Hello all.
I have figured out how to keep my devices organized in a logical manner in the WM100. The key to success is in understanding how the WM100 app places devices as you add them. When you add a device, the WM100 app will place that device in the
first available (empty) position
regardless of the X10 address that you are adding. Note: An empty position is
not visible when viewing the device tab. All assigned devices are shown one after the other with no indication that there are empty positions between any of them. Trust me, the next time you add a device it will populate in the first empty position available,
not where you want it to be or think it should be.A position is (or becomes) available if no device has been placed there (or if a previously placed device is deleted). Note that deleting a device from the Room tab or Scene tab will sometimes delete the device from the Device tab also, creating a now empty position. It is therefore suggested that you look for missing modules in your Device tab anytime you delete anything from the Scene or Room tabs. If anything is missing, simply add it back in the Device tab.
So the best way to keep your device list organized is to use a placeholder for every device. In the WM100 this means a maximum of 32 devices or placeholders. I use 'blank' as the name of my placeholder (without the ' s of course). I also set the device code to match that placeholder position and leave the light source question set to 'no'. Also be sure there are no timers assigned to a blank placeholder or you will get a lot of useless X10 traffic on your powerlines - no one likes traffic congestion
. You don't have to create placeholders for all 32 devices right away, but you
must have placeholders for
every unused position above the last actual device that you assign.
Here is my current device list as an example (all housecodes shown have been changed to protect the innocent
):
Consolettes on housecode A1 using 3 different appliance modules
FP Floods on housecode A2 using a dimmable wall switch
LR Lamps on housecode A3 using 2 different dimmable lamp modules
BR Lamp on housecode A4 using a dimmable lamp module
Circ. Pump on housecode A5 using an appliance module
blank on housecode A6 which is unused at this time
blank on housecode A7 which is unused
Batt. Chgr. on housecode A8 using an appliance module
Ant. Rotor on housecode A9 using an appliance module
blank on housecode A10 which is unused
blank on housecode A11 which is unused
blank on housecode A12 which is unused
blank on housecode A13 which is unused
blank on housecode A14 which is unused
Entry Mats on housecode A15 using an X10 switched wall outlet
Whirlpool on housecode A16 using an appliance module
I haven't assigned anything beyond A16 so I don't need to use placeholders after that device at this time. But let's say that tomorrow I decide to add a device at C12. Then I would have to add blank placeholders from C1 through C11 to prevent the WM100 app from placing a future C16 device ahead of C12 in the list.
The same is true if I delete a device that is currently placed above A16. If I do that and later add the future C12 device, WM100 will place C12 in the now empty position above A16. To avoid this, I do
not delete the device. Instead, I simply trash all timers for the device I am going to delete, then change the light source question to 'no', rename the position to 'blank' and save it. It is now a placeholder.
I apologize if this got too wordy but I hope it helps.
Author
Topic: How to organize your device entries (Read 1659 times)