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[GoGators]

I am hoping to get some help from the pros on this forum.  I have an XPT wall controller.  It turns on two of my pool devices, the waterfall and pool lights.  The system has been highly intermittent, and now does not work at all.  I am looking for some troubleshooting steps or any advice to let me figure out what is broken.  I have switched from A to D, and switched the two switches between 1 and 2 to see if it is a frequency issue.  Thanks and looking forward to advice.

[Brian H]

Do you have any coupling between the phases of the homes wiring?
Could also be power line noise or signal suckers.
Few links.
http://jvde.us/x10_troubleshooting.htm
http://www.act-remote.com/PCC/uncle.htm

[GoGators]

Nothing has really changed WRT home wiring.  It just seemed like it has been working unreliably now not at all.  Today, I randomly pressed the switches and got my waterfall to come on!  Turning it off worked the first time.  Now I cannot get it to repeat that.   I am thinking it is the wall module (gut feel).  There is a minor sign of heat damage on the exterior of the switch.  Is this something that has been seen?

[GoGators]

Seems like the compact florescent bulbs in the kitchen do have an effect on the switch performance. Not sure how to fix that, but the troubleshooting and investigation process continues.  Thanks pros from an X10 newbie!

[dave w]

Is this something that has been seen?

No, it's not a common complaint or post here. Search the forum for XPT and any problems seems to be with the switches in the cover becoming intermitent. If you have discoloration or bubbled plastic - something got hot.
But your description of intermintent operation is perfect description of a noise problem also. Even if you have nothing new plugged in, have you moved any electronics to a new outlet,  aging CFL bulbs can become noisy also.

I just saw your new post. Try changing CFL brand. I have a number of GE 13 and 27 watt CFL's and they do not cause problems and do not seem to get noisy with age.

[Brian H]

What is the model of the switch with the CFL bulbs being controlled?
CFLs don't play nice with two wire X10 dimmer type switches.

[GoGators]

The switch actually controls my pool waterfall and pool light, not the CFLs.  It is an X10 PRO XPT wall mounter controller with the two button on/off.  When my CFL high hats are on, they do not work.  With them off, they work fine.  I would have never figured that out without this forum.  I still do not know how to fix (change to LEDs when the are available?)  BTW, I have 15 high hats!

[dave w]

When my CFL high hats are on, they do not work.  With them off, they work fine.  I would have never figured that out without this forum.  I still do not know how to fix (change to LEDs when the are available?)  BTW, I have 15 high hats!

Some LED bulbs and spotlights can be problematic also. Are all CFLs controlled by one switch? If so it would be fairly easy to wire a high current filter (like the XPF or a Smarthome.com unit) in the feedline after the switch.

Another approach is not to filter the noise, but instead overwhelm the noise by using a high output repeater (JV Digital Engineering's XTBIIR).

[Brian H]

The XPT is a controller only and does not connect directly to the lights.
It is controlling another X10 device connected to the lights. With power line signals.
I agree. It is a power line signal problem and the CFLs are part of the problem.

[GoGators]

I really appreciate all of the advice.  I just want to make sure I am describing the configuration properly.  The CFL high hats are in the kitchen controlled by two switches (7 of on one and 2 on another) and six in the family room on a third switch.  The X10 does not control any of these.  I have two X10 XPFM Inline Receiver Modules, one that turns on the waterfall and the other that turns on the pool lights.  The XPT does not transmit the signal when any of the CFLs are on.  It will when they are off. Also, it does not matter whether the CFLs are on or off when commanding the X10 off command.

[dave w]

The XPT does not transmit the signal when any of the CFLs are on.  It will when they are off. Also, it does not matter whether the CFLs are on or off when commanding the X10 off command.

You need to do some troubleshooting. IF everything worked at one time, but then begin to get intermitent, is a perfect description of electrical noise or "signal sucking" in the system. If the CFLs are never on when the XPT will not control the pool, then you need to look elsewhere. Turning off breakers, excepting the XPT breaker and the pool breaker, will help isolate the noise source. i.e if everything works fine when only the two breakers are on, then the problem source is likely on one of the disabled circuits. Once you locate a suspect circuit, start unplugging devices until the pool features start to work again.

Also, is your last sentence indicating the OFF command ALWAYS works but ON does not?

[Noam]

CFLs can be a source of noise, certainly. Some brands are noisy enough from the start to cause problems.
In addition, CFLs can also fail gradually over time, slowly producing more noise - which will start to degrade your system performance.

I had this happen to me (a CFL in my house started to fail (it was starting to buzz loud enough to be heard), and blocked all X10 signals in my house. A few years after that, my neighbor had a CFL start to fail in the same way (starting to buzz), and it put out such a high level of noise that it affected MY system (across the street)!

If the system seems to work with certain lights off, you might have one or more flaky CFL bulbs. Try unscrewing one of the "suspect" bulbs at a time, to see if the problem clears up.