Do I have to replace Switchlinc with Insteon?

[EdL]

I am looking for some guidance.

This set-up has worked flawlessly for the last 3 - 5 years. In my basement I have 2 Keypadlincs (v3.1 1493 or 4003), 6 Switchlinc (2384), and 2 Switchlinc companions (2382). For the lights on the 3way circuits 14-3 wire is used. My problem is that the 2384 keypads stopped working, so I ordered some In$teon replacements and I can't get the 2382 companions or Keypadlincs to work with them. A google search of the 2382 indicates that it is not compatible with the V2 Insteon switches which means mean$ I'd have to upgrade $witche$ - which I really don't want to do (rather spend the money elsewhere). If the In$teon switches do not work with the Kepadlincs then what are my alternative$?

Thanks in advance.


EdL

 

[TeleFragger]

when you say 2382 companion.. .do you mean the x10 23892?

I have 1 of them that I have not put in yet.. but I too was told to get 3 ways working with insteon switches is fun as there is really no companion switch..... I maybe wrong....


I believe I was told that you need 2 insteon switches and use them as a 3 way setup... someone up here can comment on that better.....

 

[BLH]

There are no Companion switches used with Insteon. For a three way setup you need two switches linked to each other. Also as of now; there are no two wire Insteon Dimmer switches except maybe the surplus Beta ones released for sale if not all gone. So you also need a Neutral in each switch box for now.
Insteon switches can be given an X10 Primary Address so X10 signals can control them. My SwitchLinc Relay switch also has an X10 primary Address in it and when turned on or off sends an X10 signal of its change on the powerline.

 

[EdL]

All my switches are the Switchlinc brand from Smarthome. I have an x10 set-up. The Smarthome customer service rep told me that Insteon's won't work with a slave (companion) and that the only way to get them to work is as a slave. Which translates to - spend a total of $200 to replace 2 pre-existing 3-way circuits. And it's doubtful that they will work with my 2 existing Keypadlincs - that gets me close to $400. Am I missing something?

EdL

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

I would post a "Want To Buy" thread in our For Sale/Trade forum. I noticed there have been a lot of people getting rid of their X-10 switches lately. You may want to do the same on HomeSeer's forums as well.

 

[Madcodger]

All my switches are the Switchlinc brand from Smarthome. I have an x10 set-up. The Smarthome customer service rep told me that Insteon's won't work with a slave (companion) and that the only way to get them to work is as a slave. Which translates to - spend a total of $200 to replace 2 pre-existing 3-way circuits. And it's doubtful that they will work with my 2 existing Keypadlincs - that gets me close to $400. Am I missing something?

EdL

EdL,

I have a few X10 SwitchLincs, companions, etc. that I pulled out about 1 - 2 years ago. They were fine when I pulled them (switched to a house full of Insteon, which I would not do again) and now I may as well sell them and get back the utility closet space where they're sitting. If you want to buy some of them to get you back to where you were, send me a private message and we'll work something out (shipping from PA, in US). BTW, if others reading this can comment on a fair price, I'm open to suggestions. Would rather see these go to a Cocooner or HS'er than just sit in my utility closet. I'll get high WAF points for cleaning it up, too!

If you don't want to reinstall X10, no worries. Just be sure to tell Smarthome to ship you the absolute LATEST version of anything Insteon that you buy, not just what's left in inventory. Much of the early stuff had significant quality problems, which I'm still struggling through. Hopefully the latest production runs are better.

Joe

 

[BLH]

The Insteons can be set with an X10 Pimary Address. I would think your older X10 KeypadLincs would control them in an X10 mode.
Not released on the web yet but ther are going to be Insteon Sets for three way use and the slave one has no load control just a link to the master.
They did have some Beta extras that where being sold.
http://www.smarthome.com/2474s.html
http://www.smarthome.com/2474d.html
The wiring diagram shows how they will be connected.

 

[EdL]

Thank you all for your comments. I have been able to get the older KeypadLinc's to work with the Insteon switches minus the 3way.

EdL

 

[linuxha]

BTW, some folks think that if they install Insteon that their X10 *Linc products will need to be replaced also. They think that the X10 performance will slowly worsening as they added Insteon *Lincs. That's not true. The problem is that any of the *Linc (Smarthome X10 or Insteon) tend to make other X10 non-*Linc products perform poorly. It's the design of the *Lincs which are designed to be more sensitive to the X10 signal.

 

[123]

...
The problem is that any of the *Linc (Smarthome X10 or Insteon) tend to make other X10 non-*Linc products perform poorly.
...

