Recovering Insteon plug-in after a power outage...

[codemonkey]

I have a breaker in my hours that gets tripped from time to time (stupid microwave and AC fighting) and the result is the plug that my PLM is plugged in to gets shut off. My homeseer computer is on a UPS so it is not affected. When the power comes back on insteon does not recover. The process to get insteon working again is power cycle the PLM again (not sure why) and turn the plug-in off then back on in SimpleHelp. I've tried the special Insteon commands to reset the plug-in but have not had any luck with that.

Any ideas?

(edit: I might be getting my terminology incorrect, I'm talking about the usb powerline module.)

[joegr]

Is your PC (UPS) on the same circuit?

[codemonkey]

It is. Not ideal I know.

[mnsandler]

There is an option to switch to the usb driver to control the usb PLM. there is different code in the plugin that will try to recover the port in cases like this.

shutdown the plugin. edit the insteon.ini and add the following to the [Config] section, the restart

PortType=USB

This of course is just a work around for the real issue; you need to either split that breaker so it doesn't pop, or get the PLM/HS on a different circuit.

[upstatemike]

So if I was thinking of trying the plugin and order a PLM to use am I better off sticking with serial to avoid this issue? I get power glitches all the time so there is nothing I can do regarding circuit arrangement to avoid them. It sounds like a serial PLM plus a USB to serial adapter is going to be the most reliable option unless I'm misunderstanding this discussion.

[mnsandler]

So if I was thinking of trying the plugin and order a PLM to use am I better off sticking with serial to avoid this issue? I get power glitches all the time so there is nothing I can do regarding circuit arrangement to avoid them. It sounds like a serial PLM plus a USB to serial adapter is going to be the most reliable option unless I'm misunderstanding this discussion.

A usb to serial adapter & serial plm are susceptible to the same thing as the usb plm (which basically has a usb to serial adapter built in)

I use the serial plm connected to a physical serial port and don't have this issue during power flashes.

[upstatemike]

Currently running on a spare laptop so no physical serial port but I'll make sure any future hardware upgrades include one.

[baudi]

There is an option to switch to the usb driver to control the usb PLM. there is different code in the plugin that will try to recover the port in cases like this.

shutdown the plugin. edit the insteon.ini and add the following to the [Config] section, the restart

PortType=USB

This of course is just a work around for the real issue; you need to either split that breaker so it doesn't pop, or get the PLM/HS on a different circuit.

I couldn't make this setting stick in the insteon.ini. Here's what I tried.

- Disable plugin, add the setting and save the file, enable plug in.

- Stop homeseer, add the setting and save the file, start homeseer.

- Disable plugin, stop homeseer, add the setting and save the file, start homeseer, enable plug in.

After each of these attempts, the setting disappeared from insteon.ini. Strange.

[RoChess]

Had microwave pop circuit as well on occasion, so ran an AWG10 heavy-duty extension cord, rated to handle the high current, to a different circuit and problem solved.

Might be easier to tackle source of the problem.

Having an electrician come out and verify if your circuit can handle an upgrade to the breaker from 15A to 20A or even 30A would be another solution, but fire risks exists then if cabling is insufficient and not upgraded, so don't DIY this.

[Burrington]

I was having that problem where the PLM would not communicate with HS3 after a power failure. Had to replug the PLM and restart HS3 to get it going again. I determined it was because the PLM was down (no power), but the plugin didn't know it because it was still happily running on the UPS. The plugin keeps trying to send commands to the dead PLM and eventually locks up. So, when the power comes back on, the comm to the PLM was dead.

Solution: I use the BLUPS plugin to interface the UPS to HS3 and tell HS3 when there is a power failure. As soon as power failure is detected, I use the "Insteon - Disable Interface" action so the plugin stops trying to communicate with the dead PLM. Then when power is restored I use the "Insteon - Enable Interface" action to start it back up. Then after a 10 second delay it does a "Poll all Insteon devices with a 4 second delay" to update the status of all devices. Works like a charm and I no longer have the lockup problems you're referring to.

[Burrington]

Having an electrician come out and verify if your circuit can handle an upgrade to the breaker from 15A to 20A or even 30A would be another solution, but fire risks exists then if cabling is insufficient and not upgraded, so don't DIY this.

I'm pretty sure that if the wire originally installed was AWG12 (required for 20 amps) they would have installed a 20 amp breaker and 20 amp outlets. So calling an electrician to check is probably a waste of money.

Putting a 20 amp breaker on AWG14 wire (only good for 15 amps) will turn your system into a fire starter. NEVER EVER EVER EVER put a 30 amp breaker on an outlet regardless of the size of the wire! The right solution is to add a new 15 or 20 amp circuit and outlet, or move the microwave or A/C to a different circuit.

[sparkman]

I believe the current electrical codes in North America all require a dedicated circuit for microwave outlets. Of course if the house is older and built before this became a rule, then it would be grandfathered.

[mnsandler]

I couldn't make this setting stick in the insteon.ini. Here's what I tried.

- Disable plugin, add the setting and save the file, enable plug in.

- Stop homeseer, add the setting and save the file, start homeseer.

- Disable plugin, stop homeseer, add the setting and save the file, start homeseer, enable plug in.

After each of these attempts, the setting disappeared from insteon.ini. Strange.

You might need to reboot the server first. The file is being cached somewhere. I recall seeing this before.

[RoChess]

Solution: I use the BLUPS plugin to interface the UPS to HS3 and tell HS3 when there is a power failure. As soon as power failure is detected, I use the "Insteon - Disable Interface" action so the plugin stops trying to communicate with the dead PLM. Then when power is restored I use the "Insteon - Enable Interface" action to start it back up. Then after a 10 second delay it does a "Poll all Insteon devices with a 4 second delay" to update the status of all devices. Works like a charm and I no longer have the lockup problems you're referring to.

+1

Burrington seems to have a nice solution in where HomeSeer is made aware there was a power outage, and then take the appropriate action on the Insteon PLM to make the system auto-heal itself when power returns.

[codemonkey]

There is an option to switch to the usb driver to control the usb PLM. there is different code in the plugin that will try to recover the port in cases like this.

shutdown the plugin. edit the insteon.ini and add the following to the [Config] section, the restart

PortType=USB

This of course is just a work around for the real issue; you need to either split that breaker so it doesn't pop, or get the PLM/HS on a different circuit.

Thanks Mark, you are absolutely correct. Who ever wired my kitchen ran the stove hood power improperly. I'm saving up to get it fixed. I already found and fixed 30 Amp breakers on 20 Amp circuits. It's like the previous owners were trying to burn the place down. :\