Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[richard the 1st]

RogerH
It would be of interest to all describing
the noise present at the 60 Hz power lines.
What frequency are these noises and how may
they interfere with X10 control signals. Are
they constant or just occasional? Created
how?
Just curious.........

[richard the 1st]

RogerH

Why not just use:

http://www.x10.webhop.org

and go from there by menu.

[richard the 1st]

RogerH
have a look at my website:
http://www3.telus.net/Nitsch/

[Tigger]

Part 2 of 2 -


3.)  Reverse "polarity" wiring.

Using a volt-meter, or even a simple
neon-light type tester, check your hot
and neutral wires at the switch in question.

Make sure that you get little or no voltage
between neutral (white) and GROUND.

Also make sure that you get similar or
identical readings between hot-and-ground,
and hot-and-neutral.

4.)  Switch wiring.

Make sure that the X-10 switches are
wired properly, with BLACK to hot, and
BLUE to your fixture.

If you are using X-10 switches with an X-10
companion switch in a 3-way configuration,
SOME of the instruction sheets will indicate
BLUE to the hot wire.  I have found that this
causes weird problems from time to time, and
that keeping BLACK tied to the hot wire seems
to fix this problem.



T

[Tigger]

Part 1 of 2 -

The "breaker method" is a really good
method of determining sources of noise or
signal loss.

There are a few things that this method will
miss, which should be taken into account
while trouble-shooting:


1.)  Certain hard-wired devices on the
circuit being tested.

I have an X-10 wall switch controlling
outdoor lights.  It was in the same junction
box (and on the same circuit) as a non-X-10
dimmer for the dining room lights.

These are low-voltage halogen fixtures,
controlled by a "Commercial Electric" brand
dimmer, rated for electronic transformers.

This dimmer dumped so much noise on the line
that any X-10 device on the same circuit
would not work.

This interference was the worst when the
lights were OFF, and would be reduced
(but not eliminated) when the lights were
on full brightness.

I had two of these in the house; removing
them cleared up most of my signal problems.


2.)  A not-so-obvious problem I've run into
relates to the quality of the electrical
connections in the junction boxes.

I had one location that I couldn't get ANY
module to work reliably in.

Some of the outlets on the circuit were
back-wired.  I changed them to side-wired,
and re-twisted one or two of the wire-nutted
splices along the way.

Modules now work correctly at this location.


continued . . .

[carmine pacifico]

I believe there is a misconception about
noise on power line; the so-called bad
products that cause X10 signal problems are
actually attenuating the signal, they are
not bad but rather meeting international RF
emission standards (CE).
I believe that 99% or more noise on power
line is actually signals being attenuate by
electrical devices.
High quality products like computer power
supply, high-end dimmer, TV etc. in order
to meet certain international standard they
use RF filters internally to reduce
emission, keep in mind the power line is
60HZ, X10 signal are 120KHZ, any power
supply with RF filters will attenuate or
virtually eliminate X10 signals.
Product that cause X10 signal attenuation
can be filtered on a one to one bases with
X10 power line noise filters.
For diagnostic a X10 signal meter is
essential, and of course make sure the
house was wired to standards, with proper
grounds and polarity.

[donald mcmow]

Dimmer switches are very bad for
introducing noise into the lines. This
problem shoul be mentioned more often when
advising other users to check for noise by
other devices.

[reinhardt]

annonymous, I am using the ws467 and I'm
under 500 watts on one of the switches but
over 500 on the other...I'll look into that
for sure. The lights do work great when I
just push the button (locally).

[JimC]

Anyone who has never had to track down
noise problems has no idea how noisy many
common household devices can be. As an
amateur radio operator and avid short wave
listener, which uses extremely sensitive
receivers, I have found and eliminated many
common sources of noise. Some of the more
common ones that are often overlooked are:
doorbell transformers, aquarium heaters,
Dimmer switches, computer monitors and
anything with a motor in it just to mention
a few. One of the biggest generators of
noise, that I have found, is the power
lines on the poles blocks away from my
house. I have had to make several calls to
the utility company to have them come out
and resolve problems with noise being
generated by some of their faulty
equipment. I am not saying that all these
noise sources are capable of interfering
with X10 signals but they are worth taking
a look at if you are having trouble and
Roger H’s method posted earlier is an
excellent way to start.

[john]

Scrap this sorrowful equipment nd buy a
real controller, this product is fun but
when you think you have it all working it
burps and wham - there go the lights.

Do yourself a favor, you will find you need
not spend all of your waking hours trying
to find answers on the forum.

[reinhardt]

john, please define "real controller". A
brand name would be apprieciated.