Print

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

[cersos]

I have all of my home theater equipment in a single rack powered by an APC UPS.  Problem is there seems to be a ton of noise generated by this.  Unfortunately the UPS requires a dedicated 30 amp circuit.  I'd like to isolate it from the X10 traffic, but I don't see any filters capable of handling a 30 amp load.  Any suggestions?

[Puck]

You may want to try and keep this dedicated circuit on one house phase and put the majority of your X10 equipment on the other phase (at least as much as you can).

Doing this can at least reduce the number of problem modules that you have to deal with.

[Dan Lawrence]

Especially since neither X10 or X10 Pro sells 30 amp filters. 

I suspect very few users of X10 have home theatre equipement requiring a 30 amp breaker.

[cersos]

Thanks for the responses.

Unfortunately moving all of my X10 traffic to a different phase is not really a viable option.  I'd basically have to rewire the whole electrical system to accomplish that.

It is not the equipment itself that requires a 30 amp service, it is the APC UPS.  I guess I could try smaller filters on all of the equipment before the UPS, but I was hoping someone would know about a filter capable of handling a 30 amp load so I could use just 1.

Perhaps I could use one of those whole house filters to completely isolate that single circuit.  What do you think?

[cersos]

What about the Leviton In-Line Noise Reducer Item# 4840 - http://www.smarthome.com/4840.html.

Does anyone have any experience with this thing?  It says for loads > 5 amps.  It looks like you wire it between the hot and neutral for that circuit.  Is this true?

Thanks for your help...

[Brian H]

What model APC UPS do you have?
Note my APC BX1000's noise filtering and surge suppression circuits. Sucked up a good amount of the X10 powerline signals. I have a 10 amp X10 Filter on its AC Power Input to get the signals back.

[cersos]

I have an APC Smart-UPS 3000VA USB & Serial RM 2U 120V http://apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SUA3000RM2U&tab=documentation&total_watts=50

Steve C

[ajleduc]

I have a similar problem I require a 30 amp filter for my dryer
See - http://www.x10community.com/forums/index.php?topic=11506.msg65891#msg65891

I am going to try the Leviton In-Line Noise Reducer (Model # 6289) Phase To Phase at the dryer as described
http://www.levitonproducts.com/catalog/model_6289.htm

I have a fair amount of electrical experience - but not when it comes to filters and such.
Anyway, If I don't burn the house down or kill my self I will post my results in a couple of weeks.
It takes a long time to get things from CA to VT.
And this is definitely a weekend project.

Sure hope it works!

[Brian H]

The Leviton does not absorb X10 signals and will not remove noise in the 121 KHz band. Only noise above and below the 121 KHz X10 signals.
Let us know if it works as I may have read the specifications sheet incorrectly.

[JeffVolp]

I have an APC Smart-UPS 3000VA

I'm familiar with that unit - have the 2200VA version for my "electronics circuit".  Your UPS can pull over 20A from the line when delivering max load while simultaneously recharging the batteries.  Since it can automatically test batteries periodically, it can go into a recharge cycle without their being a power failure.

If you can insure the max drain from you home theater system coupled with the recharge current will be under 20A, you could use the X10 XPF filter.  The other option is to wire two XPF filters in parallel.  Since they are rated for 20A each, two in parallel will easily handle the max draw from your UPS.  Paralleling the filters will reduce their effectiveness slightly, but they will still isolate that UPS from your X10 communication.

Jeff

[cersos]

Thanks Jeff for the suggestion.  I am no where near max load, but to be safe, I would like to have the proper amp rating on the filter.  When you say wire them in parallel, what exactly do you mean.  I'd hate to wire them in series and get it wrong.

Thanks,
Steve

[JeffVolp]

When you say wire them in parallel, what exactly do you mean.

Each XPF has 3 leads - black, white, and red.  Both blacks would be tied to the hot 120V input, both whites to neutral, and both reds to the UPS load.  You can find the XPF at an excellent price on eBay.

Jeff

[Brian H]

You may also want to try an generic Automation Web Site like CocoonTech. They have a very active Home Theater Section. They may also have ideas.
http://www.cocoontech.com/