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[krpurcel]

Recently we had multiple (6-7) short power failures (1-3 min) over the course of an hour. Since then I cannot get anything to work in X10.  Timers that were working fine before the failures no longer work.  Commands sent from the Active Home My Room software and commands sent from the X10 Powerhouse remote control don't work.

I unplugged the CM15A from both the computer and the wall socket and removed the batteries.  Powered down the computer. After several minutes I replaced the batteries and plugged the CM15A into the power socket.  Then I powered up the computer.  Finally I plugged the CM15A USB into the computer.

The computer recognizes the CM15A.  In Device Manager (WinXP Pro) it shows as working properly.  When I review the log file, it shows all that all the commands I try are being executed.  Macros, Timers, RF Receive and transmit commands are all listed in the log file, but never actually execute on the lamps or appliances.

Since the log files show the commands being issued but nothing works (even though it all worked fine before the power interruptions) I tend to think the CM15A unit got zapped.  However Device Mgr recognizes it and says it is working properly.  I am unsure about what else could be failing to cause everything to stop.  If you have any ideas or suggestions I would appreciate hearing them.

Thanks

[Brian H]

You may want to try and power reset a few of the modules. Unplug them and then wait maybe thirty seconds. Then reconnect them. The short power cycles may have locked them up. Try moving one of the modules to the same outlet as the CM15A and see if it can then be controlled.
Is there a repeater coupler in your system? If so see if cycling the breakers for it will clear up problems.

[krpurcel]

Thanks Brian.  I'll check that out.

[Noam]

I had something similar happen a few weeks ago, but not due to power outages.

I found one evening that NONE of my X10 stuff was working via remotes or the CM15A. However, local control of wall switches still worked. I guessed that something was generating a lot of powerline noise.
I set up a test rig using a surge protector, with only a TM751 and an appliance module plugged into it. I could take that to any outlet, and determine if the noise was affecting that outlet. If a handheld remote couldn't turn the module on, then there was a lot of powerline noise at that outlet. As a control, plugging the strip into a FilterLinc allowed it to work, as it kept the noise from infiltrating the test rig.
To test, I plugged my test rig into an outlet near the breaker box, and started shutting off circuit breakers one at a time, and trying to turn my appliance module on and off. Lucky for me, the first breaker I tried was the culprit!
Once I found the offending circuit, I was able to test each device on that circuit until I located the noisy one.
It turns out that I had a Compact Flourescent bulb in one of my outdoor fixtures that had gone bad, and started creating enough powerline noise that all X10 signals were blocked in the entire house (both phases!).
I unscrewed the bulb, and everything returned to normal.
What was strange was that it was the same exact bulb I have in all 6 of my outdoor fixtures, and this is the only one that went bad.
Since the package said it was guaranteed for 7 years, I took it back to Home Depot, and they gladly exhanged it for a new one. No more problems.

Perhaps the frequent power outages you experienced caused some device of yours to go flaky.
I hope that helps you in some way.
--Noam

[Brian H]

OH yes. Nothing like an end of life CFL making all kinds of noise as it fails. I had one start smoking before it burned out its safety resistor used as a fuse.

[dave w]

Noam, I think you deserve an "A" for Troubleshooting!

[wmarkhay]

Especially merit-worthy for coming up with trouble-shooting method that got around having to buy an expensive meter!!

[Noam]

I have enough extra parts in my "X10 Extra Parts Box" to rig up a few of those, probably.
Add in a chime module (or several, on different unit codes), and you might be able to triangulate the source of the noise, faster, based on how far the signal can travel from a known starting point.