Anyone here use Lamplinc/Applianclinc modules?

[jonjonbear]

Hello group..
New here..
Was hoping to find if there is someone other than me who has a bunch of Lamplinc and appliancelinc modules from Smarthome. I had a gazillion X10 modules but hate how they do not resume or have preset dim. I started using the smarthome stuff and really liked it and started slowly replacing all my old X10 stuff..So now I have $$ of their modules and now starting to have problems. There are several modules which every time the power goes off, they lose their programming, just like if they were reset and go back to A1. My guess is they are defective, but I wonder what could have caused them all to start this oddity at once? They are also in different parts of the house. It's very annoying as some of them are behind heavy furniture..Smarthome was no help, they say I must have gotten a power surge but we have TWO whole house surge protectors, one in each panel..I have tried resetting them and also have tried locking the programming..Still does it..I am hoping this isn't the destiny for all my modules as I have quite a bit of $$ tied up in them now..Other than this, I love the way they work...They are controlled with Homeseer..

Thanks!
John

 

[WayneW]

Well, they haven't failed since you got them, but basically, yes they are defective. This is a known issue, here is the most recent thread on it. Here is an older thread.

So far, SmartHome claims that they have been unable to reproduce the problem and/or fix it. They do claim that the v2 (Insteon) modules have NOT shown the problem. I believe that "money talks" and if you have a significant investment in the SmartHome xLinc stuff, please press them for a fix. I don't have that many of the modules installed because I found the problem and stopped further purchasing until it was resolved.

Welcome to CocoonTech and lets see if we can get SmartHome to do the right thing and fix or replace these modules.

 

[PeterW]

I have some appliancelincs sitting in a box and a couple in use. I used to use appliancelincs for my aquarium controls, but the reliability problems of X10 was just too much.

I did have a couple of instances where the devices had reset to A1. I had one or two devices that seemed to like to do it occasionally. But I have others that are in regular use that have never missed a beat.

For my aquariums, I switched to UPB, for which I've had supurb reliability. Missed events for house lights or appliance control is usually less serious than missed events for things like water filling systems for tanks or sensitive fish that need predictable lighting control or lighting that tracks sunrise/sunset for seasonal breeding cues.

The insteon stuff has potential. I think I remember reading somewhere that some of the future insteon devices will be full controllers in their own right. eg: Imagine being able to download a program to an appliancelincv2 so that it has its own time schedule.

But I just dread things like the A1 problem turning up in the insteon devices. Early adoption seems risky to me. eg: the Lamplincv2's I have are doing some very strange things with regard to X10. HCA6 is sometimes not seeing X10 status replies, so its retransmitting for a while. I haven't investigated yet.

UPB is simple and uncomplicated compared to Insteon, at least from a programmer perspective.

 

[Mike]

In case it helps, I have smarthome switchlinc's (the decora dimmers with x10 control, scenes, etc) and a few of them decided to stop dimming at one point (6 months after installation). It still responded to x10 control (just no dimming).

I spoke to their tech support and they agreed it was defective and did not sound surprised and promptly sent out new ones. Different units but based off of same design. I suspect if you call up and explain that they will swap them out as well if they are still under warranty.

 

[WayneW]

Mike, based upon conversations I had with somebody from SmartHome within the past month, simply swapping them with fresh ones won't work as they haven't fixed the core issue. They either need to be returned for $$ or swapped for v2 modules. I am going to pursue getting my v1 modules swapped for v2 modules once the AppLinc v2s and the 2 pin LampLinc v2s come out. I don't know how they will handle that, but the v2s are supposed to be the same price as the v1s.

 

[upstatemike]

jonjonbear-

I am using several Lamplinc and Appliancelinc modules and have not seen any problems. I only use the PLC versions, not the 2-way versions (to avoid signal strength issues) so I wonder if that makes a difference?

 

[WayneW]

Mine are all 1-way versions, 2000SHL & 2001SHL.

 

[dwarf]

They either need to be returned for $$ or swapped for v2 modules.  I am going to pursue getting my v1 modules swapped for v2 modules once the AppLinc v2s and the 2 pin LampLinc v2s come out.  I don't know how they will handle that, but the v2s are supposed to be the same price as the v1s.

Although I don't know how Smarthome is going to handle the swapping V2's, both appliancelinc and lamplinc 2-pin are now shipping see the other thread http://www.cocoontech.com/index.php?showtopic=2364