Insteon - Lights Winking

[wuench]

I installed another round of Insteon V2 dimmers last night. 1 set was my first 3-way install. If I have that 3-way setup on or dimmed and turn on other insteon controlled lights on the same circuit, the 3-way ones flash quickly then go back to where they were (if dimmed). I am afraid it may blow the bulbs.

It seems like I remember the old switchlincs doing some flashing like this if they were overloaded. These are attached to 6 60w floods, so they are under the 600W rating. I haven't replaced the switch yet.

Has anyone else seen this?

 

[BLH]

I believe I saw a post in accessha.com where SmartlabMike said a later firmware due out shortly would fix the flickers. Another post said to try a complete reset to defaults as some got out of the factory with test ID links that the switches maybe trying to access.

 

[cfoxga]

I feel your pain.

I have 16 40W globe bulbs on a 1000W PCS X10 switch in my master bathroom. Since replacing many of my other switches in the house with Insteon, the bathroom lights flicker violently when I activate any nearby switches. I just bought a 1000W V2 dimmer hoping to alleviate the problem, but haven't been able to replace the switch yet.

Keeping my fingers crossed...

Chris

 

[jeffx]

I thought that I was noticing a slight flicker with some of my lights when I use one of the scenes on my keypadlinc in my living room, but I was hoping it was my imagination.

If a firmware update will be needed to fix this, SH really needs to find a way for end users to do this themselves. Uninstalling, shipping, waiting, reinstalling many switches in order to get necessary firmware updates is going to get old fast.

Will Powerhome show these "testing links" if they exist in some of my switches so I can remove them without doing a full reset on everything?

 

[wuench]

I found the threads on AccessHA, thanks for the pointer. Guess I have another HA forum to add to my list. I found reports of this happening in 2.1 and 2.2 of the firmware with a hope of it being fixed in a future firmware release. I am showing 2.4 in HS, and the Salad IDE for this switch. I will try to reset and then (if I have to) swap the switches and see what happens. After that I may try 1000W V2 and/or tech support.

One curiosity is all these threads seem to refer to floods or high loads.

 

[dhoward]

Jeff,

If the test ID's are standard DB links (I think I remember reading somewhere that they were), then yes, PowerHome will discover them and show them in the Group by Controller list.

The best way to get rid of them would be to use the "Delete from PH" option and then do a "Rebuild". This will have the added benefit of defragmenting your links for optimum performance.

Dave.

 

[AccessX10]

wuench,

It sounds like a linking issue. I've had this in the past and doing a reset to clear the links resolved it. PowerHome is a huge help in this area, it makes managing links very simple.

BTW… great job on the home theater. I recall looking at your site after reading your posts on AVS.

 

[wuench]

Thanks. It is the floods in that room that are giving me the hassel. Here is what I have done so far:

1.) Reset the two switches to the floods. No effect
2.) Removed 2 of the bulbs. Seems to have reduced the effect some but still annoying.

Now here is the interesting part. I have a Lamplinc whose led I can see out of the corner of my eye as I test. I noticed the flickering seems to coincide with the led blinking and therefore insteon messages. I attempted to send several on/off messages with no flickering. But the lights I have been using to test with are also 3 way. So I unlinked them. Now I can't make it happen.

I am suspecting it is the group message that may be causing the issue with switches that are running a decent load, or maybe just floods. I never relinking the floods after the factory reset.

I have another set of 2 65W floods on another switch and it also has the issue just at a very low level.

At this point, because two SLV2s are effected I don't think a swap will help. I am going to jump to trying a 1000W and see if that helps. I may also put in 45W bulbs to reduce the load.

If anyone wants to try and duplicate, the best way I found is to dim the floods to a low level and then turn another dimmer on and off before it gets done ramping up.

BTW the sticker on the front is V2.2 but the firmware reports 2.4 when queried.