Can't make a simple schedule work

[debax]

I've used X10 for years, but decided to try Insteon to get better reliability scheduling outside lights to turn on/off at certain times of day. Starting slow and simple, I bought a Insteon 2245-222 Hub and downloaded the Insteon app onto my iPhone 6. I have an older Switchlinc Dimmer (model # 2476D) and was able to add this device using the app. Once I did that I was able to manually turn this switch on/off using the Insteon app. I can also dim lights to whatever percentage I wish using the app. However when I set up a scene and the most basic schedule to turn this switch on at a certain time of day, nothing happens! The desired ON time comes and goes and the lights controlled by this dimmer switch don't come on. As a newbie to Insteon, I must be making some basic mistake in the way I'm trying to setup a schedule. Help! :(

[DougS]

Hi Debax,

This is my first post here and I am a 1 week Insteon user. I have the Hub Pro as well and i'm using the IPhone Insteon+ app.

<for the devs>
I think part of the problem is the way the app UI is put together and that i think there are bugs. I find it very hard to navigate and there no way to get a detailed list of Scenes, the devices included and whether they are defined as on or off. Similar would be great for Schedule too. Maybe a landscape view if you turn your phone sideways.
</for the devs>

Getting off my soapbox, I've had similar problems as well, and I wish I had the silver bullet for you. I've had the system for about a week and this is the first time I have gotten my porch light to go off in the morning. I have several scenes and schedules and they all worked for the first time yesterday. I'm not going to touch anything for a while to see if it's dependable. [B]Update on the dependability: it worked for 2 days, then not so much.[/B]

A few things I've done, learned or mistakes I've made

- Create one scene to turn the device(s) on and one to turn them off. May be obvious, but worth stating.
- Execute the scene(s) from the Dashboard and be sure they do what you think they do. You didn't explicitly say you tried that above.
- Confirm you turned the device ON in the ON scene and OFF in the OFF scene. I've made the mistake of adding the device to the scene but not telling the device that it should be ON/OFF for this scene. It's not intuitive how to do it. In the scene editor, where the 'DEVICES IN THIS SCENE' are listed, select the device (not the delete button, but just select the device name), you'll get the ON/OFF view where you can select how the device should react for the scene.
- I have deleted and re-added scenes and schedules multiple times. I 'think' I'm doing the same thing every time, but it's hard to tell to be honest.

No other nuggets at this point. I hope something here helps.

[debax]

Hi DougS,

Thanks for your post. There are some differences between our setups. I have the Insteon Hub, not the Hub Pro, and I'm using the Insteon (aka "Insteon for Hub") iPhone app. It looks to me as though the UI in the Insteon+ app is superior to that in the Insteon for Hub app, but I don't think the Insteon+ app is compatible with my Insteon Hub (at least when I tried it, it was unable to detect my Insteon Hub).

That said, as a long-time Apple device user, I must say I find the Smarthome/Insteon User Interfaces really crude and unintuitive, AND the documentation is pretty lacking. OK, now I'll get off my soapbox...

Here's how I set things up: Since I wanted to start very simple, I created one scene (named, "Driveway ON") with one, time-of-day ON signal in that scene for my SwitchLinc Dimmer switch. I created one Room, called "Driveway" and this Room has two members, the "Driveway On" scene, and my SwitchLinc Dimmer device.

Also, I have only one other device, a Insteon Leak Sensor. This Leak Sensor seems to be working fine. When I set it up I was able to place it on a damp sponge and it immediately sent me an email notification that it detected moisture. Then I discovered I needed to press the Set button on the Leak Sensor to reset it after drying it (BTW, this step isn't mentioned anywhere in the User Manual, although it is in the Quick Start Manual). I understand there is also the ability to send me a text message (iMessage) when moisture is detected, but I can't find how to set that up.

Still looking for help...

[debax]

An update: I was finally able to get my simple schedule working. I'm not sure why it didn't work before (I must have made some error in the setup) but essentially I repeated what I thought I had done before.

The setup involves pressing the Set button on the SwitchLinc Dimmer at different times during the scene setup as requested by the app. I had done this before, but the scene/schedule just would not work. For some mysterious reason, this time it worked.

Once I had the ON command working at whatever time of day I chose, I then added a scene to turn it off at a different time. Finally I set up the "ON" scene so the dimmer would be turned on at Sunset at 50% brightness, and then set up the "OFF" scene to turn the lights off at 11pm. All is good now! :D

[DougS]

That's good news. I'd be interested to see if it's consistent. With the Hub Pro, it's scheduling has been hit or miss.

[SeanM]

This happens with older firmwares sometimes. If you are creating a scene on the Hub (2242-222 & 2245-222) and it tells you that you need to go at tap the set button of a particular device, the is performing a manual state link. Whatever state you link it at ( I.E. On, Off, 25% ....) is what the scene will think you will want it to be. It is how we had to link the devices back in the old days. :)