INsteon Swichlinc 2476d - Won't Stay Lit / On

[lilsalmon]

Hopefully I am making a blaring newbie installation or setup error.

This is my issue. I have been purchasing Switchlinc (2476d) dimmers over the last 6 months or so to swap out all of my switches in my house. I am running everything off of a ISY 99i Pro which is setup and working fine. I just installed the first Switchlinc dimmer and I have one glaring problem. Upon installation I push up on the toggle to raise the light level, it responds and powers up to full brightness, however it will not stay there. As soon as its at full on, it immediately dims down to off once I release the toggle. My ISY finds the switch fine and I can bring it up to full on over the network and where it does exactly the same thing. Once I get to full brightness, it immediately dims to full off.

I have done the following to troubleshoot:

- Factory reset the switch
- Programmed the switch for brightness of 100% at full on.
- Completely Replaced the switch with a new one.

I figured it was possible I got a bad unit, but once I swapped it out and it did the same thing I figured I was more than likely doing something wrong.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Lil'

 

[Zellarman]

Hopefully I am making a blaring newbie installation or setup error.

This is my issue. I have been purchasing Switchlinc (2476d) dimmers over the last 6 months or so to swap out all of my switches in my house. I am running everything off of a ISY 99i Pro which is setup and working fine. I just installed the first Switchlinc dimmer and I have one glaring problem. Upon installation I push up on the toggle to raise the light level, it responds and powers up to full brightness, however it will not stay there. As soon as its at full on, it immediately dims down to off once I release the toggle. My ISY finds the switch fine and I can bring it up to full on over the network and where it does exactly the same thing. Once I get to full brightness, it immediately dims to full off.

I have done the following to troubleshoot:

- Factory reset the switch
- Programmed the switch for brightness of 100% at full on.
- Completely Replaced the switch with a new one.

I figured it was possible I got a bad unit, but once I swapped it out and it did the same thing I figured I was more than likely doing something wrong.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Lil'

First let me start off by saying that you might be better off posting to UD's forum.
And, now unfortunately, I'll start with asking questions.
You say the ISY is hooked up and working fine, but what is exactly working if you don't even have the first SLD working properly?
After a factory reset the SLD is set to come on 100%, so what happens before you try to manually set it to 100%?
What happens when you do a double tap?
Suggestion
After (or before) doing a factory reset, remove the device, or all (since you say this is the first one, but you may have already added more than one when you did the swap) devices from the ISY, then do all settings from within the ISY (this is a great feature) 'air gap' the SLD for a few seconds, then return the small tab you pulled out for the air gap to it's neutral position, being careful not to depress it. I'm not sure if this actually needs to be done all the time, but I just wasted a few hours the past two days trying to restore two switches before remembering I had to do this.

Let me know if this works

 

[lilsalmon]

Thanks so much for the reply. Actually where I may not have explained this correctly is that even before I had the ISY find both switches it exhibited the same result. So for example it is the first/only switch I have ever installed in my house. I just tried out the ISY to see if I could get it to work better via that interface.

Should the SLD not work out of the box even if only as a strictly mechanical dimmer. I mean once its installed, barring any programming, it should be at the bare minimum turn off and on as well as dim correctly no?

Thats why I posted here as I can completely take the ISY out of the equation and it acts this way, straight out of the box. Not once but twice.

-Lil'

 

[BLH]

Yes even linked to nothing. It should turn On and Off. Dim and brighten with the local paddle.

Standard Incandescent type loads?

Wiring verified and not accidentally trying to power the Line connection through the load?

 

[lilsalmon]

Two 6 inch cans and two 65 watt 3inch halogen. As far as wiring pulling the hot from the switch next to it, neutral tied into the neutral group, load tied to the black on the lights.

 

[Zellarman]

Two 6 inch cans and two 65 watt 3inch halogen. As far as wiring pulling the hot from the switch next to it, neutral tied into the neutral group, load tied to the black on the lights.

Seems very odd that this would happen with two consecutive switches, just for s&$?s and giggles, why not try a third, at that point if it continues, were past the remote possibility of coincidence

 

[lilsalmon]

I will do that tomorrow am and post the results.

 

[wuench]

I will do that tomorrow am and post the results.

It sounds like a load problem to me, are they 120V halogen or is there a transformer in the mix (in which case you probably shouldn't be using a dimmer). You may try to install one of those switches in another location on another load and see if they work ok. But don't be afraid to call Smarthome support and maybe ask for replacements, a bad switch or bad batch of switches has been known to happen. If all else fails you may have to use a non-dimmer switch on that load.

