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[quinn]

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can help me figure out what to do with an X-10 Powerhouse issue. I bought a house last summer, and in the last month or so, lights have been turning on by themselves, often in the middle of the night. The light switches in these rooms have a small switch beneath them that works to "lock" each light, but it's getting to be a pain trying to remember to lock my lights at night to make sure they stay off until morning. I found an X-10 Powerhouse IR-543 in a storage closet, and when I plug it in it can turn on/off all of the lights with these lockable switches, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to disable the system so it stops working on a timer. Is there any way to simply turn off the timer system, so all lights can be controlled manually? I don't know how the previous owner set up the timer, but I'd love for the lights to stop coming on at random. 

Any help is much appreciated -- thanks!

[Jsnlong]

Is there another box  plugged into a outlet. The switches don't have timers built it themselves there has to be another controller somewhere....

Is it random or doe they come on at a regular time?

[HA Dave]

.....I can't for the life of me figure out how to disable the system so it stops working on a timer.

If you read here at the forum... and sign up for the "newsletter" at the X10.com Site.. you will become familar with X10 products. Then you will be able to fix or disable the system as you desire.

Is there any way to simply turn off the timer system, so all lights can be controlled manually?

Get someone to replace your X10 switches with manual switches.

[steven r]

Interesting a house that came with X10 installed.  
Are the lights coming on at the same time each day?
I'm assuming that you haven't purchased additional X10 items. Just dealing with an existing installed ones. Right?
This just started about 6 months after you moved in? No problems last summer?
The Powerhouse IR-543 does not have any timers in it. It does have an IR port that that will respond to an X10 remote.
Since this is a new problem, the source of the signal must be new. Have you added any X10 items? Any software with X10 macros?

[quinn]

Thanks so much for the replies!

I haven't been able to find any other X10 items around the house -- no other boxes or remotes. This just started happening in the last few weeks, though we've lived in the house since July 2008. The only new electronic item in the house is a high-definition LCD TV (Christmas gift). Could that be causing any of this?

Some history: In early January, the bedroom lights came on in the middle of the night. I turned them off, and they came back on again five minutes later. Nothing more happened for a week or so, and then they started coming on by themselves, sometimes in late afternoon and sometimes at night. Soon after, the kitchen light began to do the same thing. The kitchen light usually comes on around the same time every night (8 p.m.), but the bedroom is still pretty random. The Powerhouse controller can turn these lights on and off, as well as the ceiling fan in the bedroom (which, fortunately, doesn't turn on by itself...the last thing I need in the middle of a Maine winter is a ceiling fan!). But I can't get them to stop coming on by themselves.

So we haven't installed any X10 items ourselves -- we're just trying to make sense of the ones already in the house.

Thanks again!

[steven r]

Barring a supernatural being using X10 to get your attention, something physical is generating a signal that X10 thinks is an ON.
Dave and I were chatting about your problem and were also wondering if you had recently started using CFL bulbs?
One other thing, do the lights come on if your Powerhouse IR-543 stays unplugged?

There's a small chance that a neighbor has X10. While this would be an easy way to explain things, the odds are against it. Best way to test would be to do an "All Lights On" followed by an "All Units Off" while watching your neighbors house in the evening. This may require a 2nd person or a long extension cord.
There's also a possibility that you have a motion detector somewhere, however, it's likely you would of had problems sooner if that were the case. Even if the motion detector had reset itself it wouldn't explain all of your problems.

Most of the time any X10 interference will result in the missing of a signal. It is rare for a noise signal to be interpenetrated as a valid X10 signal.
Jeff: Have you seen interference constantly generate X10 ON signals?

Do have a screwdriver handy? I'd like you to take the plates off your wall switches and tell us what your switch settings are. You should see 2 dials. The one with the letters A-P is the HC setting. The one for the UC has numbers is 1-16. Write these down. For a simple X10 installation, the HCs are likely to all be the same. While you're there use a small screw driver and set them all one forward. e.g. If they say "A", make them "B". If your switches have sequential HCs, make sure that moving one forward doesn't give you a HC that you had before on another switch.
NOTE: While this can be done with the power on, if you have any thoughts that you might be tempted to remove the switch or poke around in the box with your screwdriver, turn off the power first.

[steven r]

...The Powerhouse controller can turn these lights on and off, as well as the ceiling fan in the bedroom...

As a safety issue...
[li]What kind of switch is controlling the fan? This might require looking behind the switch. If so, follow the advise above and turn off the power first.[/li]
[li]Is there a light with the fan?[/li]

• If so, do the fan and the light share one switch or do they have seperate switches?

[/list]

If a standard dimable light switch has been used for the fan, it needs to be removed. A dimming switch designed for lights is not recommended for fans.

[JeffVolp]

Most of the time any X10 interference will result in the missing of a signal. It is rare for a noise signal to be interpenetrated as a valid X10 signal.
Jeff: Have you seen interference constantly generate X10 ON signals?

