X10 Community Forum
🛡Home Security => Problems and Troubleshooting => Topic started by: kevinb on December 26, 2009, 08:30:29 PM
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I had a working system for over a year and then I started getting a blinking light or two. I reinstall all 16 zones and then a week later the same two started blinking. I replaced the two door/window sensors and reinstalled the alarm and a few days later the same ones started blinking again. I replaced all the batteries and still those two zones 1 & 8 started blinking. Any thoughts?
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.... the same two started blinking.
Since the batteries are new.. and the DS10A's are new... I would guess the location may have changed. Although I realize in most cases that can't actually be true. The console can be moved or the antenna grounded... or colasped. Or something moved so as to interfear with the reception from the "two sensors". Like maybe a new refrigerator, or plasma TV?
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Nothing has changed. I have sensors that are downstairs and they never have a problem. The two that are not working are both less than 30 feet from the unit.
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As Dave_x10_L stated.
something moved so as to interfear with the reception from the "two sensors".
Do a search for RF interference.
It is not always an electrical device that can effect the sensors. B:(
Is it a clear line of sight to these sensors?
Since you replace the old sensors with new ones test the old ones in another location possible where others are working flawless.
>!
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I am going to move the base and see if that helps. After looking at other post the only thing that could have caused this problem is the addition of a 5.8 gig phone.
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Moving it didn't work. Is there another wireless system I can try?
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Did you try changing the channel on the phone?
Did you unplug the phone base and test with it unplugged? ??? ;)
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I didn't do anything to the phone, because I need it working. I am able to successfully install the alarm and then within a few days a few sensors start flashing. I have replaced those win/door sensor reinstalled and then a few days later the same thing happens.
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try using a wired phone for a few days to rule out the possibility that the 5.8ghz phone is interfering with your sensors.
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My brother has this same system with the same phone and has never had a problem. I wish I could find another model to try. Thanks
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After looking at other post the only thing that could have caused this problem is the addition of a 5.8 gig phone.
kevinb,
I did tech support for 20 years. One of the first questions I asked was about additions to the system (just) before it started malfunctioning. Anything that was added became a prime suspect until it was ruled out.
Other posters have suggested/requested that you take that phone out of the equation and test. The options suggested, removing the cordless phone and/or replacing it with a land line are very good first steps.
BTW, my tech support experience was 100% in telephony - big and small systems.
As a result of my work experience, I will never have only a cordless phone system in my house. The reason is simple, electrical power. When, not if, you lose power to your house, your cordless phone system will not work unless you have battery backup for it. On the other hand, your landline will continue to work because it is powered through the phone line by the phone company.
Mel
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............. electrical power. When, not if, you lose power to your house, your cordless phone system will not work unless you have battery backup for it. On the other hand, your landline will continue to work because it is powered through the phone line by the phone company.
Good point Mel99! I don't know why we don't post more about the normal natural disasters that regularly effect our lives. Lost of power is normal reoccurring event. Keeping a working phone and a flashlight handy can add a lot of safety and security to your life.
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I have landlines in two places - on my night stand: I want to be able to answer that call in the middle of the night without looking for one of the cordless phones somebody forgot to put back on the charger - and in the office: I want to know that there will always be a phone there.
Don't get me started on working flashlights and spare batteries. My wife thinks I'm a little OCD about those two little items.
I noticed I got a Helpful. Thanks. I figured one day I'd get one, so I prepared that following (with credit and apologies to the 'Riddick Trilogy').
Jack/Krya - How do I get a (Helpful) like that?
Riddick - You gotta (help) a few people.
Krya - Did a lot of that
Riddick - And then you get sent to a slam where they tell you you'll never see daylight again. So you dig up a doctor, pay him twenty menthol Kools to give you a (Helpful)…
Krya - Only there wasn't a doctor there who would give me a (Helpful), not even for 20 menthol Kools. Was there anything you said that was true?
