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[bobdobalina]

Hi.

I am a first-time homeowner who after a few weeks has finally begun to figure out what the previous owners did to automate the home. It's an old house with wires running absolutely everywhere in the basement (if you know a good low-voltage guy in CT who does painstaking work and will respect 80-year-old woodwork and plaster-and-lath walls and ceilings, please PM me so I can engage him when I someday have the money to spend) so it's not as straightforward as one might think. Anyway, I have a practical question and a theoretical question:

1. I have a dead Leviton 16400. I know it's dead because the LED won't light up and it shows signs of corrosion and water damage. I thought from my background reading that the easiest thing to do would to buy another 16400, set the dials/DIPs/whatever so that they were identical to the outgoing switch/transmitter, and cross my fingers that whatever it controlled (I don't know what it controls, by the way-- some exterior lights, maybe?) would work again. The 16400 seems to be just about impossible to source so I wonder if there's a simple plug-and-play alternative. Any suggestions?

2. I am trying to figure out how the system works. The X10 switches in the house that "work" presently seem to trigger different relays (there are boxes in the basement that go "thunk" when a switch is actuated-- they're everywhere-- and I don't know which box drives which light and where they are all hidden and there is no documentation) in the basement. So are they just sending a code/signal to a receiver that opens or closes a separate circuit? And if I am lucky all I have to do is give the switches/receivers the correct signal and they'll work as they were intended?

Thanks for indulging this over-his-head amateur.

[bobdobalina]

Oh, wrong forum. I am very sorry. I will repost elsewhere and sincerely ask for mercy.

[Brian H]

Welcome to the forums. Moved it to a better section.

The Leviton 16400 is a wall controller and the button on it control the other modules in the house.
http://www.levitonproducts.com/catalog/model_16400.htm

The X10Pro XPT and various button sets may still be available from some automation dealers.
A web search found a few dealers with the XPT and button sets.

There where two revisions of the XPT and the button sets where not interchangeable. So if you find a dealer that has them. Verify any button set you pick is for that hardware revision.

Here is the XPT users manual. It may give you a start to finding out what you have.
http://www.x10pro.com/pro/pdf/xpt.pdf

[Brian H]

Some general X10 information here.
http://www.x10.com/support/tech_index.htm

The X10 wiki also may have some information of use to you.
http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/Main_Page

[bkenobi]

1) Yes, that will work assuming that everything else in your system isn't water damaged/corroded.

2) Beyond reading those guides, it might be a good idea to map out your electrical system.  Spending the time to understand your house will take some time, but it will be well worth it if any questions arise.  The markings in your electrical panel are far too small a space to properly explain where all your circuits go.  When I bought my house, I spent the better part of my spare time over a couple weeks mapping everything out every outlet, lighting fixture, hard wired component.  That schematic has been useful already several times and I'm very glad I have the information available at a moments notice!  I just wish I had something available for outside (sprinkler water and low voltage, plumbing, CATV, etc).