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[jerryd_2008]

I originally posted this over on the Smarthome forum. They suggested that there may be some pro's here that could help. PLEASE, HELP!

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When we bought this house over 7 years ago there was a funny looking light switch for an outside light over the garage door. Since the spouse is the tinkerer it was discovered that it was an X10 on/off light control. Since we were looking for a way to turn on/off the hot H2O circulating pump, we bought a master control that works directly over the house power lines (not RF) and an appliance control for it. These are the only two X10 devices that we have. A few years later we bought another master control which is different but still only controls 16 devices in the A group directly over the house power lines.

I am by no means a pro at this, but I have an issue with the light control device. The existing wall switch looks very much like the X10 WS467 In-Wall X10 Light Switch but it has only one push button and not the lower, smaller button (what's that for?). In the last few months the outside light is randomly turning on by itself. It responds to an off signal from the master control. Since it does this even very late at night, I do not suspect that a neighbor has X10 devices that are interfering with my system. I have tried to correlate these events with the newish furnace running but I cannot do that perfectly.

My meager knowledge of X10 indicates that the control signals for X10 are too complex and it seems unlikely that any noise, including the furnace/AC, could cause the light control to turn on. It seems to me that it is much more likely that the light control wall switch is failing or even possibly that one of the two master controllers is sending turn on signals by itself (one master control has a door over the send signal selection buttons which greatly affects whether it works properly or not if it is not very carefully closed). I would greatly appreciate more knowledgeable opinions on this situation.

Thank you.

[Brian H]

I saw your posts in the Smarthome Forums.

The Master Controller with the cover that changes how it works.
Is it maybe a Smarthome 4071 ControlLinc Maxi?
Is the other controller also a Smarthome Model?
Now that I see your switch doesn't have a safety disconnect button. It too maybe a Smarthome Model Device. Does it have an LED on it by chance?
X10 signaling is the same no matter who made the compatible device and many of us have a mixture of different brand X10 devices.

It could be one of the controllers. Though a switch getting old and failing sounds more like it.
To see if one of the controllers is at fault. Unplug one and see if the lights actions change. Then you could reconnet the first one and unplug the second one.

Still could be noise triggering it. Noise does not have to look like a true X10 signal to trigger some devices.

Maybe an easy thing to check. Are the bulbs in the fixture tight and the sockets are not corroded?

[jerryd_2008]

Brian. thank you for following my situation. All of the device controllers and master controllers, I have (3), are from SmartHome. The garage control was preexisting and I don't know anything about it. The master controllers are: ControLinc MAXI # 4071 (one with the door that affects reliable operation sometimes - don't trust as much) and X10Pro PH02 (older and seems more reliable). Neither master control is older than 2006 and the other (ControLinc MAXI # 4071) is a few years newer.

There is no LED on the garage control - it's old.

I thought about disconnecting the ControLinc MAXI # 4071 for a while since we don't trust it as much. This may solve the problem but we may not know it because the events are so random. For instance last night the light turned on several times. The furnace was running a lot due to colder weather so that issue always pops up as a cause too.

Remembering that I am an electrical idiot, I don't understand how noise can defeat a sophisticated signalling scheme. I suspect that the local device on/off control does not use this sophisticated signalling scheme and may make it much easier for noise to affect. Is this what you allude to, Brian?

I plan to change the device address from A 16 to maybe A 9 (something easy to remember on the 16 button choices on the older master control) to see if that helps. I have never taken the light covers off of the garage lights. If anything I would expect some corrosion and difficulty in removing these bulbs after at least 7 years (we don't use these lights hardly at all). Is it really worth the effort to drag out a high ladder and get up there in cold weather, remove the covers and fool with the bulbs?

[dave w]

Is it really worth the effort to drag out a high ladder and get up there in cold weather, remove the covers and fool with the bulbs?

After you try everything else Brian suggested, if no success, that is up to you Boomer. Put it this way, Brian does not sit around dreaming up crap to suggest you do.

[jerryd_2008]

NEW DEVELOPMENT:

I decided to try switching the address of the garage light control from A 16 to whatever. None of the 16 device addresses in the A group from the master controller would turn the lights on. The only signal that got through from the master is All Lights Off.

Would you agree that the garage control is probably not properly functioning any longer when it comes to being specifically addressed and thus requires a replacement?

[Brian H]

Ouch. Not the development we want to hear.
Try gently rotating the Unit Code dial around a few times. Sounds like it is dirty and when you reset it it is making bad contact.
Worse case would be try M13. The code where NO dial switches have to make contact.

As for noise. It may depend on the brand and model switch in use.

The switch it does dim the lights or does it have a distinct Clunk when turned On and Off?