X10 is junk … no wait, it’s not

[Dave4720]

Just another story to inspire those working out X10 non-performance issues.

I was installing my last toggle-switch-KR19A assembly.  I was testing it and it did not work reliably at all.  I was quite frustrated, to say the least.  I grabbed my XTBM meter - not for the signal level, but for the commands-as-they-pass-by readout.

L3 ON, ok, L3 OFF, ok …C9 ON, huh? Where is that coming from?  Oh, C9 is my motion sensor to turn on a small lamp when I enter the room, rather than the overhead light.  So where am I standing as I test my toggle-switch-KR19A assembly?  Right in front of the motion sensor!  The commands were stepping on each other.  (Making Homer Simpson ‘Doh’ sound). 

I moved the motion sensor and then the toggle-switch-KR19A assembly worked flawlessly.

Later I was testing a newly added CM11A macro: Floods ON and Floods OFF.  I issued Floods ON and the floods came ON.  I issued Floods OFF and lights turned ON and OFF all over the house, but not the floods.  WTF I thought!  Again I turn to the XTBM.  I issued Floods ON and the see the proper Floods ON commands go by.   I issued Floods OFF and I see all sorts of other unexpected commands go by.  Wait a minute, those look like the “Night Shutdown” command of another macro.  I look at my CM11A programming, and I had properly assigned the Floods ON command to the ON side of the controller button, but improperly assigned the wrong macro to the OFF side of the controller button.

A simple edit correction and all worked as planned.

The moral to the story is: if your X10 is not working, there’s probably a good reason you’re not seeing, and not that X10 is junk.  And a meter is invaluable.

[dave w]

if your X10 is not working, there’s probably a good reason you’re not seeing, and not that X10 is junk.  And a meter is invaluable.

Ditto what he said.