Requesting Pictures of ICON next to SwitchLinc V2s
- Thread starter johnnynine
- Start date
It would just be nice to be able to use a SL to send an ALL OFF command.
In my earlier example, I would like to be able to have the MBR switch send OFF commands to the bathroom. Say for example, we were getting ready to go in the morning and all the lights in the room were on, and upon leaving, a single press of the switch turns both the bedroom and bathroom lights off.
But I don't necessarily want the bathroom lights to come on every time I turn on the bedroom lights as there is really no need for it.
Another use would be in the mudroom. I have a KPL in the garage that has Welcome and Bye buttons. The Welcome button turns on several lights so you don't ever enter a dark house. The Bye button turns off every inside light.
This switch is very handy when entering the house, but an awkward reach when leaving to press the Bye button. The SL in the mudroom would be very handy to use as the Bye button on the way out the door.
I think one solution to this would be 4 button KPL's. The programming wouldn't be hard so all you would need was a new frame to accept the 4 buttons. I would use more KPL's except in several places I would like an extra button, but not 4 extras.
In my earlier example, I would like to be able to have the MBR switch send OFF commands to the bathroom. Say for example, we were getting ready to go in the morning and all the lights in the room were on, and upon leaving, a single press of the switch turns both the bedroom and bathroom lights off.
But I don't necessarily want the bathroom lights to come on every time I turn on the bedroom lights as there is really no need for it.
Another use would be in the mudroom. I have a KPL in the garage that has Welcome and Bye buttons. The Welcome button turns on several lights so you don't ever enter a dark house. The Bye button turns off every inside light.
This switch is very handy when entering the house, but an awkward reach when leaving to press the Bye button. The SL in the mudroom would be very handy to use as the Bye button on the way out the door.
I think one solution to this would be 4 button KPL's. The programming wouldn't be hard so all you would need was a new frame to accept the 4 buttons. I would use more KPL's except in several places I would like an extra button, but not 4 extras.
Well if mot of the devices are on 1 circuit breaker and within 5 feet of each other then why dont they work?
I have two switches in the same circuit in the same multigang box at the main entrance. One for the entrance lights the other for the living room lights. I send a command to turn off the entrance lights and the living room lights. One goes off the other doesnt. I resend and the other goes off. Next time they both go off. Another few times later neither go off.
To me that is unreliabe.
If I send from the internet via the M1 they almost always work but if I send via the linked switch it can be hit or miss. If I send via the M1 automation rules its hit or miss.
I dont think I am being to picky. I am dissapointed that the tech supports best guess is "buy more". I am not saying that they are necesarily incorrect but it just seems that they are "guessing". Also you would think that they would specify a minimum amount of switches to be reliable (I dont want to buy more than I really wanted to just to make it reliable). I admit they are less expensive than other brands but thats one reason I bought them as I am on a limited budget for this right now.
I have two switches in the same circuit in the same multigang box at the main entrance. One for the entrance lights the other for the living room lights. I send a command to turn off the entrance lights and the living room lights. One goes off the other doesnt. I resend and the other goes off. Next time they both go off. Another few times later neither go off.
To me that is unreliabe.
If I send from the internet via the M1 they almost always work but if I send via the linked switch it can be hit or miss. If I send via the M1 automation rules its hit or miss.
I dont think I am being to picky. I am dissapointed that the tech supports best guess is "buy more". I am not saying that they are necesarily incorrect but it just seems that they are "guessing". Also you would think that they would specify a minimum amount of switches to be reliable (I dont want to buy more than I really wanted to just to make it reliable). I admit they are less expensive than other brands but thats one reason I bought them as I am on a limited budget for this right now.
Digger,
I had a similar situation. I just installed an icon dimmer and an Icon relay in the same box, on the same circuit. I am controlling this via a Powerlinc V2 and Home seer. I programed an event such that when the light was turned on locally, the switch sends status back to HS and triggers an event to turn on the fan. This only worked about 50% of the time. I put in a 1 second delay and now it works 100% of the time. I wonder if the Insteon protocol can't handle collisions. This is just a guess.
I had a similar situation. I just installed an icon dimmer and an Icon relay in the same box, on the same circuit. I am controlling this via a Powerlinc V2 and Home seer. I programed an event such that when the light was turned on locally, the switch sends status back to HS and triggers an event to turn on the fan. This only worked about 50% of the time. I put in a 1 second delay and now it works 100% of the time. I wonder if the Insteon protocol can't handle collisions. This is just a guess.
