X10 Community Forum

💬General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: scali2018 on February 01, 2018, 12:04:36 PM

Title: Noise Issues???
Post by: scali2018 on February 01, 2018, 12:04:36 PM
Recently I have been experiencing quite a bit of intermittent behavior with my x10 dimmer switches.  B:(  They seem to go on/off randomly and sometimes don't respond to actual commands.  I switched from a CM15a to the new WiFi controller (WM100), but the problem persists. 

It all seemed to work great for years, then my PC with AHP died and I had to install a new one and it all seemed to start around then.  That may be a coincidence though. 

The dimmer switches are pretty old, do they get more susceptible to noise over time?  I am thinking about just switching everything to WiFi control and dumping x10 at this point.

Any help is appreciated.
Title: Re: Noise Issues???
Post by: dhouston on February 01, 2018, 12:23:39 PM
It all seemed to work great for years, then my PC with AHP died and I had to install a new one and it all seemed to start around then.  That may be a coincidence though. 
Plug your new PC into a noise filter. Modern power supplies are notorious noise makers.
Title: Re: Noise Issues???
Post by: scali2018 on February 01, 2018, 12:37:56 PM

Plug your new PC into a noise filter. Modern power supplies are notorious noise makers.
[/quote]

Thanks for the response.  The PC is completely off now, and I am only using the WiFi controller.   I have a noise filters on other computers.  I did switch some lights in the house (not on x10) to LED.  Could they be generating enough noise to do this?
Title: Re: Noise Issues???
Post by: dhouston on February 01, 2018, 12:45:25 PM
The PC is completely off now, and I am only using the WiFi controller.   I have a noise filters on other computers.  I did switch some lights in the house (not on x10) to LED.  Could they be generating enough noise to do this?
Unplug the PC as a first step. Some power supplies place capacitors across the line to prevent noise they create from reaching the powerline - these can eat X10 signals.

And LED lights do frequently create noise issues. There have been a few lists here of X10 friendly LEDs but as new models are released, they may not still deserve to make the list. I've had no issues with Cree but I've had mine for several years.