# \[comment\]Gremlins having taken over my RBE node!

**URL:** <https://discourse.nodered.org/t/comment-gremlins-having-taken-over-my-rbe-node/2907>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [6 September 2018 11:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/comment-gremlins-having-taken-over-my-rbe-node/2907 "2018-09-06T11:44:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cymplecy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/cymplecy/32/2773_2.png) [@cymplecy](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/cymplecy)\
**Post date:** [6 September 2018 11:44 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/comment-gremlins-having-taken-over-my-rbe-node/2907/1 "2018-09-06T11:44:12Z")

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I've a cheerlights flow that's been working for ages and ages without fail  
today I get this

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/uploads/nodered/original/2X/3/32861cda8e7946782c7a42f15910234499506d4c.png)

Green on input to the RBE - cyan (which was the previous colour) on its output

I did nuffin honest guv

_BTW Not looking for help - these sort of things just happen ! 🙂_

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**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [6 September 2018 19:49 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/comment-gremlins-having-taken-over-my-rbe-node/2907/2 "2018-09-06T19:49:00Z")

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Is it possible that the messages do not all have the same topic?

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**Author:** ![cymplecy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/cymplecy/32/2773_2.png) [@cymplecy](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/cymplecy)\
**Post date:** [6 September 2018 20:00 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/comment-gremlins-having-taken-over-my-rbe-node/2907/3 "2018-09-06T20:00:53Z")

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They shouldn't (all come from same source AFAIK) but could be some sort of explanation

its tricky with cheerligh stuff at moment as since the Twitter API changes - the main listener on thingsspeak is losing messages so trying to keep track of what;s going on is proving problematical

So throwing this into the mix has really not helped ☹

I've always believed that gremlins do inhabit computing devices - I now believe that they are using Bell Continuum quantum signalling to co-ordinate actions! 🙂

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**Author:** ![cymplecy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/cymplecy/32/2773_2.png) [@cymplecy](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/cymplecy)\
**Post date:** [6 September 2018 20:02 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/comment-gremlins-having-taken-over-my-rbe-node/2907/4 "2018-09-06T20:02:20Z")

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Or it could be that my PiZero running this (and about 9 others) flow is struggling under the load

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**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [6 September 2018 20:07 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/comment-gremlins-having-taken-over-my-rbe-node/2907/5 "2018-09-06T20:07:39Z")

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> [@cymplecy](#):
>
> Or it could be that my PiZero running this (and about 9 others) flow is struggling under the load

I have difficulty seeing how that would cause the problem you show. If it is happening regularly you could just make the change node before it clear the topic.

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**Author:** ![cymplecy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/cymplecy/32/2773_2.png) [@cymplecy](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/cymplecy)\
**Post date:** [6 September 2018 20:14 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/comment-gremlins-having-taken-over-my-rbe-node/2907/6 "2018-09-06T20:14:17Z")

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> [@Colin](#):
>
> I have difficulty seeing how that would cause the problem you show.

Agreed but when something that's been working fine for months and you honestly believe that you haven't changed anything starts intermittantly failing then you start clutching at straws 🙂

> [@Colin](#):
>
> If it is happening regularly you could just make the change node before it clear the topic.

I'm thinking about implications of not actually having it in the flow to simplfy it -I've always had it in to prevent duplicate mqtt messages going out but it might not have any real effect if I let them thru

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colin](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex026/user_avatar/discourse.nodered.org/colin/32/17040_2.png) [@Colin](https://discourse.nodered.org/u/Colin)\
**Post date:** [6 September 2018 20:37 UTC](https://discourse.nodered.org/t/comment-gremlins-having-taken-over-my-rbe-node/2907/7 "2018-09-06T20:37:12Z")

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> [@cymplecy](#):
>
> 'm thinking about implications of not actually having it in the flow to simplfy it -I've always had it in to prevent duplicate mqtt messages going out but it might not have any real effect if I let them thru

If the messages are going to an mqtt node then different topics would be going to different destinations on mqtt anyway, so the node would be working as expected. If you think that the topics should all be the same, but you are seeing a regular apparent problem then put a switch node in, checking for the expected topic and sending to o/p 1, with Otherwise going to o/p 2. Then see if you get any messages out of o/p 2.