HSTouch for RCS Serial thermostats in HS3

[BobSpen]

To conclude this thread I will say this.

I do not like wireless thermostats because of inconsistent polling results. Also, my 6 RCS Serial thermostat setup works great through RS486 serial hub. Never had a signal problem since 2006. I am limited by the RCS HS2 plugin not working correctly in HS3 or 4. I AM LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN RE-WRITE THIS PLUGIN. I WILL PAY!

F

By far your cheapest and best long term solution is the GoControl GC-TBZ48 Z-Wave Battery-Powered Thermostat - White. They DO NOT require a plug-in.

[chubafelix]

To conclude this thread I will say this.

I do not like wireless thermostats because of inconsistent polling results. Also, my 6 RCS Serial thermostat setup works great through RS486 serial hub. Never had a signal problem since 2006. I am limited by the RCS HS2 plugin not working correctly in HS3 or 4. I AM LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO CAN RE-WRITE THIS PLUGIN. I WILL PAY!

F

[BobSpen]

If you have Z-wave you should consider GoControl GC-TBZ48 Z-Wave Battery-Powered Thermostat - White. I purchased 4 (open box returns)on ebay for $30/ea and they work great with HS3 (and I assume HS4).

[chubafelix]

Have you found a solution? I'm running RCS Zwave thermostats all contained in a Faraday cage with wired connections to the furnaces and to the various temp sensors throughout the house. I would like to ditch the ghetto Z-wave setup and use the RCS thermostat board that supports multiple thermostats.

I have not found a solution. It is really a sad situation for me. I have 6 thermostats wired in throughout the house that work great. But because HS people decided to abandon the RCS Serial plugin, I maybe forced into an expensive replace. I was hoping to ask someone who has the knowledge to see if possible to update but don't even know who to ask.

To review the problem: HS3 does not correctly install RCS Serial plugin. In HS2, plugin finds thermostats and installs them as HS devices with Thermostat API support. Plugin also has 2 pages under Plugin menu. The Status page (most useful) and the config page. In HS3, the plugin of coarse loads but it does not correctly setup the thermostats. When looking at each device it creates, the advanced menu says "NO API" and the plugin menu only has the config page. The status page can not be reached. I still believe it would not be difficult to make those things work, but not sure how to go about this.

[sickpuppy]

Please assist.

Have you found a solution? I'm running RCS Zwave thermostats all contained in a Faraday cage with wired connections to the furnaces and to the various temp sensors throughout the house. I would like to ditch the ghetto Z-wave setup and use the RCS thermostat board that supports multiple thermostats.

[chubafelix]

It’s really not my plugin, I just made some very minor changes to HomeSeer’s plugin. If others want it, then I will send it back to HomeSeer to distribute however they want.

BUMP!

I don't know what to do here. The RCS Serial plugin I download from HomeSeer updater in HS3 simply does not work the same way it worked in HS2. Not even close. I am unable to make my thermostats available in HSTouch, the API function is not there (as pointed out in this thread above). I need some help here. Is there a reasonably working RSC plugin in HS3 or am I faced with complete REDO? I have 6 RSC thermostats in this house. Replacing them with other communicating thermostats will be nearly $1000. If there is a software solution, please help me find it. This setup was working great in HS2. Now, through no fault of my own, I can't even use HS2.

Please assist.

[Mark S.]

Hopefully someone else can advise on the port settings for the RCS Serial plugin, but those are usually pretty standard. But one other thing to check - verify the serial network address of each thermostat (in the menu on the T-stat) to look for duplicates. Apparently the addresses can change somehow, and then communication stops when you have a duplicate. Yes, it has happened to me more than once.

[chubafelix]

I think I understand why plugin is not building the devices correctly. When I enabled the detailed debug log, I can see that the communication on Serial port fails. Plugin does not find the thermostat at the address it is set to. I am not sure why cause these thermostats worked on previous Windows 7 with HS2 just fine and I did not change the addresses. Perhaps, my new PC serial port is not configured correctly. Are there specific settings for serial port needed for this plugin to work with RCS serial tstats?

[Mark S.]

Mark, one thing I am not clear on. The RCS thermostats are connected via ELK panel or are these serial thermostats connected via serial hub to a serial port on HS3? I do not have ELK panel so, I am not sure how I could use UltraM1G plugin for my serial connected RCS Thermostats.

Correct, my t-stats on on my ELK via UltraM1G, so that doesn't help you. But the point is that your t-stat devices in HS must be device type Thermostat API, and for some reason yours are not. So I would suspect that the plugin didn't install right or HS did not create the devices correctly during install of the RCS Serial Plugin. I imagine you might need to reinstall and recreate the devices, but hopefully someone familiar with the RCS Serial plugin can help with that. If not, I would try uninstalling the plugin, delete your devices, reboot, and try installing again.

[chubafelix]

It’s really not my plugin, I just made some very minor changes to HomeSeer’s plugin. If others want it, then I will send it back to HomeSeer to distribute however they want.

Can you please point me to where i can get the RCS Serial plugin update that was mentioned? I don't seem to have any other option but to try to fix the support in HS3. Pleaes let me know.

[chubafelix]

I am not familiar with the RCS serial plugin, but I do connect my RCS thermostats to HS via the UltraM1G plugin. My thermostats do not automatically populate in the HSTouch default climate screen. Click on the thermostat device name on the normal HS web interface, go to the Advanced tab, and look at the Device Type Internal - it should say Thermostat API. If so, it should be associated in as a thermostat - so you should be able to add a text box or button and display/control it as a thermostat device. I built my own screens for my thermostats - example attached.

Mark, one thing I am not clear on. The RCS thermostats are connected via ELK panel or are these serial thermostats connected via serial hub to a serial port on HS3? I do not have ELK panel so, I am not sure how I could use UltraM1G plugin for my serial connected RCS Thermostats.

[chubafelix]

Krumpy's update fixed a very bad set point bug in the plug in. His version works perfectly. I don't think he did anything affecting HS Touch functionality. All I was saying is that you might start with the best working version before doing anything else. Set point problem discussed here:
https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/th...ug-work-around

Where do I find the update from Krumpy?

[jono]

Krumpy's update fixed a very bad set point bug in the plug in. His version works perfectly. I don't think he did anything affecting HS Touch functionality. All I was saying is that you might start with the best working version before doing anything else. Set point problem discussed here:
https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/th...ug-work-around

[Mark S.]

No API is not good - something seems to be wrong with your devices or plugin setup. Perhaps someone familiar with the RCS Serial could advise on recreating the devices or reinstalling the plugin.

[chubafelix]

RCS Serial device page