 

[apostolakisl]

A benchtop test of the dimmers should clear things up. If you are doing a lot of Insteon installation, it is nice to have a benchtop setup anyway. A lot of people like to pre-program and test the switches prior to installation. Benchtop testing/programming can go very quickly and speed up the overall installation process.

If your electrical skills are sufficient, take a standard extension cord and cut it in half. Wire the plug end up to the insteon black/white and wire the socket end up to the insteon red/white. Plug it in to the wall and plug an incandescent load into the other end. Remember, the fatter blade of the plug is neutral.

I have never heard of insteon switches doing what yours are doing, so I am suspecting with multiples of them doing the same thing, there is something going on with the installation. As mentioned above, perhaps your load is the problem.

 

[lilsalmon]

OK we are three switches with the same result. These are the two small halogens I have installed. UTILITECH 3"

http://www.lowes.com/pd_16059-47842-105851-028_4294857050_4294937087_?productId=3014681&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Recessed%2BLighting%2BKits_4294857050_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_quantity_sold|1&facetInfo=

 

[apostolakisl]

I still think you should set up a bench test.

What if you don't connect the load wire (cap it)? Do the led's go up and stay up when you turn the switch on? When it is hooked up to the halogen load, do the leds go up and then go right back down, or does just the light go back down?

Are you exceeding the wattage rating of the insteon? As far as I know if you over wattage the switch it just burns up, but maybe they have added an auto shut off to protect the switch that I don't know about.

Have you tried putting a volt meter on the load and seeing if it behaves properly without any load attached?

 

[lilsalmon]

Just to summerize the following happens.

- Install 3 brand new switches from scratch. All three were purchased at different times over a 6 month period
- Hooked up to a load of two 6" HALO brand incandescent cans and two 3" Utilitech 50watt halogens. All on one continuous circuit.
- Currently have 230 watts total with a load capacity on the switch of 600w.
- Upon first use immediately after wiring, I either double tap UP to ramp to full on or hold UP for full on. The dimmer goes to full on with the LEDs tracing the ramp. Sits on full on for about a second or so then slow dims to off.
- I have tried factory reset numerous times.
- I have done this all before even programming it to my ISY.
- I have no other HA switches dimmers etc anywhere in the house. This is my first install.

@LOU,

To answer your questions:
1. I will try and cap it when I get home tonight.
2. The LEDs go up with the lights and down when they go off.
3. The LEDs go up as the lighting ramps up and down following the flow of the lights going off.
4. I have a volt meter but haven't researched what behavior or how to test appropriately.

p.s. I may take a video tonight to show you exactly what is happening.

-Lil'

I still think you should set up a bench test.

What if you don't connect the load wire (cap it)? Do the led's go up and stay up when you turn the switch on? When it is hooked up to the halogen load, do the leds go up and then go right back down, or does just the light go back down?

Are you exceeding the wattage rating of the insteon? As far as I know if you over wattage the switch it just burns up, but maybe they have added an auto shut off to protect the switch that I don't know about.

Have you tried putting a volt meter on the load and seeing if it behaves properly without any load attached?

 

[lilsalmon]

Ok new wrinkle fellas. I took the first switch which had all the same results/issues as the second two and added it in at a different location. Two outdoor patio lights. Guess what.... it worked fine as it was meant to worked. Added it to the ISY and everything is golden. So I assume that leaves us to either me having it wired wrong or some type of load issue?

Would there be an issue cause I am pulling the line/hot from the switch next to it? Any other thoughts suggestions?

I did notice two other anomalies.
- It doesn't react to a double-tap quick on at all, no lights no LEDs.
- When I press up on the toggle to ramp up to full on, it gets to full on then does its usual ramp down quickly to off. Once it gets to full off after a second the lights flash once and the bottom led starts flashing.

-Lil'

 

[apostolakisl]

Put a volt meter on your wires in that box. There is obviusly a mis-wire going on here.

Unhook all of the wires going into the box and remove your lamps from all of the fixtures (leave your bare ground wires twisted together). Make sure this is the only box that wires are going to for this fixture (not a three/multi way).

Touch one multimeter lead to your ground (bare wire) and the other to each of the black wires. Anything reading 120 is a hot. You should only have one. This is going back to your breaker box. If you have any red wires in the box, odds are you have a 3/multi way situation and you need to figure out where it is going. Any black wires in the box that aren't reading 120 are going to be going to a load assuming this is not part of a multi-way. The white wire that is sheathed with your hot wire is your main neutral going back to the breaker. Any other white wires are neutrals for the load(s).

 

[Zellarman]

Lilsalmon,

What's the status?