justin.cool Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 First: the Insteon Configuration ISY-99 s/w: 3.2.6 (upgraded from 3.1.16 on 11 May, 2012) Approximately 100 Insteon devices: • Mainly Switchlincs, Lamplincs, Outletlincs, On/Off Adapters, etc etc • 7 KPL’s • Triggerlincs (2) • RemoteLincs (3) • RemoteLinc2 (1) • Controllincs (2) • ISY-99i • Access Points (4) • Dualband LampLinc dimmers (4) • Dual Band 240V load controller (2) • Signal Linc (2) • Venstar Thermostats (3) with V2 RF interface • EZRain/EZFlora Irrigation Controller v.92 • House is about 4000 sq feet, two floors, but still pretty spread out. • One main power panel, 400A service. With three subpanels with breakers. • Third subpanel is only for the pool and washer dryer. Both main panels each have a signal linc installed. • All power strips are either filtered via X-10 Pro 20 A in line or 15A plug in filters, or do NOT have any surge suppression or noise filtering. No UPS in the system. • Numerous other devices are filtered via one of the above or a simple X-10 5A plug in filter or a leviton in line 5A filter. Second: The problem I have two triggerlinc’s on my pantry reefer / freezer doors. (Note: There are multiple access points and dual band dimmers within 25 feet). The doors on this unit no longer close by themselves and the kids don’t always close them. Thus, I installed a trigger linc on each with a simple program that set off a flashing light alarm throughout the house when the door was left open for more than 3 minutes. The triggerlinc was effective when the doors were left opened, but I noticed that about once per month the doors were closed but the triggerlinc did not detect it and so the alarm went off. Forcing me to open and close the door and then the problem went away. I could literally see in the LOG that the door was opened, but did not register as closed when it was in reality closed. Thus the 3 minute timer expired and set off the alarm. I tried adjusting the spacing between the magnet and the triggerlinc main unit, and it still occurred. Replacing batteries didn’t have any effect. The doors on this unit are opened / closed at least 20 times per day, thus the failure rate was about 1 in 600, roughly. At this point, after many months, I have had to turn off the alarm software at the ISY-99. I would like to do the same sort of thing for my garage door but can’t tolerate the unreliability. Is anyone out there experiencing the same? Could the large frequency of use be draining the batteries somehow? RF interference drowning out the CLOSED signal? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xathros Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 justin.cool- Not really an answer as to why your solution is problematic but rather a suggestion for a possibly more reliable & functional setup: Use an EZIO 4in 2out AC Line powered unit wired to normal alarm system mag sensors on the doors (Up to 4 of them) and possibly wire in an audible alarm to one of the 2 outputs. Link: http://www.smarthome.com/31274/SimpleHo ... ler/p.aspx I have a Triggerlinc on my basement door and have seen similar failures there tho mine I think are more frequent than yours. The IOlincs on my garage doors have been flawless. RF is just to iffy for me. My place if full of wireless gear. With all the chatter, I'm amazed any of the Insteon RF stuff works for me at all. I do sometimes need to hit a Remotelinc2 button more than once to get the desired response from ISY. This I'm sure is due to noise in the air. I'm sure the FCC has me listed as a superfund site. -Xathros Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahwman Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 First: the Insteon Configuration ISY-99 s/w: 3.2.6 (upgraded from 3.1.16 on 11 May, 2012) Approximately 100 Insteon devices: • Mainly Switchlincs, Lamplincs, Outletlincs, On/Off Adapters, etc etc • 7 KPL’s • Triggerlincs (2) • RemoteLincs (3) • RemoteLinc2 (1) • Controllincs (2) • ISY-99i • Access Points (4) • Dualband LampLinc dimmers (4) • Dual Band 240V load controller (2) • Signal Linc (2) • Venstar Thermostats (3) with V2 RF interface • EZRain/EZFlora Irrigation Controller v.92 • House is about 4000 sq feet, two floors, but still pretty spread out. • One main power panel, 400A service. With three subpanels with breakers. • Third subpanel is only for the pool and washer dryer. Both main panels each have a signal linc installed. • All power strips are either filtered via X-10 Pro 20 A in line or 15A plug in filters, or do NOT have any surge suppression or noise filtering. No UPS in the system. • Numerous other devices are filtered via one of the above or a simple X-10 5A plug in filter or a leviton in line 5A filter. Second: The problem I have two triggerlinc’s on my pantry reefer / freezer doors. (Note: There are multiple access points and dual band dimmers within 25 feet). The doors on this unit no longer close by themselves and the kids don’t always close them. Thus, I installed a trigger linc on each with a simple program that set off a flashing light alarm throughout the house when the door was left open for more than 3 minutes. The triggerlinc was effective when the doors were left opened, but I noticed that about once per month the doors were closed but the triggerlinc did not detect it and so the alarm went off. Forcing me to open and close the door and then