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[Gator13]

Hi Guys, As I posted in my introduction thread I have had X-10 stuff for over 15 years or so. Pretty much trouble free except for a glitch now and then but everything worked fine. Until about two months ago. We had a power failure that lasted about two hours I'm told. Ever since that time or abouts my stuff quit working. At first I thought my trusty CM11A may have took a power surge hit and fried but after I ordered a new unit with the AHP (don't get me started on that software) I realized nothing worked with my remote (I don't use it very often) Now I have two IR543 and two TM751 so coverage isn't a problem.  Any way I thought my transceivers may have took a hit so I started testing my units with a plug strip. And nothing worked, and I mean nothing. The wall switches worked manually but nothing worked with the remote. So I packed everything up and took it to work and guess what, everything worked fine. Now I take it back home and nothing works. I do know a bit about normal line noise and such and nothing has changed as far as new appliances added or anything so I don't get it. I mean I even tried the transceiver and a lamp module in the same outlet and nothing. Have any of you heard of such a thing? Is there anything the power company might do that would block or otherwise keep the signal from working even in the plug strip. Any help would be appreciated. I'm just stumped.

[JeffVolp]

I suggest looking for a noise source.  While nothing may have changed at a physical level, something may have happened at an electrical level.  The line voltage may be slightly different since the power failure, causing a switching supply to shift its frequency into the X10 band.  A transient during power switching may have popped a metalized capacitor that is part of a powerline noise filter somewhere.

You probably know the drill - unplug anything that can be a potential problem.  Assuming that fixes your X10 problems, plug them back in one by one until you isolate the culprits.  Candidates are any switching power supplies, compact fluorescent lights, and even the newer 120V LED lights.  Note that most electronic gear today has switching power supplies, so even a little cellphone charger can be causing problems:

http://jvde.us/x10/x10_cellet_noise.htm

Jeff

[Gator13]

Thanks for your reply, I guess I'll have to eliminate everything and start from scratch. I was trying to avoid that. It has been a long time since I recorded my incoming line voltage so I have no idea what it was before and after this happened. I do have the usual noise makes such as CFL and halogen and such but it was never a problem before. The thing that got me was the units didn't work on the plug strip or even the same outlet. I thought the signal would at least make it that far without getting punched. I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

[Brian H]

I don't suppose you have any X10 Noise and Signal tester like an ELK ESM1 or a Smarthome TesterLinc.

[Dan Lawrence]

Just for the record, the ELK ESM1 is no longer available or even in production.   

[systemdm]

I bought one of these the middle of May from Automated Outlet for $100 including shipping.

http://www.automatedoutlet.com/Home?search=ESM1

[systemdm]

I forgot, you can also rent these.

Great way to test X10 signal strength and noise levels!
 
This is a RENTAL meter. You will initially be charged the $99.00 purchase price for this unit when you order it but upon return of the unit to us, you will be refunded the purchase price less $20 per each 30 days you have the meter.
 
We believe that people should be able to test their system to maximize it's usefulness. This is why we make these meters available to you at a low rental rate!

http://www.automatedoutlet.com/Home/Test-Equipment/ELK-ESM1-TEST

[Gator13]

I don't suppose you have any X10 Noise and Signal tester like an ELK ESM1 or a Smarthome TesterLinc.

No I don't. I will try the unplugging stuff drill this weekend and see what happens. if that don't work I may look into the meter. Never really had a use for one. I did check my electric meter just to make sure the utility didn't install a smart meter with out me knowing but they didn't. They put one on the gas meter but not the elec. I heard those will cause trouble with X-10 when installed.

[Gator13]

Well I got everything working again. I never did get a chance to power down the whole house but did unplug a few things but to no avail. I did install a Signalinc repeater in the mean time, I figured when I do get things working it will just help things out a bit. Well the book is not very helpful in explaining the functions of the LEDs but by watching them operate when using my remote it appears the red flashes when receiving a signal and the green flashed when it re-transmits the signal. That's all well and good except I had a solid red light on one phase all the time which I assumed was a constant source of noise rather then a signal. At least I new what circuit to look at for the problem. Long story short I unplugged the power strip for my computer and bingo, no more red light and everything works great. When I bought the Signalinc I also bought a plug in filter so I put it in line and we are back in business. So the problem appears to be my wireless router. My daughters friend swapped out my router with a better one with more range at about the same time we had the power outage. I did know he swapped it out but forgot all about it so that was the trouble the whole time. Thanks for your help guys.

[Brian H]

A solid Red LED sure sounds like a noise source.
Glad you found the problem and for your tests. The Red LED was enough to find it.