Odd communication problem

[bigdog]

Hi All,

 

I experienced an odd problem last night and while it somehow corrected itself, I am looking for some guidance in trying to determine what happened and how I can troubleshoot it if it happens again.

 

I have numerous Insteon dual band dimmer switches as well as a few on/off switches. In the both the kitchen and in the garage, I have 3-way setups for the main lighting. I also added programs to each to detect a second "on" or "off" press. So basically I watch for Insteon "switched on" or "switched off" signals. When I detect these, I check to see if the main lights are on for example. and if they are, I programmatically turn on other lights. What this does is enable me to turn on other Insteon dimmers with a second "on" press. So say I come in the kitchen door. I can turn on the kitchen overhead lights with the first "on" press. Then I can press "on" again, and turn on the under-cabinet lights, living room lights, etc. It works great.

 

Here's the problem. Last night, all the light switches worked fine for the single "on" or "off" press, but the programs were not detecting the "switched on" or "switched off" events. I could communicate with all the switches fine, except for one. It would not allow me to restore the switch. I tried numerous things and nothing worked and gave up for the night.

 

Then this morning, I tried everything again, and it all worked perfectly, just as it should. I restored the previously unreachable switch without issue.

 

So it seems I have a transient communication issue. However, this has never happened before, and it went away on it's own overnight.

 

My questions is what things should I look for if this happens again. I don't mind spending a little time trouble shooting, but it seems like some external event or device/appliance might have caused a communication disruption of some sort. In the past I have had programs not run when they were supposed to, but those are few and far between. I am thinking that maybe some other electrical device might be causing some sort of interference, but I just can't figure out what it might be.

 

In your experience, what might be likely candidates for causing a communication problem like this?

 

Thanks,

 

Brian

[LeeG]

Look for something that was on last night that is not on this morning. Lighting that may have been on at night, CFLs, LEDs, fluorescents. A laptop that was plugging in last night that is not this morning. TV or AV equipment that was in use last night.

 

What is on the unreachable switch circuit that was on last night, not on this morning. Does not have to be on the same circuit.

 

Some general things. UPS/PC other electronic equipment at the PLM plug point that is not on a FilterLinc.

 

Intermittent phase coupling. Wired Dual Band devices may not have the range inside a box (maybe metal) with lots of wires that Access Points have.

 

Appliances that run on 240v could provide phase coupling which augments the Dual Band devices but disappears when the appliance is not On. Some CFLs, LEDs, fluorescent ballast can generate interference. CFLs have been known to deter ate over time.

[LeeG]

Another approach is to run Tools | Diagnostics | Event Viewer with Level 3 selected. Use the Admin Console to send On and Off commands to the various Insteon devices. Watch the Hops Left count. If it changes frequently when controlling the same device there is a potential comm issue. Devices that have a Hops Left=0 when Max Hops=3 are candidates for investigation.

 

Thu 08/09/2012 09:30:55 PM : [standard-Direct Ack][17.6F.77-->ISY/PLM Group=0] Max Hops=3, Hops Left=0

[bigdog]

I did run the event viewer on level 3, and got this snippet below. 1C.94.1C is the address of the switched I turned on. I am not sure how to decipher this though. I may have pressed the switch twice when I did this.

 

Mon 08/27/2012 07:45:17 PM : [iNST-SRX ] 02 50 1C.94.1C 00.00.01 CB 11 00 LTONRR (00)

Mon 08/27/2012 07:45:17 PM : [standard-Group][1C.94.1C-->Group=1] Max Hops=3, Hops Left=2

Mon 08/27/2012 07:45:17 PM : [ 1C 94 1C 1] DON 0

Mon 08/27/2012 07:45:17 PM : [iNST-SRX ] 02 50 1C.94.1C 1B.FA.28 41 11 01 LTONRR (01)

Mon 08/27/2012 07:45:17 PM : [standard-Cleanup][1C.94.1C-->ISY/PLM Group=1] Max Hops=1, Hops Left=0

Mon 08/27/2012 07:45:17 PM : [iNST-SRX ] 02 50 1C.94.1C 1B.FA.28 41 11 01 LTONRR (01): Process Message: Ignored

Mon 08/27/2012 07:45:17 PM : [standard-Cleanup][1C.94.1C-->ISY/PLM Group=1] Max Hops=1, Hops Left=0

[LeeG]

The posted communication is good. The first message from a device, Group Broadcast, is sent with Max Hops=3 as this message cannot be ACKed. Max Hops=3 has the best chance of reaching devices. It has Hops Left=2 which is as good as it gets.

 

Mon 08/27/2012 07:45:17 PM : [iNST-SRX ] 02 50 1C.94.1C 00.00.01 CB 11 00 LTONRR (00)

Mon 08/27/2012 07:45:17 PM : [standard-Group][1C.94.1C-->Group=1] Max Hops=3, Hops Left=2

 

The second message from a device, Group Cleanup Direct, starts with Max Hops=1 which provides the best message through put. The Hops Left=0 is also as good as it gets when the Max Hops=1.

 

Mon 08/27/2012 07:45:17 PM : [iNST-SRX ] 02 50 1C.94.1C 1B.FA.28 41 11 01 LTONRR (01)

Mon 08/27/2012 07:45:17 PM : [standard-Cleanup][1C.94.1C-->ISY/PLM Group=1] Max Hops=1, Hops Left=0

 

There is no communication problem at the time this event trace was taken.

 

The Process Message: Ignored is a duplicate inbound message that the ISY correctly ignored. This duplication of messages does happen from time to time with the mess network. RF devices such as Motion Sensors, TriggerLincs, etc often send 2 duplicate messages.

[ELA]

Hello bigdog,

 

When you use this scheme to allow one switch to operate two different scenes ( by pressing the same device twice), do you purposely wait a short while between the two presses of the paddle?

Is it possible that the wait period is not always consistent?

 

Depending upon how well the communications is working at the time it may be possible for one press to still be "in the process" of updating status when the second press occurs.