I looked around but didn't find any
how-to guide for this, so I thought I'd put one together.
This guide is intended to help people (not familiar with) the
how to & why for of mapping their electrical circuits.
As any member who has already done this can attest to, knowing how your house is wired makes
troubleshooting X-10 problems easier.
The following is the method I used, other members are
encouraged to post
alternative methods they found works (hopefully in the end, we can compile a nice easy how-to from all the ideas):
- 1. First and foremost, do this in the daytime and try to do it when no one else is home (Extremely LOW-WAF process ahead (if she's at home)) Since all breakers get initially turned OFF, you will be relying on natural light (good to have a flashlight handy too).
- 2. Get a circuit tester for speed / convenience purposes (a DMM or night light will work to), but this tester will also ,make sure your circuit wiring is up-to-code.
NOTE: As an alternaive, a Gardner Bender Circuit Breaker Finder at Home Depot can help you map out your outlets without turning all your breakers off at once. You would still need to toggle the breakers for mapping Lights etc. (Thanks JimC for that idea.) If this method is chosen, adjust the following steps accordingly.
- 3. Draw a map of each room of your house. Locate and draw every outlet, switch, light, etc. in that room. Remember to label each when there are more than one (especially outlets). What I did was went clockwise from the main entrance to the room and started labeling each outlet in order (1, 2, 3, etc.). Whatever method you choose, be consistent with all rooms.
NOTE 1: During the next steps, don't forget about the hidden things (doorbells, outside plugs, furnace, bathroom fans, built-in VAC, garage door opener, etc.)
NOTE 2: Locate and record any outlets that are controlled by a wall switch. Make sure the switch is in the ON State.
- 4. Look at your breaker panel. Make a list of each breaker number and what phase it's on (for simplicity I called them "Phase A" & "Phase B")
Most panels have 2 rows of breakers, and the Phases generally alternate as follows (however yours may differ):
PHASE PHASE
BREAKER | A A
BREAKER | B B
BREAKER | A A
BREAKER | B B
ETC | A A
- 5. Now for the tedious part... as bad as it is, don't cut corners here, if you do you are bound to miss something that will cause a problem for you later (Murphy says so):
- Turn OFF ALL Breakers.
- Turn ON the first breaker. Check every outlet / light / hidden item in the house and mark on your map / breaker list what just came alive for that breaker.
NOTE: some outlets have each socket on a different breaker, so always check both sockets.
- Continue turning breakers ON one at a time, checking all remaining outlets / lights / hidden items, until you have them ALL ON and everything is mapped out.
- As you get further down the breakers, the time to check gets shorter because you don't have to recheck anything that is already mapped.
- 6. Put all this information in a spreadsheet (or whatever you choose) so that you can instantly see what phase & what circuit breaker each outlet / light / hidden item is on
- 7. Now record where you have each of your X-10 modules / switches / tranceivers / etc. plugged in or wired in (also including it's House & Unit Codes for easy reference)
Do you see that problem module on the other phase plugged into the same electric circuit as a PC in a DIFFERENT room? You can now use this
wealth of knowledge to plan you X-10 layouts (additions / moving stuff around / etc.).
[Upated: clarified and added details, idea from JimC, formatting.]