jlloyd_UD Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I purchased an ISY99i controller from Smarthome before the holidays and received it the day before Christmas. I mechanically and electrically hooked up on January 1 but to date I have been unsuccessful in linking a single Insteon device. The ISY seems to be working as I can access the menus and have set time, location and am able to sync with my computer but there is no response when I try to link a Switchlinc V2 Dimmer (2476D). Diagnostics show the PLM is not connected so I suspect that is the immediate cause of not linking. I cannot find any details on the LED for the PLM (2413S version 1.0) but I believe it is off, red and green as I have seen the red and very infrequently the green but mostly no light. I have done the reset several times but have failed to get no other LED light but a brief red light after the 3 second hold when plugged in. The light extinguishes and then nothing. Should it turn green and hold after plugging in? Is this an indication that the PLM is not working properly? I referenced the forums for Insteon and Universal Devices for some hints and did not find much help yet other than more than 6 months ago Universal Devices was advising not to use the 2413S but rather a previous (non-dual band) model 2412S. My ISY firmware version is 2.7.15 which I understand is not the latest but I am reluctant to update before I discern the possible problem with the PLM. I have both reset and reinstalled the PLM and the ISY several times without much luck and have spent several hours researching and tinkering. I have switched the Cat 5 cords carefully assuring connecting the right ports to the router (Linksys WRT160N V3.0) and PLM. I am leaning towards a malfunctioning PLM but am not so familiar with the hardware as to rule out installation error or something that can be remedied by a procedure. Link to comment
Brian H Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 On my 2413S PLM the LED is a dim Green when nothing is being processed. When the ISY99i is sending commands it flashes a brighter Green and when there is Insteon traffic. It briefly goes out. I believe the Red Green sequence is when you are doing the communications test between Dual Band Units. To verify proper communications on both phases of the homes wiring. Yes nothing much happens if there is no communications between the PLM and the ISY99i. I would suspect a bad PLM myself. Link to comment
Michel Kohanim Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Hello jlloyd_UD, I have to conclude as BrianH especially since PLM Status shows "not connected". The first thing I would do is to make sure the cable between ISY and the PLM are secure and if that fails, then I would ask for a replacement PLM. With kind regards, Michel Link to comment
jlloyd_UD Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Michel and BrianH, Thanks for your help with confirming my suspicion about the PLM. After much more tinkering and jiggling of cables, I have given up. The PLM never gave a green light indication when plugged in with or without the cables attached. Only a brief red flash and then nothing. I have communicated the defect to Smarthome and have a replacement PLM on the way. Hopefully I can get past this first hurdle for home automation with a replacement PLM. And I hope that the reliability of the PLM device is actually good and not representative of the item I received. Best regards, Jim Link to comment
NewTech Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Michel and BrianH,Thanks for your help with confirming my suspicion about the PLM. After much more tinkering and jiggling of cables, I have given up. The PLM never gave a green light indication when plugged in with or without the cables attached. Only a brief red flash and then nothing. I have communicated the defect to Smarthome and have a replacement PLM on the way. Hopefully I can get past this first hurdle for home automation with a replacement PLM. And I hope that the reliability of the PLM device is actually good and not representative of the item I received. Best regards, Jim Don't worry, Jim, I too had issues with my initial ISY installation and my PLM but I can safely say that with the great customer service and satisfaction at SmartHome and the outstanding (and, I do mean OUTSTANDING!) support from Universal Devices and this forum, my ISY installation has been working flawlessly for over a year and a half now. I don't see how an Insteon installation is even possible without the ISY! Link to comment
jlloyd_UD Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Mike R., Thanks for the reassuring words about the ISY 99i. I spent a few minutes Monday evening with Smarthome customer technical support and have arranged a cross shipment of a new PLM. I am hopeful this instance of a defective PLM is an anomaly and that I will be linking my switches sometime next week. If I have difficulty I will be back on the forums seeking some additional insight and assistance. Jim Link to comment
dnl Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Hi Jim, You probably are already on the right track with a replacement coming. I noticed that you said you used Cat5 cables. I have been using Cat5e and Cat6 cables without problem. When I tried using a Cat5 cable, the ISY and PLM would not communicate. This is not what I would have expected. Perhaps my Cat5 cable was bad. I did not check it but I believe it is good - I had used it before and I had not used it since then. Maybe some others who know more than me can advise whether the ISY or PLM can adapt their speed to use a Cat5 cable. Link to comment
jlloyd_UD Posted January 14, 2011 Author Share Posted January 14, 2011 dnl, I might have been a little sloppy in my terminology. The cables I am using are the two supplied blue Ethernet (3 feet long each) cables that came with the unit and I believe were identical. The packaging said Cat 5 or some derivative, but I do not have them here with me so I cannot verify it. These should be sufficient as all I was really trying to report was that I had switched them in an effort to rule out a bad cable. Sorry to confuse and I do appreciate you suggesting some additional consideration if my unit continues to be inoperative when I receive and plug in the new PLM. Jim Link to comment
dnl Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Hi Jim, If you used the cables that were supplied with the ISY, then they obviously should be the correct type. The cables I received are Cat5e. I will add my reassurance to what others have said. The support I have seen from Universal Devices and Insteon is extremely good and they will help you get things up and running. Link to comment
jlloyd_UD Posted January 29, 2011 Author Share Posted January 29, 2011 I thought I'd close out this discussion with a status report. I returned my PLM and obtained a replacement from Smarthome. The transaction was painless. I installed the new PLM about an hour or so ago and have successfully linked all my relays without any difficulty. The new PLM corrected the no op situation. I am now refining my understanding of scenes so I might fine tune my setup. I'll likely be back with questions on operations as I learn. Thanks for all your support and advice. Jim Link to comment
Sub-Routine Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 I thought I'd close out this discussion with a status report. I returned my PLM and obtained a replacement from Smarthome. The transaction was painless. I installed the new PLM about an hour or so ago and have successfully linked all my relays without any difficulty. The new PLM corrected the no op situation. I am now refining my understanding of scenes so I might fine tune my setup. I'll likely be back with questions on operations as I learn. Thanks for all your support and advice. Jim Thank you for the update Jim. Link to comment
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