Envirogreen Posted December 19, 2012 Posted December 19, 2012 I have 3 lights that I want to come on at sunset and turn off at different times, for each light I have an ON rule, and then path to an off rule with a Wait. The trouble I am having is that they don't always turn the light on at sunset (although I can see that the rules have run). On some days all lights come on perfectly, and others (like yesterday) only 1 of the 3 come on. Any ideas on what could be going on? Here is an example of one of the rules...i moved to this structure from a simple if, then, else
oberkc Posted December 19, 2012 Posted December 19, 2012 When programs and commands appear to work SOME OF THE TIME, I tend to suspect communications. My experience suggests that computers, programs, PLMs, either work always or not at all. The intermittent part of insteon tends to be the electrical system and communication between devices.
arw01 Posted December 19, 2012 Posted December 19, 2012 What does your error logs show around that time? Might want to run a level 3 log overnight too and export it to take a look at.
Envirogreen Posted December 19, 2012 Author Posted December 19, 2012 Oberkc - that was my thought...but not sure how to test this or why this would be happening (I have some 50 dual band devices installed so would seem to be sufficient to have solid communication). arw01 - looking at the Error log it shows nothing around sunset. Looking at the log it shows that the three rules ran and turned the lights on to a value of 255 (today 2 out of the 3 lights went on). I have now set the the Event Log to Level 3 so hopefully I'll have more to report tomorrow.
oberkc Posted December 19, 2012 Posted December 19, 2012 Do you have any scenes? Can you perform a scene test?
Envirogreen Posted December 20, 2012 Author Posted December 20, 2012 By the way I thought I should add that everything works perfectly when manually controlling the lights. Oberkc - yes I have several scenes. Not sure what you mean by a scene test?
oberkc Posted December 20, 2012 Posted December 20, 2012 Not sure what you mean by a scene test? Scene test is an option under tools>diagnostics (from memory...if not exactly correct, it is not too hard to find). The scene test gives one a clue as to the quality of communication between and among the various devices within a given scene, I understand. Like much of insteon troubleshooting techniques, I have not found it to be conclusive, but it does provide useful clues and can act as a common standard by which you may judge your communication environment.
LeeG Posted December 20, 2012 Posted December 20, 2012 Envirogreen Right click on the Scene name in the My Lighting tree, select Diagnostics ! Scene Test. Be sure 3.3.6 is installed. There was a bug in 3.3.5 that falsely show failed when the test was successful. The Scene Test will display each device Insteon address and show whether it was successful or failed. It takes a few seconds to complete the test. This test verifies the link records in the PLM and device are correct as well as communication between the PLM and device. If this fails it is usually the result of something happening to the link database in the device or the PLM which can be solved by a Restore Device or Restore Modem (PLM). Insteon Mesh Network has to be pretty bad for Scene Test to fail assuming link records are correct. If Scene Test is successful and Scene does not work the Insteon Mesh Network is suspect or the type of loads the devices are controlling. Turning a Scene On or Off is like issuing an X10 command. One command is placed on the powerline with the expectation all devices will see this one command. No ACKs are given thus no retries occur. The ISY marks the Responder On or Off as it expects them to respond, not as they might actually respond or not respond.
Envirogreen Posted December 20, 2012 Author Posted December 20, 2012 I ran the Scene test on all 3 sets of lights...2 consistently pass and the third passed only 1 out of 4 times. This one is for outside Holiday lights. Its my only Insteon product outside my home. Product is 2456s3e. I then proceeded with a device restore - about halfway through it gives a failure to communicate error. Should I go to a PLM restore next (what are the implications)?
LeeG Posted December 20, 2012 Posted December 20, 2012 No PLM restore should be needed. If the Scene Test was successful even once the necessary link records are present in the PLM and the devices. When a Scene Test is intermittent there are comm issues. The type of load being controlled could be generating noise. Other devices/appliances on the circuit could be causing interference. Extension cords with noise suppression could be involved. Lots of possibilities.
Envirogreen Posted December 20, 2012 Author Posted December 20, 2012 Got it - that's good to know. So the load are several extension cords stringing several strings of fairly old christmas lights together. Is that the type of thing that creates noise? Any suggestions or is this just not a good use for insteon? I can always go back to the light sensing (non-insteon) timers
oberkc Posted December 20, 2012 Posted December 20, 2012 I don't believe old christmas lights are a problem. They are, I assume, incandescent, which is almost certainly not an issue. More likely it is another cause.
LeeG Posted December 20, 2012 Posted December 20, 2012 Unfortunately SmartLabs has not developed a product that makes analyzing this type of symptom easy to find. It is usually a process of elimination. Start by disconnecting all the pluggable loads. Does the Scene Test run any better? Are there CFLs on the same circuit which can be temporarily unscrewed/removed, things like that. Since the Scene Test is intermittent it makes a good test tool to see if things improve after making some changes.
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