an active interest in supporting their customers.

 

Tom

[Michel Kohanim]

Mr. Abraham,

 

I am so very glad to hear that you finally solved the issue and one which was causing me a lot of worries. And thank you for the update and the detailed explanation for the remedy.

 

On a side note, if you are running firm 2.4.x, please let me know so that I can send you our latest firmware.

 

Thanks again and with kind regards,

Michel

 

 

I have been having a hard time getting my new ISY-26 and PLM working due to the fact that the ISY does not see the PLM. The symptom is that the ISY's RX light stays on solid.

 

In communications with Universal Devices and reading through posts here, I read many times about pushing the cable hard into the PLM. This didn't make much sense to me since RJ-45 is a robust connection standard both physically and electrically. I tried pushing the cable hard into the first and second PLM's that I received but it made no difference, and I did not really expect it to.

 

Michel was nice enough to test out another ISY, PLM and cable combination at his office and ship those to me as a set. I haven't received them yet, and after thinking about the situation again last night, I finally made the obvious realization (while feeling really dumb) that all of this talk about pushing the cable in was just about trying to make an electrical connection in the PLM RJ-45 jack. I got hung up on the "push hard" statements and missed the obvious answer.

 

I went and grabbed the PLM, made a simple J-shaped tool with a 24-gauge-ish wire, and used it to bend the pins inside the PLM's RJ-45 jack straight up about 2-3mm. Only three pins are actually used, so the middle ones are irrelevant. Plugged in the PLM and the ISY, and problem solved. Grand total: 5 minutes.

 

In the end, I do not think Smarthome's PLM's are defective as I originally believed, at least in regards to this specific issue. They should perhaps use a different vendor for their RJ-45 jacks that has a taller angle on the pins, or switch to a different cable that can make contact with the low angle pins that seem to ship with the PLM's today.

 

If you have any trouble with your ISY-PLM communication, I'd encourage you to just (very carefully!) bend the pins in the PLM's jack a bit higher to make a more solid electrical connection.

 

Thanks again to Michel and Universal Devices for taking an active interest in supporting their customers.

 

Tom