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🔌General Home Automation => Automating Your House => Troubleshooting Automation Problems => Topic started by: idbl_fanatic on November 06, 2007, 10:14:55 AM

Title: Can anyone think of a reason???
Post by: idbl_fanatic on November 06, 2007, 10:14:55 AM
I have a 5 foot LED strip under my kitchen cabinet that I tried to use a AM486 on to turn off and on, it will not work at all, if I unplug the strip of lights, the AM486 will work fine. Has anyone ever seen this before?
Title: Re: Can anyone think of a reason???
Post by: HA Dave on November 06, 2007, 11:45:04 AM
I have a 5 foot LED strip under my kitchen cabinet that I tried to use a AM486 on to turn off and on, it will not work at all, if I unplug the strip of lights, the AM486 will work fine. Has anyone ever seen this before?

I have NOT seen that before. I have some LED lights... the problem I have is the appliance module (AM486) leaks enough power it sorta lights the LED's. It would be my guess..... that the LED strip is pulling just enough power to generate noise... so the AM486 can't hear the ON/OFF line signal.

On one LED I use... I had to use a socket rocket... to get the true ON/OFF. I modified the unit with off the shelf adapters (http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?topic=13140.msg74325#msg74325). < click the link
Title: Re: Can anyone think of a reason???
Post by: Puck on November 06, 2007, 11:46:11 AM
I have a 5 foot LED strip under my kitchen cabinet that I tried to use a AM486 on to turn off and on, it will not work at all, if I unplug the strip of lights, the AM486 will work fine. Has anyone ever seen this before?

It is probably the local sense circuit of the appliance module. I have seen similar characteristics controlling LED Christmas lights.

There are mods to disable the local sense circuit; a search on the forum will locate more information.
Title: Re: Can anyone think of a reason???
Post by: dave w on November 06, 2007, 11:56:07 AM
I have a 5 foot LED strip under my kitchen cabinet that I tried to use a AM486 on to turn off and on, it will not work at all, if I unplug the strip of lights, the AM486 will work fine. Has anyone ever seen this before?

Yup,
And just like Dave_x10 I fixed it with a Socket Rocket. They do not have local control, so there is no current leakage keeping the LED's lit,  and for some reason they seem to be more immune to noise.
Title: Re: Can anyone think of a reason???
Post by: Brian H on November 06, 2007, 04:26:42 PM
I have some screw in base low wattage type LED bulbs. The Local Control Sensing current keeps them on at about half brightness. As expected a Socket Rocket is fine.
Title: Re: Can anyone think of a reason???
Post by: idbl_fanatic on November 06, 2007, 04:51:54 PM
So would I want to disable local control? or current sensing?
Title: Re: Can anyone think of a reason???
Post by: Brian H on November 06, 2007, 06:20:22 PM
As a test. Connect a regular incandescent light and the LED strips to the appliance modules output. If it them works better we can think about local control sensing current. There are mods to disable it but the newest appliance modules have been re-engineered by X10 for more modern components. We don't have a great amount of data on modifying them yet.
Title: Re: Can anyone think of a reason???
Post by: idbl_fanatic on November 06, 2007, 08:27:51 PM
Nope, still didnt work
Title: Re: Can anyone think of a reason???
Post by: Brian H on November 07, 2007, 06:50:44 AM
The Appliance Module will not even click or try to work with the LED bar connected; but does if they are not connected? Sounds like they are making noise and masking the X10 signals or have a power supply that has a capacitor on the input for noise absorbing the X10 signals.
An X10 type filter on the output between the appliance module and the LED bar is one option. Not 100% sure as we have not isolated the exact cause.
Title: Re: Can anyone think of a reason???
Post by: idbl_fanatic on November 07, 2007, 08:32:08 AM
SOrry the module will not even click