UPB Problems

[Jim Doolittle]

I complained that the kids were leaving lights on in the main bathroom (which does not have motion sensor for later turning light off ) . I would then go and easily turn the light off. Last night at 1:30 AM (was up later finishing putting porcelain tile floor down), the lights would not turn off at all. I have a US2-40 with quad-button faceplate. Even the load (ceiling light) would not work. Switches 2 and 3 have links to turn off a vanity lights and exhaust fan. I have no way to control the vanity light and exhaust fan without using links unless I pull wires. I retrofitted these and only have the one load for the main lights.

I went down and ran UpStart and only 1 of 14 devices was working. Signal looked ok. Last time I checked, I had strong signal at every point in the house with no coupler and no filter. Put one device in setup mode but it was not found. Lucklily, it still works to control load.

As far as the bathroom lights go, I ended up turning the circuit breaker off. Funny thing is that the room I was remodelling is going to have 4 US2-40s installed that I bought at beginning of the year. I missed the sale because I was out of funds. I will not install the new US2-40s until the signal issue is resolved.

Any ideas?

BTW, I am trying a board search to see what has been said before...

 

[nightwalker]

I've done a lot of UPB work, not only for myself but for customers. To start think seriously about installing a phase coupler. When everything is working and the stars are all aligned it's not needed but that lulls you into a false sense of security. The phase coupler shines those times like you describe when some sort of interference happens, be it internal or external. You may need a filter or two on really troublesome devices. For instance I had a transformer that powered some outdoor lighting. It put out so much line noise it about killed everything i had. I did finally replace it but a filter worked until i got around to it. I also still have one Dell laptop that will kill a circuit when it's plugged in.

The part that I really can't explain is the load not working locally. I've have only ever seen that happen as a switch was going bad, even then it was only once. I'm assuming that you have it wired correctly? Line, neutral and ground all to their proper connections, load to it's?

I complained that the kids were leaving lights on in the main bathroom (which does not have motion sensor for later turning light off ) . I would then go and easily turn the light off. Last night at 1:30 AM (was up later finishing putting porcelain tile floor down), the lights would not turn off at all. I have a US2-40 with quad-button faceplate. Even the load (ceiling light) would not work. Switches 2 and 3 have links to turn off a vanity lights and exhaust fan. I have no way to control the vanity light and exhaust fan without using links unless I pull wires. I retrofitted these and only have the one load for the main lights.

I went down and ran UpStart and only 1 of 14 devices was working. Signal looked ok. Last time I checked, I had strong signal at every point in the house with no coupler and no filter. Put one device in setup mode but it was not found. Lucklily, it still works to control load.

As far as the bathroom lights go, I ended up turning the circuit breaker off. Funny thing is that the room I was remodelling is going to have 4 US2-40s installed that I bought at beginning of the year. I missed the sale because I was out of funds. I will not install the new US2-40s until the signal issue is resolved.

Any ideas?

BTW, I am trying a board search to see what has been said before...

 

[Jim Doolittle]

Got home and turned circuit breaker back on. Now lights are working fine. That is good for now. I have the phase coupler. Just looked a little more intimidating for me to install and no cash for licensed electrician for now. Justfor kicks I will try UpStart shortly but I doubt that it will have changed much. I suspect a couple of issues causing problems.

 

[Jim Doolittle]

I just ran UpStart and now it sees all the devices but there is definitely some other issues. I got 5 Major Diff/Comm Fail, 2 Major Diff/Comm OK, 1 Missing, 2 Verified/Comm OK and 3 Minor Diff/Comm OK. I will work on the Major and Minor Diffs. maybe I can figure out what is causing noise. Must be something that is less today than yesterday? I know I really should look at the phase coupler and filter installs but if I can do something right now that would be good.

 

[Jim Doolittle]

When I started UpStart, it informed me that my version was over 90 days old. i was running 4.8 Build ?. I checked and version 5.0 was available. Installed it and now 10 devices are verified/comm good and 3 are minor diff/comm good. Weird! But I am up and running again and family is not so irritated.

 

[Jim Doolittle]

13 devices verified and comm good. Ready to install the 4 US2-40s tomorrow then. I think i have neutrals in both locations.

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

I have seen the issue of the load not being able to be controlled locally. Check the Upstart file! Make sure that you have it set to control the load.

 

[smcdonal]

Hi,

Could it have overheated? I think I read that the SA switches had built in thermal protection. Was the light was on for an extended period when this happened? Maybe try touching the faceplate next time. Do you have the switch set to dim by default? I think dimming would generate more heat as well... perhaps try setting it to default to 100%? Just some ideas... I might be coming out from left field though as I'm just getting into this HA stuff...

Steve

 

[Jim Doolittle]

The UPStart file was fine but I am not sure about overheating of the switches. Nearly all my UPB switches are set to dim at start. Saves some electricity and provides additional lighting when switch is double tapped. Interestingly, when the lights are brightened they appear brighter than they ever were.

Maybe shutting electricity for a period of time reset the switch and it controlled load again? Note that at this point, I had not involved UPStart.

Then, the issue with UPStart not seeing all but 1 switch was weird. Yes, I undertsand that it could be noise but all I did was upgrade UPStart to Version 5 Build 2 (?) and all were recognized again. The latest Version 4 build had worked fine for quite some time. Once all were recognized, there were simple and major differences. In all cases, the UPStart file was correct so I had the switches reconfigured with the UPStart file info.

So, what I learned is...

• Noise problems - consider phase coupler and filters (this didn't seem to be necessary in my case)
• Inability to control load - try UPStart first and if unsuccessful, try cycling power to the switches.
• UPStart issues - among several other things that I did not have to do, consider upgrading to new version of UPStart if available.

 

[LightenUP]

I recommend turning things on in the house that might be on at night to determine noise through your comm testing. Plasma TVs, under-cabinet lighting, or any electronic ballasted fixture, all have affected systems before especially the Gen I units. If you find the noise source a phase adjustment could attenuate it enough so it won't corrupt signals. Also I have heard that a PCS repeater can attenuate external noise a bit though it's a pricey device.

If all else fails and you continue with issues, you may go all GEN II, I have ultimate faith in the new firmware.

You may also have success filtering.

Let us know your solution.