EZIO8SA not reliably transmitting to ISY-994i

[Anonymous]

#40418

I have two outputs driving relay controls for my hot water heater and hot tub (driven by the 12V output on the 8SA). I then loop back to two outputs to two inputs (after they go through an override switch), so I can monitor the control.

With the Simplehomenet Utility I can switch the outputs and see the inputs track perfectly. But on the ISY I very rarely see the correct state from the inputs. The inputs continue to report On when they are really Off.

When I hit the override switch, now the inputs are being driven by the 13.4 V power supply, instead of the 12+ volts that comes out of the 8SA, and then the ISY usually does get the correct status. So I thought maybe there is an input voltage threshold adjustment for the digital inputs, but I couldn’t find that in the Utility.

The ISY doesn’t even track the correct state for the output latches when they have been modified using the Utility.

(I presume that Justin the moderator on these forums is the same Justin that so nicely answered my support emails last week? )

[Anonymous]

#44190

The EZIO8SA Relays do not report state changes made by a Controller (Utility in this case) so the ISY would not be aware of changes to the Relays by the Utility. A Query of the EZIO8SA from the ISY will update the Relay status.

Make sure EZIO8SA Inputs 5 & 6 are connected to EZIO8SA GND. These inputs are floating (because they can process Analog) and will often generate Input state change messages if not locked to GND.

If the EZIO8SA Inputs report state changes some of the time the link records between the EZIO8SA and the ISY/PLM are okay. That suggests a comm problem between the EZIO8SA location and the ISY PLM. Or it could be Inputs 5 & 6 are generating enough false messages to interfere with normal communication.

[Anonymous]

#44191

@grif091 wrote:

Make sure EZIO8SA Inputs 5 & 6 are connected to EZIO8SA GND.

I did that right away, as soon as I read that in the instructions. (Yes, some of us do read them! 😆 )

I’ll try moving the ISY closer to the 8SA. (I can’t move the 8SA as it’s already wired into my panel!)

[Anonymous]

#44192

Do you have at least one Dual Band Device or Access Point, on each phase of the incoming power and verified communicating with the four tap tests?

[Anonymous]

#44193

I’m just getting started with Insteon, so I have no idea what a “four tap test” might be.

I started with 2 Access points, and I think I got them on the opposite legs of the house, although the instructions in the box don’t help much (dim, bright, flashing steady red/green – what does it all mean?). The on line instructions are a little better.

Then I got two more Access points that were refurbs, but I’m not sure how to add the 3rd and 4th ones to the system.

I don’t have much else Insteon yet. 2-3 PLMs, one switch, the 8SA and and EZSnSRF. And a bunch of X10 switches.

With X10 I have a diagnostic tool to show me whats going on. But I don’t know how to start with seeing what is going on on the Insteon network.

Moving the ISY closer didn’t help. Eventually I will try putting it on the same power strip as the 8SA. (Yes, a power strip without surge protection). But I have to go to a funeral tomorrow. 🙁

[Anonymous]

#44194

The 4 tap Set button test is used to verify the Access Points are in range of each other and on opposite 120v legs. Tap the Set button on one of the Access Points 4 times. Look at the LED on the other Access Point. If consistently blinking it is hearing the test RF message being sent from the first Access Point. If blinking Red the second Access Point is on the same 120v leg as the first Access Point, not the desired result. The second Access Point should be blinking Green indicating it is hearing the first Access Point and they are on opposite 120V legs. This test does not configure the Access Points as they have nothing to configure. The 4 tap Set button test simply verifies if the second Access Point is installed on the opposite 120v leg.

There is nothing that needs to be done to add additional Access Points. The same 4 tap Set button test can be run to see if the new Access Point is in RF range and what 120v leg it is plugged into.

[Anonymous]

#44195

The Access Points Instructions can be confusing. As it covers both the hardware version 1 and hardware version 2 models.
The older revision 1 models have a single color White LED while the version 2 has a Red Green LED.
In the tests. The version 1 units have dim, flashing or bright as their indications in the communications tests.

[Anonymous]

#44196

Hi there Mike,

Yes, I’m the same Justin that helped you the other day.

These two guys are leading you down the right path, but let us know if you still need help.

Best regards

[Anonymous]

#44197

OK, I now have the PLMs for the ISY and 8SA plugged in to the same power strip (no, not surge protected), and I don’t see much improvement. But query seems to help.