the problem went away. I could literally see in the LOG that the door was opened, but did not register as closed when it was in reality closed. Thus the 3 minute timer expired and set off the alarm. I tried adjusting the spacing between the magnet and the triggerlinc main unit, and it still occurred. Replacing batteries didn’t have any effect. The doors on this unit are opened / closed at least 20 times per day, thus the failure rate was about 1 in 600, roughly. At this point, after many months, I have had to turn off the alarm software at the ISY-99. I would like to do the same sort of thing for my garage door but can’t tolerate the unreliability. Is anyone out there experiencing the same? Could the large frequency of use be draining the batteries somehow? RF interference drowning out the CLOSED signal? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. I'm having the exact same issues with my TriggerLinc's. I have 8 of these installed on all of the entry/closet doors. They work very well most of the time, however do miss an event trigger every so often and a light either stays on when it shoukd be off or visa versa. I was thinking perhaps it was an issue with the switch however I can see in the log files the absence of the event trigger. Sadly, I don't think you can depend on these for mission critical activities... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michel Kohanim Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Hello everyone, If you have 994/v4.0.5, you might want to consider increasing the number of cleanup messages to both: The PLM (http://wiki.universal-devices.com/index ... ice_to_PLM) AND Responders in the scene (http://wiki.universal-devices.com/index ... in_a_Scene) With kind regards, Michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahwman Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Hello everyone, If you have 994/v4.0.5, you might want to consider increasing the number of cleanup messages to both: The PLM (http://wiki.universal-devices.com/index ... ice_to_PLM) AND Responders in the scene (http://wiki.universal-devices.com/index ... in_a_Scene) With kind regards, Michel I got excited until I realized that this only applies to the ISY 994 as I have an ISY 99-i. For future reference, does this work with TriggerLinc devices as this might be a reason to push me over the top and purchase a 994. Thanks so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeG Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 "does this work with TriggerLinc devices " The 'Advanced' functions apply to all I2CS devices (must have Controller capability). If the TriggerLincs were purchased after March 2012 they are likely I2CS. An absolute check is to put the TriggerLinc into linking mode with Set button, right click TriggerLinc node, select Diagnostics | Query Insteon Engine. A response of 02 indicates an I2CS device. Sun 06/16/2013 01:12:35 PM : [iNST-SRX ] 02 50 1C.FD.D5 22.80.0B 2B 0D 02 (02) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahwman Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 "does this work with TriggerLinc devices " The 'Advanced' functions apply to all I2CS devices (must have Controller capability). If the TriggerLincs were purchased after March 2012 they are likely I2CS. An absolute check is to put the TriggerLinc into linking mode with Set button, right click TriggerLinc node, select Diagnostics | Query Insteon Engine. A response of 02 indicates an I2CS device. Sun 06/16/2013 01:12:35 PM : [iNST-SRX ] 02 50 1C.FD.D5 22.80.0B 2B 0D 02 (02) So based on this output, I take it I'm out of luck? Sun 06/16/2013 03:44:37 PM : [iNST-TX-I1 ] 02 62 14 89 4C 0F 0D 00 Sun 06/16/2013 03:44:37 PM : [iNST-ACK ] 02 62 14.89.4C 0F 0D 00 06 (00) Sun 06/16/2013 03:44:38 PM : [iNST-SRX ] 02 50 14.89.4C 21.33.B3 2B 0D 01 (01) Sun 06/16/2013 03:44:38 PM : [std-Direct Ack] 14.89.4C-->ISY/PLM Group=0, Max Hops=3, Hops Left=2 Sun 06/16/2013 03:44:38 PM : [14 89 4C 0 ] Calibrating engine version Sun 06/16/2013 03:44:38 PM : [iNST-TX-I2 ] 02 62 14 89 4C 1F 2F 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 D0 Sun 06/16/2013 03:44:38 PM : [iNST-ACK ] 02 62 14.89.4C 1F 2F 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 D0 06 (00) Sun 06/16/2013 03:44:38 PM : [iNST-SRX ] 02 50 14.89.4C 21.33.B3 2B 2F 00 (00) Sun 06/16/2013 03:44:38 PM : [std-Direct Ack] 14.89.4C-->ISY/PLM Group=0, Max Hops=3, Hops Left=2 Sun 06/16/2013 03:44:38 PM : [iNST-ERX ] 02 51 14 89 4C 21 33 B3 11 2F 00 00 01 0F FF 01 E2 01 21 33 B3 FF 1F 01 D0 Sun 06/16/2013 03:44:38 PM : [Ext-Direct ] 14.89.4C-->ISY/PLM Group=0, Max Hops=1, Hops Left=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeG Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 The TriggerLinc is not I2CS. This I2 version already has three retries built into the device. It is the I2CS devices that start off with no retries unless the link is altered by the function in 4.0.x. You would not want more than three retries so there is some other issue relative to RF communication Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeG Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 Also the event trace shows excellent communication with this TriggerLinc. If it misses events there is definitely some transient issue with RF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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