Newbie - My first program

[jrainey]

Hello all,

Newbie here

 

I configured my first program today:

 

if

Status 'Back Patio Motion-Sensor is On

 

Then

Set 'Kitchen Sink' On

 

Else

Set 'Kitchen Sink' Off

 

Tested in program summary:

Run (If) Sets status false if motion sensor is off - turns off light if on

Sets Status true if motion sensor is on - turns on light if off

 

Run Then - Turns on Light if off - sets status true

 

Run Else - Turns off light if on - sets status false

 

If I trigger the motion sensor, the motion sensor status changes to On, but I get a communication error 'Cannot communicate with Kitchen Sink (16 43 17 1) .please check connections.', and the light remains Off. If the light is already on - no message

 

Same behavior a minute later when the motion Sensor times out.

 

I have the feeling I am missing something fundamental here - can anyone help me out

 

Thanks

 

Jack Rainey

[oberkc]

My perception is that this is unrelated to the program. This sounds more like set-up or communication problems.

 

1. how many access points (or dual-band devices) do you have? Are you certain that you have one on each "leg" of your electrical system?

2. how did you add the kitchen sink device? Manually (typing an address) or automatically (start linking)?

3. can you control the kitchen sink through the ISY admin panel (select device, select "on")?

4. what kind of light (incandescent, LED, flourescent, 12V halogen, etc) are controlling with the kitchen sink switch?

[Sub-Routine]

As oberkc suggests it sounds like communication issues.

 

Does the LED on the motion sensor blink several times when motion is detected? If so then I suggest a factory reset of the MS followed by Restore Device.

 

Rand

[jrainey]

Thanks for the quick response guys. To answer your questions oberkc:

 

1) There are 2 access points - one 2413S and one 2443. Confirmed through LED response that they are on different phases.

 

2) All devices (except the 2420M) were added by manually typing in the address. (only 3 so far - two dimmers, one on-off)

 

3) All devices controllable through the ISY admin panel and the HTML interface - (I should have mentioned this in the original post - I tried this program on all three of the devices with the same results)

 

4) Kitchen Sink is compact florescent (on-off device) the other two are incandescent. All are 120V.

 

To answer Rand's question - only one blink when motion detected. The detection is reflected in the ISY - sensor status goes to 'On'.

 

 

Again - thanks for the quick responses

 

Jack Rainey

[Sub-Routine]

Hi Jack,

 

If all you want is the motion sensor to switch the light may i suggest creating a scene with the MS as a controller and the sink light as a responder? There isn't really any need for a program in this scenario.

 

If that works we will have to figure out why the program doesn't function as expected because it should.

 

Rand

[jrainey]

Thanks Rand,

 

Did as you suggested - works perfectly.

 

The goal here is to learn about the system - not so much to control the light.

 

I went on to experiment some more. Deleted the MS from the scene - left the light in it. Modified the program to turn the scene (not the light) on and off. This works perfectly.

 

Now I am wondering why the program can control the device through the scene, but fails when it tries to control the device directly.

 

Thanks again,

 

Jack Rainey

[oberkc]

I appreciate your desire to learn the system. I beleive this approach helps make all of us a better user.

 

2) All devices (except the 2420M) were added by manually typing in the address. (only 3 so far - two dimmers, one on-off)

 

The reason I asked this question is that I recall cases where manual input of addresses caused problems in certain cases...perhaps the ISY could not ID the device (what does the ISY show as device type?)....something like that.

 

My suggestion is to add them automatically. First remove one of your devices. Next, choose start linking (remove existing links). Next put device in linking mode. At this point, you should see the device back in your admin panel. Exit linking mode from the ISY.

 

My suspicion is that if you were to now add this device into your program, it will work as expected. This is only a moderately educated guess, however. It is also pretty easy to check. Hopefully, this will solve your problem.