Partial Comms Failure

[greensha]

Hello All,

 

I've been using the ISY-99 to control my lighting for about 5 years now and it has worked very well. Last week several devices lost communications to the ISY. At first I thought it might be related to a failure of a SwitchLinc Dimmer that occurred a week or so before, but after I replaced that unit today the problem persists.

 

When I try and link the new device it is not picked up by the ISY. I replaced two units today and neither of them will link (it turned out the second unit is not bad, but it controls outdoor lights and the sockets had some corrosion). I checked and reset my access points and they both indicate that they are working. There are no error lights on the ISY and the devices that have communication with the ISY are working fine and respond appropriately to ISY commands and programs.

 

I am at a bit of a loss to figure out what to do next. I have not changed anything in my house electrically. Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

[LeeG]

Was the 4 tap Set button test run on the Access Points to confirm they are hearing each other’s RF signal and on opposite phases?

 

Sometimes CFLs decline over time and can generate interference. New devices/appliances can be the cause.

 

The wrinkle here is the new Switchlincs are likely I2CS devices which require 3.2.3 for I2CS support. New Switchlinc Relays are I2CS for sure. Not sure about the Dimmer variant. If you run Tools | Diagnostics | Event Viewer with Level 3-Device communications events selected (most important) and add one of the new SwitchLincs to the ISY I can tell from the event trace if it is an I2CS device.

[Brian H]

No one in the house got a new device with a charger or maybe just moved an existing device to a new location?

[greensha]

Was the 4 tap Set button test run on the Access Points to confirm they are hearing each other’s RF signal and on opposite phases?

Yes, the 4 tap testvwas successful. My first thought was that it was a problem communicating across different phases but that doesn't appear to be the case.

 

Sometimes CFLs decline over time and can generate interference. New devices/appliances can be the cause.

I've got a couple of CFL's. I'll swap those out tomorrow when I get home.

 

The wrinkle here is the new Switchlincs are likely I2CS devices which require 3.2.3 for I2CS support. New Switchlinc Relays are I2CS for sure. Not sure about the Dimmer variant. If you run Tools | Diagnostics | Event Viewer with Level 3-Device communications events selected (most important) and add one of the new SwitchLincs to the ISY I can tell from the event trace if it is an I2CS device.

I'll check tomorrow when I get home.

 

Thanks for help!

[greensha]

No one in the house got a new device with a charger or maybe just moved an existing device to a new location?

No. There has been nothing new in the house.

[oberkc]

Sometimes it is not new devices, but existing devices that degrade. Old CFLs? Old flourescent fixtures?

[greensha]

This morning I thought I would try again to figure out what is going on with my communications problem. When I brought up the admin console, I was able to send commands to the devices that were previously unresponsive. I was also able to add two new devices (a 2476S and a 2476D) successfully. I used the "replace with" function to transfer the settings from the old switch to the new one. After I restarted the admin console, I was unable to communicate with the new devices, or the devices which had previously been unreachable.

 

Interestingly, I have a ControLinc that I use to turn off some lights at night. One of these is a LampLinc which has no communication issues and the other is a SwitchLinc dimmer which does have issues. The ControLinc uses an ISY program to turn off the lights and this works with no problems. This would seem to suggest that 1) it is not a problem communicating across phases and 2) at least on some level, the ISY can communicate with some of the problem devices.

 

I'm stumped about what to do next. Any ideas?

[LeeG]

Are you on 3.2.3? New SwitchLinc Relays are I2CS which require 3.2.3. Not sure whether the SwitchLinc Dimmer has been updated to I2CS or not.

[greensha]

I have fixed the problem. The issue appears to have been a bad switchlinc dimmer that had stopped working almost a year ago. Since it was controlling a light that I rarely used, I just air-gapped it and forgot about it. Just before I starting having the communication issues I had called Smarthome to see if I could return the 9 Insteon units I had which had failed over the last few years. During the course of of the phone call, I had attempted to reset the bad switchlinc dimmer and had not re-air-gapped it. When this unit was replaced, the comm issues resolved.