I spent a couple of hours today trying to install two Insteon Switchlinc relays in a 3-way configuration. It didn't go well...
The light switches control a fixture at the basement landing. Once they are installed, I will make my first foray into lighting control by having the upstairs switch turn on several lights in the basement. At the bottom of the stairs there are three switches in addition to the other half of the 3-way configuration. There's no good reason to have three switches for one open recreation area. I want to press a single switch and have all the rec room lights come on. That's easy to do with Insteon switches once I get the 3-way configuraiton working.
I followed Smarthome's installation instructions carefully, but naively. It turns out that there are several common 3-way wiring configurations and mine is unlike the one in the instructions. Several different configurations are described at The Home Improvement Web. I think my wiring is like Option 3, which has a switch, then the load, then another switch connected serially, but I need to take off the light fixture to make sure. I'm sure I'll get it to work, but the wiring configuration will be different from what's described in the Switchlinc installation instructions.
I'm fairly certain my 3-way configuration is not like Option 2. One of my Switchlinc relays made a big popping sound when I tried it after connecting things in a way that I thought would be compatible. Most likely, the popping sound was the relay blowing out. :-(
Tomorrow I will take off the light fixture and see what's inside. With luck, I'll be able to make more sense of the configuration after seeing how things are connected inside the light box.
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Home Automation and Insteon Resources
It takes more than product user guides to build a home automation and lighting control system. Home automation still has a hobbyist flavor to it, so the best sources of support and information are often other users. There are some great communities on the Web where you can go for help. Here are a few:
CocoonTech.com. CocoonTech is a forum site covering all aspects of home automation, and every home automation technology, including Insteon.
Access Home Automation is another forum site with a dedicated Insteon forum. There’s lots of useful information here, but there are definitely fewer posts than at Smarthome’s site.
One additional resource worth mentioning is Insteon.net -- Smartlabs' primary site for the Insteon network protocol and brand. In addition to technical whitepapers, the site has a catalog of Insteon compatible products from many vendors, press releases relating to Insteon technology, and a developer's program you can sign up for. Smartlabs is the research arm of Smarthome.
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3-Way Insteon SwitchLinc Relay Installation Successful
I spent some time last night resolving my 3-way Insteon SwitchLinc Relay installation issues. The problem is that Smarthome's instructions are based on a single 3-way wiring configuration, yet several are commonly used. Mine is not like the instructions.
To figure out this brain teaser, I took the ceiling fixture off, both light switches out of the wall, and conducted some experiments with my volt meter. In the process, I got a good workout walking up and down the stairs. As mentioned in a previous post, I had an idea what the wiring configuration looked like; unfortunately, all the magical cross-connections that make it work are hidden behind drywall, so I had to base my wiring decisions on inference.
The final wiring configuration is shown in the following diagram:
The upstairs switch is the secondary. Its (red) load wire is capped off. The black line wires are connected together, and connected to the black line wire on the SwitchLinc. The red traveller wire is connected to the neutral to provide a neutral connection for the downstairs switch. Neutral is also connected to the SwitchLinc.
The downstairs switch is the primary. It actually controls the light. As you can see, the wiring here looks mixed up. Wite to red, and red to white. White is actually the load wire, and the red wire is neutral we created at the upstairs switch.
After wiring both SwitchLinc relays and confirming that the downstairs switch did in fact turn the light on and off, I cross-linked the switches. You can purchase pre-linked Insteon SwitchLinc dimmer kits from Smarthome, but cross-linking is easy enough to do yourself. Now everything works perfectly. Both switches control the light, and their LED status indicators stay in sync. Woo hoo!
The next step is to install SwitchLinc relays for the other rec room lights and link them in so it takes one switch press instead of four to turn on the lights. Also, I will be able to turn off all the rec room lights from the upstairs switch.
Lessons learned:
Take a photo or take careful notes of your original wiring! As I removed the original switches, something in the back of my head told me that the connections are obvious (there are only three wires, after all!), and I didn't need to pay special attention. I won't make that mistake again.
3-way wiring is complex. Like a Rubix cube, it is simple looking but mind boggling. Before removing the original switches, take some time to understand your house's wiring. Once you understand how the wiring is configured, you should have no trouble figuring out how to wire your SwitchLincs.