No, I have never seen "interference" generate repeatable commands.  I have seen interference from my lab CFLs morph one command into another.  I have also seen (and photographed) the ESM1 reporting noise from the Cellet cellphone charger as a "good" X10 command.  However, that noise pattern was constantly changing, and I doubt that it would ever produce anything repeatable.

It is possible that noise from multiple sources will beat together to mimic X10 commands.  The random nature of that might generate an occasional ON command.  But it certainly would not be repeatable.

FYI, I had been chasing a new noise source here.  At 117KHz, it is near enough to the X10 120KHz frequency to get right through the XTB bandpass filters.  It turned out to be caused by a 120V 4-watt LED light made by Lumoform, LLC.  (E27 4W 240 lumens)  It is second only to the Cellet cellphone charger as a nasty noise source.

There have been reports of the CM11A doing strange things if its RS232 cable is left hanging like an antenna.  I don't think the CM15A has the same problem.

This sounds like some controller somewhere sending commands.  Perhaps a clock timer has shifted due to a power failure.  Or a motion detector being triggered by animals or other things that go bump in the night...

Jeff

[Jsnlong]

What do the light switches look like or type they are? here are some examples
ws467 http://www.x10.com/products/x10_ws467.htm
ws14 http://www.x10.com/products/ws14a_product_photo.htm
2466SW   http://www.smarthome.com/2466SW/ToggleLinc-Relay-INSTEON-Remote-Control-On-Off-Switch-Non-Dimming-White/p.aspx

If you are not using the automation part of the switch why not just switch them out for good old switch. You buy them cheap like $2 a peice.

We would all love to figure this out  (we are crazy like that) but it could be any number of things making a noise signal. It could even be the guy you bought the House off playing games   

[quinn]

Barring a supernatural being using X10 to get your attention

I have to admit, when the lights came on in the middle of the night and then came on again five minutes after I turned them off, this thought definitely entered my mind!

To answer some of your questions:

Nope, no new CFL bulbs in the house.
I used the controller to turn the lights on and off while my husband stood in the window and watched the neighbors' houses, but we couldn't see any of their lights flash on or off. That would be sort of fun, though!
The lights do come on by themselves even when the controller is unplugged.
The ceiling fan in the bedroom doesn't have lights. The wall switch for the fan is a simple on/off switch; no dimmer.

Here's what I found when I removed the plates: the lights in the kitchen were set to A1, and the lights in the bedroom were on A9. (There are similar switches in two other rooms in the house, but these are the only rooms where the lights come on by themselves.) I moved these to B1 and B9, respectively. I checked behind the ceiling fan switch while I was there, and found it attached to a module labeled "Master Wall Switch Module with A.G.C. for single and 3-way applications/Model XPS3."

The Powerhouse controller is set to "A" in the top right corner, and when I try to turn the lights on or off now, using the controller, the kitchen and bedroom lights don't respond but the ceiling fan does. I guess the ceiling fan is still set to A?

As I was standing in the kitchen writing down some of these numbers, the lights switched on again by themselves. Normally this happens when I'm not in the room, so I'm pretty sure it's mocking me at this point.  

Thanks again for helping me with this!

[quinn]

ws467 http://www.x10.com/products/x10_ws467.htm
ws14 http://www.x10.com/products/ws14a_product_photo.htm

The light switches are the ws467 model, and the ceiling fan is the ws14.

We would all love to figure this out  (we are crazy like that) but it could be any number of things making a noise signal. It could even be the guy you bought the House off playing games

Great -- now I'm picturing him standing outside our house with a remote, laughing while he messes with our heads. 

Seriously, you're all awesome for replying. It's been a huge help already. If there's no solution at hand, I'll definitely look into replacing all the switches and hoping that takes care of things...

[HA Dave]

................... I'm pretty sure it's mocking me at this point.  

Once your Home Automation starts mocking you.... it's time to remove it. While your removing the switches you will also want to look for plug-in modules (X10 plug-in boxes) of various sorts that you should remove from the receptacles they are plugged into. Be sure to check areas like the basement for plug-in modules.

[Jsnlong]

Maybe just switching the house number like you did will help. the fan one is marked "Model XPS3" then it is the right switch for it.

Does any of these lights have CFL's in them? not just new ones maybe the cfl bulb is just now causing the switch to go bad?


Side note do you know how to work your other switches. You can hold the button down and dim and brighten the light. They can be hard to get use to.....Sometime my wife turns ours on and don't realize its dimmed until I come in and hold the button down and it gets allot brighter lol

[Jsnlong]

Other thing to look at is your outlets. DO they have the same house code wheels on them. Black and red like the switch did? If so they are also x10 controlled.

[quinn]

I'm going to check whether any of the lights coming on are CFL bulbs -- our outside lights are CFLs, so it's likely some of the interior ones are too.