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[xephalon]

Hi there,

I've been an X10 user for 7 years with a stable signal in my condo. Over the past few weeks, two of my light modules would intermittently turn on by themselves, not respond to transmitted signals, or respond to the wrong signal (e.g. an A-2 signal triggers the A-4 module). The strange thing is that the transceiver is from the SAME outlet as the two light modules that are behaving strangely. Meanwhile, other lamp modules from different outlets are fine.

I've tried replacing the remote, the transceiver, and the lamp/appliance module without improvement. I can't move the transceiver to another outlet because it's the only outlet that can send signals to all the lamps in the room. I looked into a coupler/repeater, but I don't think it'll help since the intermittent X10 signals are plugged into the same outlet as the transceiver (so coupling should not be the problem)

Any suggestions? I'd appreciate your help.

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

Sounds like power line noise.

Have you plugged in anything new lately?  A new TV,  a cell phone charger, a compact flourescent light, etc.?

[RichardUK]

I had simular odd behaviour the other day, half of my kit would only work once then not again, turned out to be the filtered extension cable my pc is using had gone wonkey.

[HA Dave]

Sounds like power line noise.
Have you plugged in anything new lately?  A new TV,  a cell phone charger, a compact flourescent light, etc.?

I think Bill hit the nail on the head. I got my clue to what you posted:

.... I can't move the transceiver to another outlet because it's the only outlet that can send signals to all the lamps in the room.

There shouldn't [normally] be any reason as why it would have to transceive from just that one outlet.

Many (if not all) electrical device can make some noise. Think of line noise as being the same as human conversation. The number of devices on a powerline can be similar to a small party where several people are gathered in a room or two having several different conversations at the same time. Even if the party isn't loud... several conversations can cause a listener to misunderstand what is being said. Particularly if you have one loud noise in the mix.

That misunderstanding... is much more likely to cause your modules to do nothing... but can also cause an accidental on.

Tracking down the noise... without the use of specialized tools like Jeff Volps XTBM (http://jvde.us/xtb_index.htm) can be really difficult. But with that TM751 only working in the one outlet.... you may be able to use it. Try moving it to another outlet that also has a working module. Then remove devices (that may be causing noise) from the line... one at a time. Test the remote use of lights after you remove each device. When lamps begin working... the last removed device (or two) will likely be the noise generator.

I should mention... this is iffy at best. But it's what I'd try.

[xephalon]

Thanks for the input! I did not plug in anything new (I know in the past that plugging in a laptop can disrupt the whole X10 grid). I will try disconnecting a few things on that outlet. The thing is that the problem is sometimes rampant (happens 4-5x/day) and sometimes scarce (like now) so it's hard to catch a problem when it's so intermittent. I'll keep you updated.

Thanks again!