In the ISY Admin console, I don’t have a Query button on the individual input device screen. If I click on the folder where I’ve grouped the 8SA controls there is a Query button but it’s dead, so I thought I had no way to query. But, if I click on the main ISY folder that lists all devices, then Query works. When I click Query I seem to get a reliable report back from the 8SA inputs. Meaning, I click the output control to change the relay, then go to ISY and click Query, then I see the input change. But the input report on the ISY doesn’t change unless I do the Query.

That makes me worry / wonder: If I want to use an 8SA input to trigger a program (and I do – that’s the whole point):
A: will the program trigger unless I do a manual query? Or,
B: does having an 8SA input in a program condition automatically query the 8SA? And how often?

[Anonymous]

#44198

I tried creating an ISY program with just a IF condition checking for the status of an 8SA input being On. And it does report a state change unless I do the manual Query. (bummer).

Is there a way to have an ISY program regularly query the 8SA? (And it would have to be often – like once a second – to be of much use.)

[Anonymous]

#44199

The ISY Query has to be done against the first node which is Output 1. A Query to this node queries all Inputs and Relays.

“I click the output control to change the relay, then go to ISY and click Query,”

What “output control” is used to change the relay state?

If the Utility is being used to turn a Relay On/Off that will not be reported back to the ISY. The Relays are Responder Only nodes which do not report state changes to other controllers. The EZIO8SA would have to be queried to see the change in relay status.

A change to an Input state would normally generate a state change message sent to the ISY. How is the Input being controlled?

The expectation is a change in Input status should be reported to the ISY. A Tools | Diagnostics | Show Device Links Table and Compare will show if the required links are in the EZIO8SA. There also has to be links in the PLM for it to receive the messages from the EZIO8SA.

[Anonymous]

#44200

Other possible clues? :

1. Sometimes the 8SA relay responds immediately to a change from the ISY. But other times (more than I’d like to see), the response is delayed for many seconds. I can queue up several on/off changes and they are all delayed, coming out in a quick burst several seconds later. I can’t isolate when this happens, but it’s like the ISY is busy somehow. I always see this delay when I first restart the ISY.

2. I fired up the Event Viewer from the ISY for the first time. I see a lot of X10 traffic, but not constantly. I have a lot more X10 devices in the house, and defined in the ISY, than Insteon. When I do the Query on the main ISY folder, I get a burst of X10 status requests (probably for every X10 devices I’ve told the ISY about), then there is an X10-RSP 02 53 xx xx xx (no X10 device code listed) that goes out every second, repeated for approximately one minute.

[Anonymous]

#44201

Hi again,

I’m suspecting that the intermittent issue is caused from the expectation of the EZIO8SA to receive an INSTEON signal and transmit an INSTEON at the same time…which usually would cause packet collisions.

Have you Grif and/or BLH been successful in setting up your EZIO’s in the same way Mike has?

[Anonymous]

#44202

I suggest NOT querying the entire installed network. When querying the EZIO8SA query Output 1. The Event trace will show two commands being issued when the correct node is queried.

[Anonymous]

#44203

@grif091 wrote:

The ISY Query has to be done against the first node which is Output 1. A Query to this node queries all Inputs and Relays..

I don’t have a Query button on the ISY device page for Output 1. I have to Query all devices in my ISY device list.

@grif091 wrote:

What “output control” is used to change the relay state?

Output 1

@grif091 wrote:

If the Utility is being used to turn a Relay On/Off that will not be reported back to the ISY.

For today’s test I was not using the Utility. I was making changes solely from the ISY. And the output is getting reported back to the ISY as soon as the relay clicks.

@grif091 wrote:

A change to an Input state would normally generate a state change message sent to the ISY. How is the Input being controlled?

And that’s the part that is not working. The input is essentially a loop back of the output for this test (Input 1 = Output 1, Input 2 = Output 2).

@grif091 wrote:

The expectation is a change in Input status should be reported to the ISY. A Tools | Diagnostics | Show Device Links Table and Compare will show if the required links are in the EZIO8SA. There also has to be links in the PLM for it to receive the messages from the EZIO8SA.

I was hoping all this stuff was automatically set up which I linked the 8SA into the ISY. But I try running what you suggest.

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