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Author Topic: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION  (Read 6985 times)

Bob Taylor

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THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« on: May 18, 2005, 01:12:52 AM »

I have been a loyal AHP user since 01/05.
I have helped X10 and it's users since then
to resolve a multitude of problems. I
recently ran into a problem that the lowest
technical support person at X10 could not
resolve (I cannot even register my software)
so I jumped ship a and ordered SmartHome
equipment to replace my AHP software and
CM15A USB controller.  My friends and
family have done the same and have not had
any problems with the Snarthome product.
You neeed to spend some more money but you
will save yourself some major grief.....

I'll let you know the results !
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reinhardt

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Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2005, 10:23:02 PM »

Bob, tell us which equipment you replaced
with smarthome stuff so I can do the same.
I have a smarthome active phase coupler,
smarthome filters on all my signal suckers,
and two smarthome amplifiers and my X10
signals still dont reach my light
switches...only my outlets work...fed up!!!

Reinhardt  
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SteveRF

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Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2005, 10:41:12 PM »

Bob,
I have been a X10/CM15A customer since 12/04.
After X10 quickley replaced a quirky CM15A,
I have had no problems with my system.  Lots
of modules, macros and timers and everything
seems to be running really well.  Everything
is on time, on schedule and all the macros
fire when expected.  I also run a second
CM15A (with no program) to give me voice
announcements of specific events throughout
the day using the X10Dispatch program.
Everything seems to be just fine here...
Too bad you had so much trouble...maybe you
have really dirty power.
Regards,
SteveRF  
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JimC

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Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2005, 06:55:34 AM »

I agree with Steve RF. I have been using the
CM15A since it first came out. Ever since my
original unit was replaced with
a “diagnostic” unit my system has been
running  virtually trouble free.

I see a lot of posts, mostly from Bob, about
how bad X10 products are and how good
another manufacturers product is.  Wonder
why it is that this other products
manufacturer doesn’t have a forum like this
one where we could see what the owners of
these other products really  think.
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reinhardt

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Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2005, 07:19:53 AM »

Jim and SteveRF, you guys seem to be
knowledgable about this stuff...can you
help me?  I have all the x10 signal
enhancers (smarthome active phase coupler,
smarthome filters on all my signal
suckers,  and two smarthome amplifiers)
and my light switches still dont work.  Any
advice you can offer?  
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roger1818

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  • Roger H.
Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2005, 11:12:08 AM »

Part 2 of 2

If that isn’t your problem, turn off all
the circuit breakers in your house except
for the one your transceiver is on and one
of your wall switches is on.  Hopefully the
switch will now work properly.  If not,
unplug everything on those two circuits and
see if that helps.  If it still doesn’t
work, you have a major problem.

Assuming that you get the switch working,
start turning circuit breakers on one at a
time, checking with each one that the
switch still works.  If it stops working,
turn that breaker off again and continue
with the next breaker.

Once you have tried every breaker, you know
that one or more things on each of the
circuits that are off are causing you
problems.  For each of these breakers you
can narrow down what is causing your
problems by unplugging everything on those
circuits and plugging them back in one at a
time similar to the way you did things with
the breakers.

One other note, don’t assume that just
because something is plugged into a noise
filter that it won’t cause you problems.
Some things will generate more noise than a
single noise filter will remove.  It is
possible that something needs two noise
filters.
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roger1818

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  • Roger H.
Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2005, 11:12:27 AM »

Part 1 of 2

Reinhardt:  It is no surprise that it is
with the light switches that you are having
your problems.  The X10 brand switches
don’t have a neutral wire so they require
the X10 signal to travel through the load
(light), which will weaken the signal (I am
assuming you are controlling a standard
incandescent light).

Since you already have a phase coupler
(coupler/repeater) your problem could be
one of three things:
1) There is still something on the
powerline that is generating noise,
2) There is still something on the
powerline that is sucking up signal,
3) Noise is coming in from the outside of
your house.

Without a signal strength meter it is
challenging to find the source of the
problem, but it can be done.

