Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

I remember those! Thanks for posting it.

I'd start by pulling the bulbs because if that's the problem it's the easiest fix.  You can find an assortment of GU10 LED bulbs here:
https://www.homedepot.com/b/Lighting-Light-Bulbs-LED-Light-Bulbs/Indoor-Outdoor/GU10/N-5yc1vZbm79Z1z0x2dlZ1z11evg

Starting from the farthest point and working back is the best way to troubleshoot this IMO.  I do think the bulbs are the most likely cause of the problem.

The CFL's electronic should be in the base of the unit. The bulbs maybe marked with a 120Volt label, wattage equivalent to a incandescent bulb and color temperature.
Though the fixture would have a light sensor in it for controlling it only going On at night.
It may not be noise though aging seems to go to noise.
Some CFL bulbs I have opened the base. Have a capacitor across the AC input. To stop electronic noise from getting back on the power lines. It will also absorb X10 power line signals when powered on a signal sucker.
I have seen LED bulbs with GU style bases.

Hi Brobin,
I can remove the GU10 bulbs, although I am not certain that all the driver circuitry is in the base of the bulbs. The light sensor module is in the fixture itself.

The fixtures were made to take the GU10 bulbs, and they are a variety of CFL that do not have an Edison base socket. The bulb has two terminals that bayonet lock into the special socket in the fixture, and I'm not clear if it is simply a special socket that passes 120vac from the light-dark photocell module (which I presume contains a triac - no clicks like a relay), or if there is some kind of ballast circuitry in the socket itself. I imagined when I bought the fixtures that there were some ballast components in the socket, since they HAD to take GU10 CFLs because of the odd socket. But I don't really know..., just my fantasy about the odd socket instead of  the standard Edison base.

I do have a bad GU10 that I am  going to recycle (it says it has mercury in it) and I can probably open the base to see what's inside without breaking the tube open in the process. The quirks of the porch fixtures are the reason I was contemplating disconnecting them in the wiring. The oddities of the system make troubleshooting less straightforward and more labor-intensive, no matter how I go at it.

Suggestions about which way to go in this particular circumstance?

Thanks!

Thank you for sharing your find.
That was before my time with X10 started.

Goin thru cleaning up boxes of old X10 stuff, and I ran across this dinosaur:  BR521! 

Found a few BR wall modules too!

Predecessor to our beloved X10 home security modules!  WOW.  I may plug it in and see if it still works!  No serial or USB connection so must be just using the buttons on its front.

Hope there are a few oldies like me still around who might get a smile out of this old precurser to X10.

The thing I'd like to see you test for first is interference from one of the CFL bulbs.  Can you just unscrew the bulbs?  CFL's can cause interference even when new but even if you found some good ones they can start spewing noise as they get older.  Until we know that one or more bulbs aren't causing the problem it's better to hold off on rewiring or adding filters.

I'd confirm my issue was the Cm15 prior to getting any new hardware.
Test with a PC running a 32bit version of Windows.
 If the only issue is downloading to the Cm15 and it works fine otherwise. There are lots of options.

I am running 32 bit Windows. The only issue I have is trying to dnload macros or update the hardware interface.
I changed all my macros and timers to run from the PC. They all work just fine. So it looks like the problem could be related to a MSoft update.

You might reach out to Sammie at Smartenit and ask about replacement availability or including a spare for an additional $20 and see what she says. 

I'll reach out to Sammie later today about replacement availability.

Since the CM15A still works from the PC, I am looking at the following options.
Do nothing.
Look into the Smartenit hub
Look at other software that can use the CM15A or equivalent.
Right now, I only have X10 around my house but will probably have other non-X10 hardware.

The AHP software has served me well over the years but it takes some trial and error to get thing working correctly. An example is when I just switched to having the macros run from the PC. When they were running from the interface, I had to put delays within them for them to work. Running from the PC, the macros work without the delays. (go figure)

With that in mind, I have been looking at HomeSeer since it works with the CM15A and other hardware to run X10 (ACT TI103 X-10 Computer Interface or others). Homeseer works with a lot of hardware and has a large community base of users.

So....it looks like my analysis will continue for a little while since this is what I do.
Thanks

Just a couple of pointers before I finish on this topic. X10 is no longer officially supported in Homeseer. Hasn’t been for quite a while. One of the forum members supports it in his spare time. You’ll have a bit of learning before you’re up to speed too. Most if not all of the other alternatives will require support and learning too.

X10 ownership has fallen off the cliff over the last number of years. Just look at eBay X10 second hands for sale as an example. Support is down to a trickle everywhere. This is probably the last bastion for X10 help.

You’ve two choices here. Dump X10 and move on or get your AHP/CM15 back on track. The CM15 may work attached to your AHP computer as it will with any other computer supporting the CM15 protocol. The problem appears to be when you leave the CM15 to do its job as a stand-alone programmed X10 Controller. That would point to failing eprom/memory.

As I suggested a replacement CM15 new $80 with an old AHP PC to program it and you’re back in business and working completely in your comfort zone. If you do fancy a challenge there’s plenty of info here on Homegenie which can be used in conjunction with a replacement CM15 on your current PC or if you prefer a Raspberry Pi so you won’t be out of pocket in either case.

Hi Brobin,

Thanks for your reply.
I don't have a manual switch for the CFL porch lights anymore, as I only use the x10 to turn them on, and they are hard wired into the x10 module which is hardwired into the AC line in the crawl space under the house IIRC. I can try to disconnect the second X10 module for the porch lights, maybe tomorrow or the day after, to see what that will do.

Come to think of it, I could probably rewire the porch lights to be directly in parallel with the primary of the transformer for the walkway lights so the same x10 module controls both. Might that be a better arrangement?

Would a noise filter between the appliance module and the combined load of 1)transformer and 2)porch lights (with their internal photocell controls and GU10 CFLs) be a good idea to enhance the integrity of the x10 system? 

Thanks for sharing your expertise on this!

I have a few I thought of.
The X10 MT10A,MT13A,MT14A can do about the same thing as the BSR Timer. Table top like the BSR.

The Smarthome 1132CU could also be programmed with a computer and then run stand alone. Is the same case used by the Insteon PLM and PLC.

I guess we could include the GE HomeMinder but that required a TV and a remote for programming - now THAT's clunky!  I had one of those for awhile but if the power went out for more than 10 seconds you had to reprogram the whole thing from scratch!