Print

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

[Brickhouse]

This is my first time posting, so please forgive me, but I couldn't find this in any of the forums.

I'm using an X10 powerhouse remote to control various lights throughout the house.  The lamps are plugged into LM465 modules.  I've had this setup for years and haven't changed anything.  The other day, one of my lights wouldn't turn on.  All the others do, so it's not a battery problem.  I tried changing modules and still nothing, so I plugged the lamp directly into the wall socket and it worked fine.  So it's not a wiring problem.  Then I took the questionable module and swapped it with another one.  It worked in the new location and the one I swapped it with also worked in it's original location.

The problem is when I plug in the lamp, which works, to the module, which works to a specific outlet, which works, the setup doesn't work.

I'm flummoxed. 

Can anyone help?

[bitman]

Yup.

Try unplugging anything with a power brick transformer or switching power supply.
Major offenders are LCD TVs.

If that fixes it, you will need some x10 noise filters.

I picked up a free dead 37" LCD TV from the Craig and fixed it. Brought it home all proud and happy only to find that it killed all my master bedroom lights in the adjacent bed room. - Sigh. Time for another filter.

Powerline noise is cumulative and does not always seem logical while trouble shooting via module move.


 

[Brickhouse]

Thanks, but no good.

I have an LCD in another room and they share a wall, so I unplugged the tv, but it didn't help.  The thing is, I haven't made any changes that would have caused this.  Everything's the same as it always has been.

I did get the lamp to turn on by plugging it into the wall, turning on the light, unplugging it, then plugging it into the module and turning the light switch by hand.  At least I know power is flowing through the module.  Now if only the little buttons on the remote would do their job.  And yes, I have tried setting it to different buttons.

Any one else?

[Brickhouse]

Success!  Sort of.  I swapped with the main module.  The one with the on/off switch and the antenna.  It worked.  Of course, I still can't get the original module to work, but the light I need turns on and off.  I rarely use the other one.

Thanks.

[hawk1]

Bitman is probably right.  A lot of times someone or yourself plugs something in that causes noise on the powerline and forgets about it.  Or something has changed that you just can't remember.  Happens to the best of us.  The reason your module with the antenna (probably a tm751) works is that it is receiving rf to turn it on and not the power line.

So you probably still have some noise suckers around somewhere that your not aware of.   

[Kramer Chins]

Bitman is probably right.  A lot of times someone or yourself plugs something in that causes noise on the powerline and forgets about it.  Or something has changed that you just can't remember.  Happens to the best of us.  The reason your module with the antenna (probably a tm751) works is that it is receiving rf to turn it on and not the power line.

So you probably still have some noise suckers around somewhere that your not aware of.   

This is so very true !!! I had moved some fans around in my Chin Room ( Not thinking it would be any big deal).... Man the Chaos  it caused me afterwards...... Fought it for almost 2 days, until  it finally dawned on me that I moved them around. Then when I put them back the way they were before everything was fine.
 
  Cell phone chargers can cause headaches also !!! My wife would plug hers in by my CM15A, and it never fails at least one module would fail to work as it should... So now I have a  Modified Power Strip with a Noise Filter installed on it just for the Cell Phone Chargers.....  So far so Good !!!!! 

Point is like hawk1 and bitman are saying, the simply little things we over look can cause the biggest problems...

[HA Dave]

...... Cell phone chargers can cause headaches also !!! My wife would plug hers in by my CM15A, and it never fails at least one module would fail to work as it should... So now I have a  Modified Power Strip with a Noise Filter installed on it just for the Cell Phone Chargers..... 

The cell phone chargers can be a problem. My wife would leave her charger plugged in after removing her cell.... and I would have a lamp fail to work.

We received a "charging station" as a Christmas present and ...besides being very handy.. it helped resolve the problem. The station holds both of our phones and has places for mail, keys, loose change, and such. It conceals the chargers (transformers) and makes them more diffcult to move. Keeping the chargers in the same plug... is half the battle. When the cell phones are plugged in randomly from bedrooms to kitchen's.. problems can seem random also.

I don't think I've mentioned the charging station here before. But it has been very handy.

[steven r]

...Keeping the chargers in the same plug... is half the battle...

True and it makes it easier to eliminate the problem all together by plugging it into a filter if needed.