TCassio,
I think you are right on the money. I just posted in another thread here to Spanky from ELK a similar thought. Doesnt answer everything but would explain a lot. Spanky and his coworkers can solve just about anything so I would guess that given a little time they will get to the bottom of it.
I think you are right on the money. I just posted in another thread here to Spanky from ELK a similar thought. Doesnt answer everything but would explain a lot. Spanky and his coworkers can solve just about anything so I would guess that given a little time they will get to the bottom of it.
Well, excellent!Herdfan said:
Of course, I'm a loyal Martin at AO fan, so now I'll have to call him and make sure he keeps a few of the green on hand... Seriously, I can't ask him to do that just so I have one "handy", but I'm at least glad that SH has some green left if necessary.
My bigger complaint is that SH seems to be sort of "winging it" with this product line. The LEDs are just a symptom. There's the wattage issue (stated vs. actual, and no one knows which is which) on Icon devices, this color issue with LEDs, the rather buggy state of the SDM, etc.
I absolutely applaud them for bringing out this line and I've certainly done my part in supporting it by converting every possible X10 switch in my house to the technology. And overall, I am happy that I did this. I just wish our friends at SH would get some of this under control, AND tell us WHY - IN THESE FORUMS - the're making some of these changes . The green to amber change is just one example. WHY? If it's to save a couple of cents from a supplier, that's not a good answer. If solid, reliable, even quantitative market research shows that people greatly prefer amber, that's another story. Of coures, an EASY change kit for those of us with green switches would also be nice. To me, amber seems like a horrible idea... About half my stuff is actually V2 and I prefer the white lights, but the green Icons were fine at the price. Amber, though??? What is this, "the button"?
I've got another 25 or more hardwired Multiset Pro switches from Lightolier that I want to convert so that I can get better HA control of those rooms. But I'm holding off until SH gets their arms around this...
I've found that delays seem to solve just about everything with both X10 and Insteon. While the Insteon is much more reliable, I had several lights that just wouldnt' come on reliably if they were part of a multi-device event unless I put delays in. I tend to use two seconds between devices, for no reason other than that it's acceptable to me. One second is likely fine as well.TCassio said:
The other thing I started doing some time back was to repeat commands within an event. While this does put a small amount of extra activity on the line, it beats stumbling down a dark walkway and hugely upped the WAF. So, many of my events now say:
Turn on light 1
2 second delay
Turn on light 2
2 second delay
Turn on light 1
2 second delay
Turn on light 2
I repeat this for off as well.
The second set of commands is rarely needed with Insteon, but I've "counted out" a few times when they made a difference between a delayed light and no light.
markthomas
Active Member
Yuck! Are we talking about multiple Insteon transmissions (potential collisions), or a single transmission that some switches ignored?Madcodger said:
In the house I just sold, I had it completely full of X-10 switches. I got it to be 100% reliable by using a coupler/repeater and liberal placement of filters.
If Insteon starts acting up like that, I wouldn't know how to make it reliable. Putting delays between transmissions is unacceptable. Perhaps placing more Signalincs around would help?
upstatemike
Senior Member
Are you using direct commands to do this? My understanding of Insteon is that you should use group commands to control multiple lights not multiple direct commands.Madcodger said:
SmartLabsMike
Active Member
Sending a group command will have all devices trigger at the same time. Sounds like you may have a limitation with the software you are using. :blink:Madcodger said:
The insteon products are in their infancy. It will be a while before all of the bugs are out. It would just be a little easier to accept this if the tech support would acknowledge the products cant do certian things (yet in most cases). To be told to "buy more" to make your mesh better is probably not the solution (MAYBE it is so I dont want to say they are definitely incorrect). But how many is enough? I might not have dived into this if I knew I needed a minimum of 20 devices (I made that number up as an example and was never told that by Smarthome).
BTW I have a small to average house maybe 1800 sq feet and all of the switches are relatively close (the 8 installed so far) and all are between 2 lighting circuits.
BTW I have a small to average house maybe 1800 sq feet and all of the switches are relatively close (the 8 installed so far) and all are between 2 lighting circuits.
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