>!
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In another thread a poster discovered his X10 Security System problem as accidental dual installation of the same sensor. Is that possible here?
I am assuming when you repalced the two problem sensors the first time, you replaced with NEW sensors, so you might try moving two sensors from the known good locations to the two problem locations and see if they develop the same symptoms. (basically Tuicemens suggestion).
I'm also of the opinion it is a location problem....is the 5.8 GHz phone the ONLY new RF gizmos you have??
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I'll throw in my 2 pennies here.
What's the proximity of the alarm system to the nearest HAM operator, or supermarket with automatic doors or governmental agency running a new radio system or the nearest airbase?
When Agent99 did an antenna mod to his CM15, he picked up a lot of "skip", which instead of helping his system, it actually made it worse.
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I have a land line but if the power goes out for more than an hour. The phones go dead. Seem there is a phone equipment shack at the end of my road and its batteries last about an hour. ::)
If it is going to be a real long time with out power. They sometimes park a trailer full of batteries next to the shack and connect it to a battery jack on the side of it.
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I have a land line but if the power goes out for more than an hour. The phones go dead. Seem there is a phone equipment shack at the end of my road and its batteries last about an hour. ::)
If it is going to be a real long time with out power. They sometimes park a trailer full of batteries next to the shack and connect it to a battery jack on the side of it.
Really??
My understanding of the near-monopoly enjoyed by local telephone companies (for land line service) was that they are required by FCC regulation to provide uninterrupted service to the local subscriber. If you lose power on your phone lines, you might have cause to contact the FCC.
All the local telco's I've worked with have the UPS batteries at each local office.
This does not include the features, such as speed dial, etc on a land line phone that has a electrical connection to one of your outlets. This also excludes business installations that have a PBX or a multi-line key system.
A lot of businesses with sophisticated phone systems also have one or more traditional land lines for the sole reason of being able to make calls during an extended power outage at their site and their UPS batteries are exhausted.
The basic phone service such as dial tone and the ability to make and receive calls are supposed to always be there for residential users.
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I'll throw in my 2 pennies here.
What's the proximity of the alarm system to the nearest HAM operator, or supermarket with automatic doors or governmental agency running a new radio system or the nearest airbase?
When Agent99 did an antenna mod to his CM15, he picked up a lot of "skip", which instead of helping his system, it actually made it worse.
When was Agent99 a member here, but is Barbara Feldon an X10 user?
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When was Agent99 a member here, but is Barbara Feldon an X10 user?
Actually Agent99's memory is/was a tad faulty... he didn't realize that 86 was the guy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Adams). Its been a couple years since we've seen much of Agent99 here. After his problems with the CM15A... he turned to the darkside (Elk).
Everyone is right about the battery backup! Except I think utility regulation is done by states. So expect the amount of time involved in service downage and repairs to be different than the old days.
Phone (and power company's) are required to "have a plan"... but not a perfect plan. The vast majority of phone service [power caused] outages last just minutes. And they have [in most cases] tiny UPS battery backup to handle that. In my tri-state area phone company's [as well as power companys] have agreements of cooperation so they share people and resources during emergencys. The phone companys have portable generators that can keep switching stations running during extented periods of outage.
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iam having the same prob mine is zone 8 flashes after awile but all sensors chim and set off the alarm. i notice if you have a hand held remote and you press all lights on or off button that zone led will stay on or off. that is press the button and hold it on and see if the led stays on or off, i think the consol or the hand held remote or both,
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Re: Agent 99
Sorry, he uses a different name here. He changed to Agent99 at the chat to avoid confusion as we have more than our fair share of "Dave"'s there.
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iam having the same prob mine is zone 8 flashes after awile but all sensors chim and set off the alarm. i notice if you have a hand held remote and you press all lights on or off button that zone led will stay on or off. that is press the button and hold it on and see if the led stays on or off, i think the consol or the hand held remote or both,
???
