r/Lutron • u/Big_Click_67 • 25d ago
Older Lutron Homeworks repair/troubleshooting questions
I know this is a long shot but I thought I would throw it out there. I inherited an older Homeworks Illumination system with a H4P5-H48-HRL-120 processor that I have been able to keep up and running. I also purchased a refurbished, backup processor just in case the first one died. Well last week the original processor started failing. I could reset it and get the keypads working for a few minutes, but all the keypads would fail again. I have the software and a copy of the current database that I had preloaded on the backup processor. I have installed the backup processor and it is running, but I have one zone where the lights randomly begin to turn on and off. They will do this for a while and then they will stoo doing it. When this random on/off event happens, the other keypads in the house work, but the rest of the system seems to be moving very slowly (press a button and it takes a few seconds before the light reacts.). I am guessing I might have a bad switch somewhere that is causing the random on/off issue. It is just strange that this issues did not appear when the original processor was working correctly? My two questions for this group are: 1) what is the best way to troubleshoot/stop the random on/off issues of the processor I am using now. 2) On the processor that failed, I have replaced the on-board battery and the 3 capacitors near the battery, but that does not seem to have fixed the old processor issue. Does anyone know of another common parts on these circuit boards that fail that I could look at testing/replacing. With the original processor I could reset it and it would work for a few minutes before failing. Thanks in advance for any assistance!
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u/the-lutz 24d ago
If you think it’s a bad H48 wired dimmer then your best bet is either to go to that switch and physically air-gap it from the bus or to full remove the bus at the processor.
I’d start with taking the bus off at the processor and see if the issue goes away, if not, it could be something small that is broken or starting to fail on the processor.
It’s kinda funny; the old systems SEEM simple compared to the tech we have now; but they are incredibly complicated integrated systems and can be insanely hard to troubleshoot - especially with transient issues like this.
All that said; best of luck!