I have found that most, and possibly all*, Insteon "Bricks" are fused internally. Unfortunately, the fuses are not in nice holders. Some, like the FilterLincs, are crimped into caps and then soldered onto circuit board. Others, like the ApplianceLinc, have the fuse crimped in series with the hot line input and encapsulated in shrink tubing. Also, they are not the usual small glass enclosed fuses, but a smaller & shorter 5mm x 20mm fuse.

However, with care, the fuses can be replaced. In fact, on my FilterLincs that seem to blow fuses more often, I simply added a fuse holder to the main circuit board to make future replacement easier.

I also learned something interesting about the FilterLincs -- At least for the ones I have, the 5amp and 10amp versions are identical EXCEPT for the fuse, and I now notice that the 5amp version has disappeared from the SmartHome web site.

*Unfortunately, on the signal handling Bricks (APs, PLMs, PLC, etc.) I could not locate the fuse - I suspect it is a fused link buried in the transformer.

Have you done any poking around on the in-wall devices? I had 4 of my 6 Icon Relay Switches up and die on the same day, so I'm guessing that was a voltage spike/sag issue (or some seriously accurate targeted product obsolescence!)

They are past their 1 year warranty and SH won't swap them, so I might as well open them up and look for a blown fuse.

Thanks.
Brian

berkinet wrote:I have found that most, and possibly all*, Insteon "Bricks" are fused internally.

This is not true. In fact, most INSTEON products are not internally fused.

berkinet wrote:*Unfortunately, on the signal handling Bricks (APs, PLMs, PLC, etc.) I could not locate the fuse - I suspect it is a fused link buried in the transformer.

The author's first observation is correct in that the ApplianceLinc, PowerLinc Modems, and PowerLinc Controllers contain no fuses. There are also no designed-in fusible links within the components or circuit board(s) Although, if a fault were to develop within the electronics, one or more parts would open and cut off the supply of current. On most of the INSTEON products, during the Intertek ETL (the safety lab) safety testing, the engineer intentionally creates a shorted conditions within the electronics or the attached load to observe what happens and that it does not catch on fire. We have never failed this test.

There is a fuse installed in the LampLinc modules that is not required by the ANSI/UL-508 (the safety standard used to cover this product). We added it to 'fail-safe' the product after we found customers sometimes overloaded the X10 LampLinc Modules (made from 2001 to 2005) with too many Christmas tree lights. The fuse will open at 60% above the rated wattage.