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well i got mine to work properly, it was 2 sensors to close to gether , i used 1 sensor as a glass break sensor & 1 as a D/W sensor they where to close to each other, i seperated them and had no problems works fine.
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........As a result of my work experience, I will never have only a cordless phone system in my house. The reason is simple, electrical power. When, not if, you lose power to your house, your cordless phone system will not work
That's pretty harsh Mel! Cordless phones are SO much more convenient! :)
Why not do what I do? Enjoy the convenience of your cordless BUT also plug a hardwired old one in the closet so you got the backup but not the inconvenience?
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My two cents on the 2 flaky zones. I have 2 systems on two properties.
One has been near flawless for maybe 3 years?
Other one worked a year then got flaky and dang thing would go off in the middle of the night or when we were not home. random. I traced it to 2 DS10 sensors that seemed to be the flaky zones. called x10 asked what could be causing this. no help. I would tell you I replaced at least one of those ds10s best i can recall after all the messing around i did. FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT: the screws holding the wires on the reed switch were loose! so random loose connection and bamb! alarm is triggered at 2am! but I swear i replaced those darn ds10s during my 2 month fight to fix this. been 6 months now and no false alarms again.
so might there be a loose wire? or might the location of the magnet & switch be a bit to far or out of alignment?
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....the screws holding the wires on the reed switch were loose! so random loose connection and bamb! alarm is triggered at 2am! but I swear i replaced those darn ds10s during my 2 month fight to fix this.......
so might there be a loose wire? or might the location of the magnet & switch be a bit to far or out of alignment?
Maybe... you replaced that DS10A [like you remember]... they can be defective. But you didn't get the wires secure to the already mounted magnetic switch [that you reused]. The DS10A will sense resistance and trigger when tampered with and the loose screws caused it to think it was being short-wired.
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Well thank you Dave! I was beginning to think my mind was going! Sure, I would have replaced the ds10 but not the switch cuz it was mounted solid to the wall! i do recall being able to turn the wire hold down screws on more than a couple reed switches by 1/4 to 1/2 turn more! surprised me.
so moral of the story is yep, even if ds10 was replaced, those little screws may still be loose....
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This might be a stupid question but....could an LED lightbulb interfere with x10 signals?
I'm only asking because I just installed one and now my system is "acting up".
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This might be a stupid question but....could an LED lightbulb interfere with x10 signals?
Not stupid at all. The blanket answer is a huge YES. However the LED bulbs that have an array of small LEDs are less likely to cause problems. The spotlight style bulbs that have one, two, or three big LED chips are more prone to cause noise as they usually have very small power supplies in the socket portion of the bulb and because of the small space, noise filtering caps or coils for the supply are inadequate.
So why not just unscrew the bulb and see if system gets back to normal?
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I will second the Yes.
I have an EarttLED EvoluxS that make between .60 and .99 volts X10 noise on my XTBM and it could be higher as I believe .99 is the maximun it will display.
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So why not just unscrew the bulb and see if system gets back to normal?
Well, for 2 reasons...first off my system was soooo out of whack that I had to to a complete reset (taking out batteries, unplugging, reinstalling) and secondly
I LOVE THESE LED LIGHTBULBS! I have the ones with the array of smaller led's and find that the light is not as harsh, it's quite warm and relaxing. And they consume so much less energy! They're great!
So far my system is up and running smoothly again after reinstall and with LED light bulbs in socket rockets (LM15A). I'll see how it goes.
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well i got mine to work properly, it was 2 sensors to close to gether , i used 1 sensor as a glass break sensor & 1 as a D/W sensor they where to close to each other, i seperated them and had no problems works fine.
Humm how close were those sensors maybe this could be affecting my sisters system, only thing shes had her's for a year without any problems and the sensors are still in the same location. One thing you have me thinking though is possibly she has a bad sensor and it's putting out some inference whata' you think Tuce ???
Tom j.