HAI Vacation Mode Issue

[gdamery]

A neighbor with an HAI OmniPro II system (v 3.11D) asked me to add some programming to adjust their thermostats and turn off their lights when they left the house on vacation. It is a simple request and I added the following code using Dealer PC Access.
 
1.       WHEN VACATION
2.                 THEN SAY VACATION MODE ACTIVE
3.                 THEN ALL THERMOSTATS HOLD OFF
4.                 THEN ALL THERMOSTATS MODE AUTO
5.                 THEN ALL THERMOSTATS COOL SETPOINT 82
6.                 THEN ALL THERMOSTATS HEAT SETPOING 64
7.                 THEN Instant Hot Water OFF
8.                 THEN ALL UNITS OFF
 
I often provide voice feedback (line 2) to let me know that the code runs, and also to provide audio feedback to the user. I immediately knew that something was amiss when there was no announcement of VACATION MODE ACTIVE after arming (Console key 2 (security), then key 4 (vacation), then code **** ). Once the arming delay was complete, the console showed DAY mode, and not Vacation mode. I repeated this process several times from different consoles and OmniTouch 5.7e’s with the same results. I discovered that if I re-armed the system for vacation mode while the arming delay was currently underway then the system became armed in Vacation mode and the consoles and OT 5.7e’s showed VACATION on their screens. I cannot explain the odd behavior except to wonder if there might be a bug in the firmware programming. Does anyone have any ideas?
 
In a related issue, this persons HLC lighting does not respond to the ALL UNITS OFF or ALL UNITS ON commands. This became apparent when line 8 (above) did not shut down the lighting. With some more research, I confirmed that each HLC switch was installed correctly and I confirmed that the lights respond to commands sent directly to them. It seems to be the ALL UNITS command which is the problem. In PC ACCESS, I confirmed that in SETUP/UNITS, that the House Code Format indicates HAI Lighting Control (HLC), and that the Enable All On and Enable All Off settings are set to YES for everything. The Address/Node ID is set to n/a for each. Is there a software switch somewhere that I’m missing? Any thoughts?
Greg

 

 

[Desert_AIP]

"WHEN VACATION" waits for the arming delay to expire, it waits until the arming sequence is complete - it equates to "When finally armed in the Vacation Mode"

"WHEN ARM VACATION" activates as soon as the Vacation Arming sequence begins.

When you arm in an away mode, either Away or Vacation, and Unvacated Premises is ON in PCAccess (normal), you MUST open an entry/egress zone during the arming sequence or the system will final arm in Day mode becasue it assumes you never left the house.

So you were never entering Vacation Mode so this programming block was never being executed.

The option under Security - Arm Vacation in PCAccess is "Wait until end of arming delay", check NO and you will use the "WHEN ARM VACATION" trigger.

When testing, the easiest thing to do is to start the arming sequence then open and close a door, then the system will final arm in the correct mode.

http://kb.homeauto.com/default.asp?id=792&SID=&Lang=1

Also, if you are using the occupancy mode of the Omnistats you don't need to send temperature setpoints because the T-stats store vacation settings as separate entries.


With respect to HLC.
You must have the HLC units (by room) setup to respond to the ALL ON and ALL OFF commands in PCAccess.
There is no HLC ALL ON or ALL OFF link by default. But you can program one in.

The way the system works by default is; when the controller is instructed to turn all units on, it turns each room on sequentially by sending Kitchen ON, Living Room ON, Bedroom ON, etc.
In order to maintain status tracking correctly the controller sends status request commands to each unit in each room sequentially before moving on to the next room.

So it sends Kitchen ON, then status request Kitchen Light 1, (response), then status request Kitchen Light 2, (response), then status request Kitchen Light 3, (response), Living Room ON, then status request Living Room 1, (response), then status request Living Room 2, (response), etc.

It steps through the rooms and the entire ALL ON or ALL OFF process can take a minute or two to go through an entire house.
You can watch the behavior as each room comes on or goes off. You can see all of the UPB Commands in the log window in UPStart.

You can test this from a console by pressing 4,1 (All ON) or 4,0 (ALL OFF).

You can program an all on UPB link in UPStart so all of the lights turn on (or off) simultaneously.
You have to manually configure each switch in UPStart to respond to the link and then tell the controller to use the link in PCAccess when you want to turn all units on.

Lets say you have a link labelled "All Lights On Link"
You program each switch in UpStart to turn on when it receives this link.
In PCAccess you assign the link label to the proper link ID (e.g. 255).

Then you program the response:
 

WHEN ALL UNITS ON
THEN All Lights On Link ON
When the controller sees the ALL UNITS ON command it sends out the UPB Link "All Lights On Link" ON.
This way all of the lights will respond simultaneously without the delay of stepping through the rooms.

You can do the same thing wih the ALL OFF command.

WHEN ALL UNITS OFF
THEN All Lights On Link OFF

If you keep the switches active with respect to ALL ON and ALL OFF in PCAccess, then the status tracking will still stay correct.
What happens is the lights all come on with the link, then the controller goes through room by room as it usually does sending Room ON and status request commands.
Since the lights are already on it won't appear anything is happening, but the system is sending commands and updating status in the background.

 

[gdamery]

Thanks Desert_AIP for the great (and detailed) explanation. This was very helpful!
Greg