| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| BABABONDO |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 4:04:32 PM
I have a new small installation of Insteon devices. I am having flickering troubles with one 2477D with the latest firmware. It is on a 3-way switch system. All leads are POSITIVELY clean and secure at the wirenuts. It is powering 8 Halogen/quartz lamps in one new fixture totalling 320 watts. At usually 20% to 50% the lamps (all of them) will intermittently flicker perhaps 5% to 15%. I returned the original and got a new replacement. Same problem. For 3 hours I sat under the fixture waiting for it to misbehave. I had an ocilloscope monitoring the same leg of the breaker box to see if there were any dip to correspond with the dimming. NO DIP when light flickers. I'm stumped. Technical guys are stumped saying that if there was an inherent problem they would hear more complaints than just me. I agree with that, but it still does not solve my problem. Any clues? |
| 12 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| BLH |
Posted - 05/06/2012 : 03:47:13 AM
Early modules where known to flicker. Smartlabs changed some components to correct it.
Now that everyone is more energy aware and it latest ones look like a new power supply in them. Maybe the flicker is back.
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| EVIL Teken |
Posted - 05/05/2012 : 3:37:48 PM
It would be very helpful if some of the members could provide a link on You Tube with this problem happening. This might provide more insight and help determine if what some call flickering, may be called something else entirely.
Teken . . . |
| Igdixon |
Posted - 05/05/2012 : 11:56:10 AM
I have similar issue with a dimmer switch located in one of my bedrooms. The flickering is completely intermittent so I'm also lost as what I should do, the connections where checked and double checked. My flickering issue happens at any setting that the light may be on and it may last for a few seconds to a minute or so. If you find a solution please let me know. |
| ELA |
Posted - 05/05/2012 : 08:22:52 AM
Hello BABABONDO,
Can you further define "flicker"? Many lamps appear to flicker on dimmers at certain settings when the line voltage fluctuates due to heavy loads turning on/off.
You stated this condition is intermittent. Is it readily reproducible? Since you have an O'scope you could do other tests.
How did you monitor with the O'scope for a dip? (i.e.) How did you trigger. Did you "look" for watthour communications pulses?
Did you monitor the output to the lamps during the "flickering" period?
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| oberkc |
Posted - 05/05/2012 : 04:16:45 AM
i don't know if "flickering" is what I experience, bu it could be called that. Light levels, especially dimmed, can rapidly fluctuate slightly in some of my fixtures. The difference with me is that I never noticed it until I installed LED lamps. I don't recall this bevavior with incandescent. |
| BABABONDO |
Posted - 05/05/2012 : 01:40:56 AM
I have been talking to Insteon about this difficulty. I am fairly sure they think I am a nutcase. They said: "We sell 3,500 of these a month. If there was a problem with them more people would be complaining." Maybe so, but..... I did request that they "loan" me the 1,000 watt version ONLY as a test to see if the beefier triac would eliminate the problem. They flat out refused. They said to pay for it or forget it. I told the tech that I thought that the refusal was being inflexible he actually got angry with me. So much for courtesy. Maybe I'll go back to a standard wall switch. Hard to mess that up. |
| BABABONDO |
Posted - 05/05/2012 : 01:34:14 AM
I have already substituted the 320 watt load with a std 100 watt incandescent bulb. It does the same thing.quote:
Originally posted by stusviews
Is is possible that that particular brand is unhappy with the Insteon dimmer. Try one different brand bulb as a test. Remove all the other bulb during the test.
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| BABABONDO |
Posted - 05/05/2012 : 01:31:23 AM
What I DO have is one of those watthour meters that occasionally sends data at very low frequencies over the power line. It truly does a job on a lightning detecting and reporting system I love. When it transmits my system sees it as 3 times severe lightning. Pwr company is trying to come up with some solution.quote:
Originally posted by Tfitzpatri8
TED measures energy usage and reports readings back via embedded power line signals that will interfere with other power line technologies and cause lights to flicker.
The computers won't cause that. The alarm operates using over-the-air RF in the 300-500 MHz range, the Insteon gear won't ever see that. I haven't seen any Ethernet over power line devices cause flickers, but it wouldn't hurt to unplug them for a few minutes just to test.
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| stusviews |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 4:36:46 PM
Is is possible that that particular brand is unhappy with the Insteon dimmer. Try one different brand bulb as a test. Remove all the other bulb during the test. |
| Tfitzpatri8 |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 4:26:00 PM
TED measures energy usage and reports readings back via embedded power line signals that will interfere with other power line technologies and cause lights to flicker.
The computers won't cause that. The alarm operates using over-the-air RF in the 300-500 MHz range, the Insteon gear won't ever see that. I haven't seen any Ethernet over power line devices cause flickers, but it wouldn't hurt to unplug them for a few minutes just to test. |
| BABABONDO |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 4:19:39 PM
Hi. Thanks for the response. I don't know what a TED system is so I am sure I don't have one. I do have two ethernet wireless access points and 4 computers running all the time. No other timers. I do have an ADT alarm system that is wireless. I think it just sits there and does nothing much except to check for a transmitted signal and monitors each wireless sensor's battery level. |
| Tfitzpatri8 |
Posted - 05/03/2012 : 4:15:18 PM
Do you have other gear in the house using the power lines for communications? I'm thinking of a TED system in particular. |
