3 Questions about the 2466DW Toggle

[phawk]

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I just move to a new home and have run into some questions.

1) Can I use a 2466DW to control a ceiling fan? It seems like the dimming feature could control fan speed.

2) I have a standard ceiling light fixture in a 3-way switch configuration that I would like to be able to control and dim. Do I have to install two Insteon dimming switches or will one get the job done if paired with a second non-dimming switch (2466SW)? I am having trouble purchasing additional dimming switches but have a non-dimming model on hand.

3) I installed a 2466DW for a different light fixture and it will manually control the light but it won't link to my hub, When I try to find it using the app, both the switch and hub chirp but the switch can't be found. If I keep trying, the switch will "buzz" instead of chirp. Any suggestions?

Thank you very much.

[BLH]

1) No. An Insteon dimmer is not designed to control an inductive motor.
2) Not sure.
3) The 2466SW and 2466DW are both power line only modules. You may not be getting communications between the HUB and the switches. Could be noise on the power lines or phase coupling between the two incoming power lines. Do you have any Dual Band Modules or coupling between the phases to pass along the power line commands.

[SeanM]

1. The 2466DW uses a standard dimming triac meant for incandescent lighting loads. It will be able to control the fan speed for a while but eventually that triac will burn out. Could be a week or two years. The Insteon folks would recommend using a 2475F fan controller to control the fan paired to a keypad.

2. Ideally you would want a dimmer at each location. If you have to compromise you would want the dimmer connected directly to the load so that it can be dimmed, and then use the 2466SW as the secondary switch. You will not be able to dim the light from the secondary switch and you will need an Insteon switch at both locations either way.

3. This could be a couple things:

- Since there are generally two phases of electricity in a house (Phase A and Phase B) there is a 50% chance that the new switch is installed on the opposite phase of the Hub. The buzzing could be the switch hitting the end of linking mode which is about two minutes.You could try plugging the Hub into a different outlet to verify this. If the new switch pairs and you lose connection to the other toggles then it is definitely this. You can fix this by getting a couple 2992-222 range extenders which will bridge the two phases together.

- Buzzing can also happen during pairing when there is some sort of noise being spewed onto the powerline of the house. The noise essentially masks the commands going to devices causing them not to be paired or able to be controlled.

Since it is a newly installed switch I am thinking it is just a phase issue.

[phawk]

Thank you both very much. I thought all Insteon was dual mesh. So these are like the old x-10 devices? Bummer.

[BLH]

Yes they are the same as an X10 module. Power line only.
Almost all of the presently sold Insteon Modules are Dual Band. Both Insteon RF and power line communications.
The 2466DW and 2466SW are one of the few older power line only models. I believe they can also still have an X10 Primary Address programmed into them.
The sales pages should show in the specification page. If it has Insteon RF and power line or power line only.

[seangulick]

I thought all Insteon was dual mesh.