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[gil shultz]

Control of a lamp plugged into an APC UPS?

The internal filters and transformer typically block the x-10 signal.  Get a small project box, two three wire line cords and two 0.1uf 600V capacitors.    Put the two line cords in the project box.  Connect the green wires together.  Connect one capacitor from white wire to white wire, do the same with the other except connect from black wire to black wire.  Be sure to use good workmanship so there are no shorts.  Then plug one cord into the output of the UPS, the other into the same plug the UPS is plugged into.  In most cases this should bridge the UPS for the X-10 signal.  This does not always work but in some cases it is all you need.

Be careful there are line voltages involved. You do this at your own risk.

Gil Shultz

[Puck]

michrech: I see you have your UPS power failure light solved. (I'm  only quoting the relevant parts.)

I have a normal, 2 pin, lamp module ... that I plug into the back of an APCC UPS ...  I use the "Slim Switch" and a wireless transceiver ...  The lamp has a 12w CF bulb ....  As soon as the power goes out and the UPS switches to battery, the lamp module automatically turns on (I don't know why, but it is perfect for what I need).

Using a CFL lamp with an X10 lamp module [LM465 (?)] is not advised and even cautioned against by the X10 manual.

"The Lamp Module can be used to control an incandescent lamp rated up to
300W. It is not suitable for other types of lamps such as fluorescent or energy
saving lamps, low voltage lamps, or lamps that include a dimmer control.
Caution: Do not connect an appliance such as a coffee pot or heater to a Lamp
Module. It may damage the Module and/or the appliance and could cause a fire
hazard. Use an Appliance Module instead."

You might want to be careful if you ever have to change it and end up with a lamp module that (undocumented) has soft start.The CFL lamp may not appreciate it.

Nonetheless, using an appliance (CFL light) with a dimmable lamp module if not recommended; be careful, because if may still provide you with the light you want, but I strongly recommend having an extinguisher handy.

You previously mentioned that you had problems with a transceiver plugged into the output of the UPS, I'm surprised the lamp module is not acting similar.

You also mention using a transceiver and a "Slim Switch"... are these used in conjunction with your UPS powered lamp module? Is so, where is the transceiver plugged into?

[tploy]

All the above suggestions are good but don't quite go far enough. 1) a CFL Bulb plays havoc with x-10 signals and are a major headache but can be worked with. 2) what you will actually need to get around the inherent problems would be actually: 2> 120 vac relay coils. 3> extension cords. 1> UPS any size will work, however, the larger the battery the longer the lighting will last. 1 x-10 module and compatible controller.

 assembly goes like this:
solder 1 male extension cord pigtail to first relay floating contacts. this will plug into the UPS. wit no power applied to the coil solder the female extension cord pigtail to the pair of terminals the floating contacts are in contact with. this allows the UPS to power the CFL when the utility power is off. you can easily power up to 3  CFL Light fixtures from the UPS via the 3 female outlets on the female pigtail.

Next is the assembly of the second relay. this allows the x-10 system to turn on and off the lamps remotely at any time. To do this, connect the coil of the first relay to the floating contacts of the second relay with a short jumper. Attach the second male pigtail to the terminals of the second relay contacting to the floating contacts with no power applied to the coil of the second relay. this male pigtail will plug into normal household current to signal the CFL that is doesn't need to be UPS powered.

The Third Male Pigtail will attach to the coil of the second relay to provide connection to the x-10 module for remote operation. when the x-10 provides power to the circuit the coil of the second relay is energized disconnecting the power to the first relay. with no power to the coil of the first relay the power from the UPS will be allowed to feed the CFL lights.

When the x-10 module is in the off position, there is no power to the second relay coil, allowing the contacts in the second relay to close providing power to the first relay. With power applied to the coil of the first relay, the contacts of the first relay are disengaged by the coil keeping the power from the UPS from feeding the CFL fixtures. Thus the lights will be OFF.

If the module used is either a wall outlet, an appliance module or a lamp module, they will all be isolated from the CFL thus not receiving interference from either the CFL or the UPS. A Wall switch or another controller can be used to command the module used in this setup with no signal interference either RF or Line based. I hope this setup answers your application.

[Brian H]

Using a Lamp Module to drive a relay is not the best choice.
They are not made to drive an inductive coil of a relay and are much less current than the Lamp Module was designed to control.
Depending on the exact relay and Lamp Module it may or may not work.

Also listen to the relay and see if it is buzzing when the X10 module is Off. Older Lamp and Appliance Modules have a Local Sensing current and I have seen small current coils of relays buzz when an X10 module is Off.

[dave w]

I agree with Brian.

FWIW
From experience, if the 120V coil is fairly low current (higher resistance coil), the relay may not de-energize when the Lamp Module is turned OFF because of the current leakage through the Lamp Module. Some relays work fine, others don't.
Also from experience; I have had better luck using a higher current DPDT relay. Typically the coil is a little heavier so de-energizing the relay is more assured. The example has a 3.8k Ohm coil where a corresponding 10 amp DPDT has a 5k Ohm coil.

http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/RLY-453/120-VAC-RELAY-DPDT-12-AMPS/1.html