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🖥️ActiveHome Pro => ActiveHome Pro General => Help & Troubleshooting => Topic started by: jhnidy on October 14, 2011, 08:55:20 AM

Title: Testing a 6229
Post by: jhnidy on October 14, 2011, 08:55:20 AM

About two weeks ago, half my house started ignoring all x10 commands from the c15a.  Is there a way to test a 6229?  The house is now acting like it was before I put in the 6229 which worked well for a couple of years.

Title: Re: Testing a 6229
Post by: Brian H on October 14, 2011, 10:39:35 AM

What is a Leviton 6229?
A 6299 is the passive coupler similar to the X10Pro XPCP.
A 6201 is the active coupler repeater similar to a X10Pro XPCR.

Have you changed anything in the home. Like a new TV or electronic goodie?

Do you have any X10 remotes and maybe a transceiver? If so you could move around the house and see if the part that seems to be a problem starts working from some locations and the part that was OK is then a problem.

Title: Re: Testing a 6229
Post by: jhnidy on October 16, 2011, 01:08:48 PM

You are correct.  It is a 6299.

I am not real quick on the keyboard but here are the details:

The cm15a was plugged into an outlet in a second floor bedroom.  It controlled everything I asked it to.  About two weeks ago, anything plugged into any outlet in the family room became uncontrollable with the cm15a.  When I moved up to the cm15a, I removed all the transceivers from the house because the cm15a was supposed to receive all the house codes.

As part of the trouble shooting procedure, I moved the cm15a into the family room.  Not only did it cease to control anything, I had to get the old transceivers out of the drawer and plug them in just to the the palm pilots (HR12a) to work.

So it looks like my family room has become disconnected from the rest of the house as far as the cm15a is concerned.

I doubt that a wire broke loose in the fuse box and it can't be a blown fuse since I did not have enough fuses in the box to dedicate two fuses to the 6299 so it piggybacks on other fuses.  I know that this is not the best practice and I am considering having an electrician come in and put in a new larger box this time with breakers.  But the permit and inspection costs are unreal in this area.

So before I tear open the fuse box again, I thought I would ask if there was a way to test the 6299.  I will probably just buy another and when it arrives, I will open the fuse box.  But if there was a test, I would test before spending money.

Thanks

Title: Re: Testing a 6229
Post by: JeffVolp on October 16, 2011, 01:25:21 PM

The Leviton 6299 is an excellent passive coupler with dual tuned-circuits.  While it is possible that something might have failed, the type of components used in both the 6299 and XPCP should be very reliable.

I suspect your problems may be due to other electronic devices added to your electrical environment.  Something as simple as a new cellphone charger can cause serious problems.

You might want to read some of the troubleshooting guides I wrote:

http://jvde.us/x10_troubleshooting.htm

In particular, look for anything new on the family room circuit.  Maybe a flat-panel TV?  One of my customers recently reported trouble from a new Sony game system.

Jeff

Title: Re: Testing a 6229
Post by: Brian H on October 16, 2011, 03:56:30 PM

I bought a 1.6 watt small Night Light CFL to play with.
In my test outlet where my XTB-IIR hits my XTBM at 9.90 volts. Plugging in the light. No noise but the X10 signal dropped to 7.5 volts. A massive signal sucker.  ???
Guess "Good Choice" as a brand name should have been the clue.  ;D

Sometime something as simple as a new device or moving one to a new location. Can effect communications.

Title: Re: Testing a 6229
Post by: jhnidy on October 19, 2011, 01:31:50 PM

I printed out the trouble shooting guide and I guess I will just start unplugging things around the house.  I can't say that any one thing got added lately but it would be easy to plug something in and forget all about it.

If I can pinpoint where the signal is going, I will tell you what I found.

Thanks

Title: Re: Testing a 6229
Post by: jhnidy on October 21, 2011, 12:37:25 PM

I have proven that I can break anything.  A friend loaned me a 6299 and now almost all the house is back on line.
My 6299 was screwed together so I was able to look inside and it sure looks like nothing could be broken.  I guess I could have wasted a cap but it did not short out since no fuses went away.

I believe that I will eBay one of the boosters that are out there since they are much cheaper than I thought.  Maybe that will put the whole house back in the listening mode.

Title: Re: Testing a 6229
Post by: Brian H on October 21, 2011, 01:06:15 PM

Thanks for the update.