Insteon KeypadLinc First Impressions

[johnnynine]

I installed my first proof of concept Insteon KeypadLinc this week.

IMHO...

1. Not the best looking thing.
2. Backlight bleeds over into other buttons.
3. Backlit buttons are not always in sync with which lights are on. I suspect line noise?
4. The paper inserts are a little less than desireable, however I saw some alternatives in another thread.

I haven't done much with the scenes yet. I'd like to create an all off button and a theater button although I'm not sure how to do this yet.

I don't think it even passes the husband acceptance factor for looks. I just happened to look through a home automation magazine at the bookstore the other day and found a few very nice looking multi-button switches (not insteon). Maybe we'll see something a little more stylish in the future. They are fine for a business or maybe even a laundry room but I think they are a little too industrial looking for a home.

I'll try looking for line noise this weekend on the Keypadlinc's circuit to see if that's cause it to get out of sync with other switches.

Johnny

 

[jeffx]

3. Backlit buttons are not always in sync with which lights are on. I suspect line noise?

If you want the buttons to stay in sync with the devices they are controlling, you have to double link them (link in both directions). For example, link keypad button 1 to switch A, then link switch A with keypad button 1.

You should consider using Powerhome to set up your links also. As things get more complicated, you'll be glad you did. Make sure you read through the entire Insteon document that comes with Powerhome. It makes sense of things you might not otherwise figure out.

 

[johnnynine]

Yes I did double link the buttons, however sometimes they get out of sync. I can turn a switch off and the KeypadLinc's button backlight sometimes stays lit and pressing the button does nothing since the other switch is already off.

I have started playing with Powerhome to however I have not read all the documentation yet which will help out a lot as it's not very user friendly. I'm not sure how much time I want to spend on it as there are other free applications that can do the linking and are easier to use IMHO.

 

[Herdfan]

Yes I did double link the buttons, however sometimes they get out of sync.

I have sync issues that arise from have 2 different sets of lights linked from a KPL button. In the kitchen, there are dimmers controlling can lights and relays controlling an overhead light. Sometimes my wife turns off the overhead which alerts the KPL that the light is off, when in fact the dimmers are still on. ergo, out of sync.

Not really much we can do about this. Although I have removed the overhead as a cross-link back to the KPL since the overhead is almost never on alone, so that has fixed the problem even though it is a backdoor approach.

 

[Herdfan]

I don't think it even passes the husband acceptance factor for looks.

See, I think that the KPL looks better than the UPB versions. And what's up with those half gray/half white buttons.

I think if SH goes through with the etched KPL buttons, they will have something that looks as professional as Litetouch or Lutron.

As for the paper, I tried the Brother tape suggestion, and it looked great during the day. But at night you could really tell it had a yellowish cast.

So I went back to my old solution of using 32lb paper with a 98 brightness. The thicker paper shows less of the paper grain.

 

[Mike]

I hear you on the bleed through, the discussions on offering custom etched or just etched buttons seems promising. The functionality is great, I just put mine in, I linked mine both ways (actually with a 3 way setup in one case as well) and haven't found the out of synch issue (yet, they were just put in last weekend).

 

[ginigma]

(Hopefully this is still on topic)

Do you need to connect a load to the KeypadLinc V2? I just want to use the KPL as a controler of other devices, so I was just going to connect the Line and Neutral wires (and cap the Load wire). Anyone do this already? Any issues?

 

[WayneW]

Yup, capping the load wire is fine for Keypadlincs and SwitchLincs.