So adding Insteons to an existing group of X10 devices will affect the performance of traditional X10 devices but not *Linc X10 devices? I've read Insteon switches affect the performance of existing X10 devices ... I never heard this phenomenon excludes X10 SwitchLincs. Has anyone else witnessed this behaviour?

I might just give Insteon a try given that most of my X10 switches are SwitchLincs ... cheap, used SwitchLincs are getting harder to find!


PS
Welcome back to Cocoontech, Neil!

Taras (a.k.a. "MrT" on the MisterHouse mailing list)

 

[TeleFragger]

The Insteons can be set with an X10 Pimary Address. I would think your older X10 KeypadLincs would control them in an X10 mode.
Not released on the web yet but ther are going to be Insteon Sets for three way use and the slave one has no load control just a link to the master.
They did have some Beta extras that where being sold.
http://www.smarthome.com/2474s.html
http://www.smarthome.com/2474d.html
The wiring diagram shows how they will be connected.

think they will have the togglelinc style?

I just bought another 23890w to go with my companion switch... so im good there but that is it ......
gotta look for more!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jeffw_00]

BTW, some folks think that if they install Insteon that their X10 *Linc products will need to be replaced also. They think that the X10 performance will slowly worsening as they added Insteon *Lincs. That's not true. The problem is that any of the *Linc (Smarthome X10 or Insteon) tend to make other X10 non-*Linc products perform poorly. It's the design of the *Lincs which are designed to be more sensitive to the X10 signal.

So only if I have a non *Linc X-10 setup and start introducing Insteon will I see problems with the remaining X-10? Do you know if there is any locality to this?
/j

 

[sloop]

BTW, some folks think that if they install Insteon that their X10 *Linc products will need to be replaced also. They think that the X10 performance will slowly worsening as they added Insteon *Lincs. That's not true. The problem is that any of the *Linc (Smarthome X10 or Insteon) tend to make other X10 non-*Linc products perform poorly. It's the design of the *Lincs which are designed to be more sensitive to the X10 signal.

it was true for me - i had all x10 switchlincs - but not the 2-way capability - i think they were switchlinc plus devices - smarthome recommended them because the transmit capability of the 2-way devices absorbed the x10 signal strength - when i returned to buy more (paddle problem), they were discontinued - so i replaced about 20 of them with insteon (which i am told are 2-way) - i added x10 addresses to every device and button (to use houselinc to sync the buttons) - the x10 was so unreliable that i had to replace all the x10 devices with insteon - i had an old boosterlinc that was not insteon blessed, so i pitched that and bought 2 new ones - with my 60 insteon devices, x10 signals don't stand a chance

 

[Just Another Joe]

BTW, some folks think that if they install Insteon that their X10 *Linc products will need to be replaced also. They think that the X10 performance will slowly worsening as they added Insteon *Lincs. That's not true. The problem is that any of the *Linc (Smarthome X10 or Insteon) tend to make other X10 non-*Linc products perform poorly. It's the design of the *Lincs which are designed to be more sensitive to the X10 signal.

Well, I've been replacing x10.com (and X10Pro) X-10 devices with Insteon (Icon) devices, giving each the X-10 address of the switch it replaced in order to continue operating in X-10 mode until I have an Insteon controller properly configured. All worked well for about five devices. As soon as I added more than that, suddenly the X-10 signal would no longer control some of the new (Icon) devices (though they can be controlled just fine by Insteon commands) and some of the old X-10 devices still in place. It appears to be related to which branch circuits the devices are on, rather than to device type.

 

[linuxha]

BTW, some folks think that if they install Insteon that their X10 *Linc products will need to be replaced also. They think that the X10 performance will slowly worsening as they added Insteon *Lincs. That's not true. The problem is that any of the *Linc (Smarthome X10 or Insteon) tend to make other X10 non-*Linc products perform poorly. It's the design of the *Lincs which are designed to be more sensitive to the X10 signal.

Well, I've been replacing x10.com (and X10Pro) X-10 devices with Insteon (Icon) devices, giving each the X-10 address of the switch it replaced in order to continue operating in X-10 mode until I have an Insteon controller properly configured. All worked well for about five devices. As soon as I added more than that, suddenly the X-10 signal would no longer control some of the new (Icon) devices (though they can be controlled just fine by Insteon commands) and some of the old X-10 devices still in place. It appears to be related to which branch circuits the devices are on, rather than to device type.

Okay the X10 is not being repeated so it's strength is lost by the time it reaches later devices. Sounds like X10 is a problem no matter what. that would explain why the XTB/XTB-II X10 Transmit Booster helps some folks.