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🔌General Home Automation => Automating Your House => Troubleshooting Automation Problems => Topic started by: mindyl333 on June 02, 2013, 02:07:34 PM

Title: Can't get light to turn off with motion sensor
Post by: mindyl333 on June 02, 2013, 02:07:34 PM
I have an MS13A motion sensor and an appliance module, and I'm trying to control a fluorescent light.  I think I have the settings on the motion sensor right; if I try to use it to regulate a lamp in another room, everything works ok.  When I hook it up to this particular light, I can't get the light to turn off.  When I click the "off" button on the motion sensor, nothing happens.  When I click the "on" button, I hear the appliance module give a double-click.

Advice?
Title: Re: Can't get light to turn off with motion sensor
Post by: Brian H on June 02, 2013, 02:19:02 PM
The light maybe generating a noise spike and confusing the appliance module? Or retriggering the Local Control Sensing Circuit.
Is it a fairly new one? Where X10 redesigned them to be CFL friendly.
As a test put a small incandescent night light  bulb along with the problem light on the appliance modules output and see if it calms down.
Let us know if the small bulb test changes anything.
Title: Re: Can't get light to turn off with motion sensor
Post by: dave w on June 02, 2013, 03:12:30 PM
When I hook it up to this particular light, I can't get the light to turn off.  When I click the "off" button on the motion sensor, nothing happens.  When I click the "on" button, I hear the appliance module give a double-click.
Besides Brian H's thought of the modules "local control" sensing circuit triggering the flourescent back ON, I'm wondering about high noise levels generated by the flourescent light when it is on. The noise might be high enough that the X10 OFF signal never gets to the module.

A simple test would be to unplug the light from the Appliance Module and see if you can get the module to click off then.  If so an X10 noise filter between the light and the Appliance Module should help.

Troubleshooting help:
http://jvde.us/x10_troubleshooting.htm