First of all, make sure the signal
amplifiers are located somewhere where the
signal is weak.  If the signal is strong,
the amplifier can actually make the signal
weaker.  You also have to be careful that
they aren’t close to a noise source, as
they will also amplify the noise.  For most
people, signal amplifiers are not
necessary.  I would unplug the amplifiers
when doing your tests.
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JimC

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Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2005, 11:50:33 AM »

The only things I would add to Rogers’s
suggestions is the following . First what do
you mean by “my light switches still don’t
work”?  Do they work from the switch but not
from the remotes? If they do not work from
the switch, I would be curious exactly what
kind of light you are trying to control. If
it is florescent you can not control it from
a standard switch. If it is an outside light
which is controlled from a motion sensor it
may not present enough of a load, because of
the way some of these lights are internally
wired, to work with X10 light switches. If
the light you are trying to control is very
low wattage it also may not present enough
of a load for the switch to work.

I control lighting throughout my house and I
don’t have any signal amplifiers. The only
light I have ever had trouble with is one
that had an internal motion sensor. The only
phase coupling I have is a capacitor I
installed in the breaker box.

Roger, don’t know about you but I can’t help
but be a little suspicious of  the  true
source of  any post that mention Smart Home.
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roger1818

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  • Roger H.
Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #8 on: May 26, 2005, 12:47:19 PM »

Jim:  I agree that you can’t have any sort
of motion controlled by the Wall Switch.
The problem is the Wall Switch gets its
power by having current travel through the
load.  If the motion sensor is off the Wall
Switch won’t get any power.  Without any
power the Wall Switch will be off.  With
the Wall Switch off, the motion sensor
doesn’t have any power to turn itself on.
This is a catch 22 and neither can ever
turn on.

If you want to set up this kind of
arrangement, use a switch that has a
neutral wire.  This way the switch will
have power regardless of the state of the
motion sensor.  You should also make sure
the switch is not dimmable since motion
sensors don’t like being dimmed.
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reinhardt

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Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #9 on: May 26, 2005, 02:28:24 PM »

Thanks guys I will try these truble
shooting tips.  I am trying to control my
houses perimeter lights under the eaves (no
motion sensor) and my entry way light.  All
are incandesent.  Rest assured Jim, I'm not
trying to pitch for smarthome...my posts
clearly state that the smarthome products
aren't doing me any good either (they don't
work). Maybe I have a "dumbhome"

Reinhardt
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SteveRF

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Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #10 on: May 26, 2005, 09:42:45 PM »

Reinhardt,
Roger H. has done a really great job
outlining troubleshooting parameters to use.
I doubt anything could slip by those
procedures.  I sure hope you get everything
working to your satisfaction.
Great advice Roger !
SteveRF
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roger1818

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Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2005, 09:43:04 AM »

Steve:  Thanks for the complement.  Maybe I
should copy this procedure onto my web page.
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JimC

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Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #12 on: May 27, 2005, 10:57:36 AM »

Roger,

If you have information like that contained
in this thread on your web site I would be
interested in visiting it. Could you please
supply us with the address?

Thanks,

Jim
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roger1818

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  • Roger H.
Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #13 on: May 27, 2005, 11:52:11 AM »

Jim:  It is still under construction (then
again, what website isn’t ;) ), but two of
the current links are:

http://www.x10.webhop.org/Phase_Coupling.htm

and

http://www.x10.webhop.org/Powerline_Noise_an
d_Noise_Filters.htm

I hope to update them soon.  At that time
the name of the second link will probably
be made shorter.  I will post to this forum
when this happens.
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anonymous

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Re: THE WORKING RIGHT SOLUTION
« Reply #14 on: May 27, 2005, 01:42:32 PM »

reinhardt,

What kind of wall switch are you using?
WS467?
Do the lights turn on and off locally?
If you have a mini controller you can plug
that in on the same circuit and see if the
switch responds, or a TM751/RR501 and a
remote.
Also how many lights are you switching? The
WS467 has a 500 watt max. I think normal
floods are around 150 watts,  3 1/3 lights =
500w.
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