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Old X10 Modules Failing?

About 20 years ago I had the brilliant idea of installing X10-controlled floodlights under the eves of the house and putting the X10 modules that control same up in what passes for an attic.

Now something's getting flaky. There's this one set of lights where I can hit "All On" on a controller and the lights come on, but "All Off" will not turn them off - even though other lights do get turned off.

We've been through a couple of other similar happening. In one case, another controller would turn all lights on via "All On", but no lights responded to "All Off".

The obvious is that the modules up there are at the end of their lives and need tb replaced.

But I'm fishing for some other explanation before I crawl up there and start ripping things out - and running Romex down the soil stack to someplace more accessible to locate the new modules in.

Controller "volume"? Some interaction with other devices on the same circuit? Something with different circuits in the house blocking some X10 commands?

Anybody have experience?

--
PeteCresswell
Reply to
(PeteCresswell)
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If you are using CFL bulbs, try turning them off. I have noticed they seem to cause flaky operation in a usually stable setup at my house. Prolly due to the line noise they generate, especially if they are on the same line as the RF receiver / line transmitter unit.

- Tim -

Reply to
Tim

Hi!

They are so simple that a failure like that would surprise me.

I had a CM11A controller plugged in under my desk for the longest time, doing absolutely nothing. It wasn't even plugged into a computer. I'm sure it had been plugged in since the late 90s, and disconnected from power only when it went out.

I took it over to my other house to use it as a lighting controller for some of the halloween stuff I had out and it worked just like new after putting new batteries in it and programming it with a computer.

Anyway...back to your problem. Have you tried putting the controller and offending modules on the same circuit to see if the bad behavior persists?

If you are in the US and therefore have two "legs" of 120 volt power coming in, X10 modules can have a great deal of difficulty with this. If there isn't some kind of "bridge", the signal has to run all the way back out to the transformer to cross over to the other "leg". It may get very distorted in the process or be too weak to do this. I've seen this cause a module to respond to one command without responding to another.

Maybe you know all that. I mention it just because it's so easy to forget about it...or at least I have found that it's easy to forget.

There are other things that can cause problems with X10 communications. Surge protectors (don't plug X10 modules into them) intercoms that communicate over the household wiring, CFL bulbs, and switchmode power supplies can all cause problems.

I actually gave up on my X10 stuff at the one house because of interference. Modules would start coming on or going off--sometimes in rapid succession--all on their own! Ones that could dim would frequently do so. I could change the housecode when it started up, and that would solve it for a while, but whatever it was would eventually "follow" ... and there it went again!

I never did figure it out. Maybe it was nothing more than someone being extremely juvenile? The other house (across the street, on a differen transformer) has never had that problem.

William

Reply to
William R. Walsh

Per William R. Walsh:

I am flattered... but no, I don't know any of that.... I had heard somewhere about the surge protector thing.

Would PC power supplies be "switchmode"?

Did you find an alternative? When I was trying to get mControl working on my server, I dabbled briefly with Insteon units.

Got beau coups CFL bulbs... gonna try turning them all off as soon as I hit "Send" on this.

--
PeteCresswell
Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

Per (PeteCresswell):

No go.

Next, I'm re-installing mControl. If I can figure how to get the Insteon interface working, I'll point it at the offending X10 switch.

--
PeteCresswell
Reply to
(PeteCresswell)

FWIW, Pete, I have had several old X-10 modules that have gone flakey like you describe. It happens to both lamp controllers as well as appliance modules. The problem that I found in all the flakey ones was failed main power supply filter caps. Unfortunately they are tiny electrolytics of various ratings depending on the module, and somewhat difficult to find. In every case the replacement of the filter cap corrected the problems and they have been working well since. Some of them are now up to about 30 years old.

Neil S.

Reply to
nesesu

Hi!

You should definitely consider all of it. If you could arrange a test to see if the problem is distance or signal strength related, it would tell you a lot.

(An outlet strip can be used temporarily to do this, as can multiple outlets on the same circuit. At least that's how I've done it.)

Yes, they are. The power demands practically require it--otherwise their power supplies would be heavy, hot running and inefficient.

No, it really wasn't that high of a priority. The X-10 stuff wasn't really doing anything that I couldn't live without or do in some other way. And I could have installed a filter at the service panel to block the interference out totally.

I really do wonder if it was all caused by someone with nothing better to do than to goof around with stuff that wasn't theirs. Last year I operated the holiday decorations in the yard with a lamp module and X-10 timer clock. It ran this stuff for over a month and never missed a beat.

William

Reply to
William R. Walsh

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