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[rperego]

Anyone ever had this happen?

This module melted to the point you can see in the picture, as well as melting the end of the cord it was plugged into, before tripping the breaker.

Granted, it was outside, but in a plastic baggie as I've been doing for over 20 years without incident.  During the holiday season where modules need to be on the end of extension cords, I secure them in plastic baggies, with the zip lock positioned down, and have never had a problem with water getting in them.  I'm pretty sure water didn't get in this one that burned up.

This was pretty scary considering how hot it must have been before tripping the breaker.

[Dan Lawrence]

The only way you can burn out a module like that, it had to be overloaded for quite a while.   I've been using lamp modules since the 1980's and never had that happen.  I would never use a Lamp Module for an outside job, Appliance modules are better suited for loads like yours.

[rperego]

The module was only powering a short string of mini lights, way under the rating of a lamp module.  However, perhaps the string of lights shorted out and hence bumped up the load.  Regardless, it seems strange that a unit would fry itself like this instead of merely failing in a less dangerous way. 

[Brian H]

Sorry to read of the problem, but I am glad it was not worse than it was.

Thank you for sharing your experience. It maybe a warning to others to be carefull.

So the LM465 was on the end of an extension cord. Outside in a plastic bag that could have let moisture in.
Was the outlet it was in protected by a GFI device?
The normal current the module is designed for is about 2.5 amps for 300 watts.
A severe overload would burn it easily and the breaker being a 15 or 20 amp device through an extension cord may take a while to trip.

I did a destructive test on a Smarthome LampLinc. It has a fuse in the output that I bypassed and used a 1200 watt load on it. Boom flames and toxic smelling smoke. 
Was outside for obvious reasons. 

[HA Dave]

So the LM465 was on the end of an extension cord. ..........
.....The normal current the module is designed for is about 2.5 amps for 300 watts.

Gee.. I was thinking (AND typing... never a good idea). If I was to use a lamp module to control a string of C7 lights... with each (C sized) bulb using 7 watts (hence the name C7). One string of 100 lights would use... 700 watts.. or (more than) twice the rated limit (for a lamp module). Of course... I wouldn't expect a 700 watt LOAD to trip a breaker (AKA: blow a fuse). Generally speaking it would take a short to blow the fuse.

So what does the one size down bulbs use in wattage? I don't mean the C5's... I mean the little skinny ones. I was thinking (risky post here) that a string of 100 of the little skinny ones use 250/350 watts.. which is it.

How does someone safely use X10 to control Christmas lights?

[Brian H]

Maybe that is why the OEM B&D FWLR Lamp Module; from X10. Has a fuse on the output.

[Mel99]

I have 3 LM's controlling two types the little Christmas lights indoors.  One type draws .44 amp per string and the other draws .33 amp per string.  One LM has 3 strings of the .44 amp type the other two have one string each of the .33 amp.  They are all slaved off of an RR505 transceiver and I use a CR12A remote.  The only problem I experienced was that when I had all 4 devices set to different codes and tried to schedule their operation via a CM11A, it was intermittent.  So, I switched to the remote option.  I am now in the process of mapping all of my circuits and locating noise sources.

[Brian H]

In an on line vendors sales pages.
I found C7 and C9 strings using 5 watt per bulb.
The miniature lights [Not LED] where between 125 ma 15 watts and 150 ma 18 watts.
LEDs where like 4.8 watts
Also most of the newer ones had fuses in their plugs. Not to say it could have been a short before the fuses.

[rperego]

The fault may not have been with the lamp module.  Closer inspection of the end of the extension cord the lamp module was plugged into revealed that the lamp module input prongs had melted right off - the ends are still sticking in the socket.  This was a cord I should have abandoned long ago - the sockets (3 of them) on the female end had lost their tension and were quite corroded.  I think now what happened is the connection was bad and the prongs began arcing hence causing a lot of heat and the consequent burning of the X10 unit. 

This diagnosis also fits with what happened when I originally reset the breaker, before I discovered the cause.  When I reset the breaker there was intermittent buzzing in addition to the lights flickering in the room the panel is located.  The arcing was probably not constant, hence the spikes when the problem was happening likely were of short enough duration so the breaker didn't blow for some time - like enough time for the parts involved to starting melting down.

I also verified that the load on the module was only 25 watts (standard 50 bulb string of mini lights) and subsequent use shows it wasn't shorted out (it was also fused in the plug).

So, even though I'm concluding the problem was on the input side of the module, I'm going to make sure any more modules I buy are fused just in case a load is too high, especially after hearing that Brian forced one to catch fire from too high a load.  I'm not sure a GFI would have shut the line down any sooner in the situation I had, but I generally don't use them any way where wires are in wet conditions and I'm not running a tool etc. - they just trigger when you don't want them to.

Thanks for the input, Bob   

[dave w]

Excellent diagnostics.

[Dan Lawrence]

I would strongly suggest using only Appliance Modules for outside (Holiday) lighting, not Lamp Modules.  If the lights controlled are never dimmed, never use a Lamp Module.

[Brian H]

Thank you for the updated information.

None of the X10 modules have fuses in them as far as I can tell. The OEM for B&D did, but they are discontinued and hard to find these days.

The module I forced to fail was a Smarthome Insteon LampLinc and I had to bypass the fuse to do it.

[gator.bigfoot]

I have tried to use the PAM02 modules to control my Christmas lights.  The first one I tried went on but no longer goes off.  The second one I tried I reduced the load by 1/3 and it still did the same thing.  The second one eventually started to work again, but now I am afraid to try it again.  Currently they are controlled by some cheap household timers that work fine, but don't give me the control that I am looking for. Not sure what to try next.  The current lights are plugged into a normal household outlet rated at 15 amps.  My breaker system is Square D so going over the 80% limit is unlikely with their design. They always trip at anything above the 80% of FLC.  Perhaps the inrush cannot be handled by the module.  It is rated at 15amps, but no inrush rating given.   Perhaps I need to interface a contactor like I used for the pool pump?  That way it can handle the inrush and abuse.  Just don't want to go through the extra expense.

[Brian H]

The PAM02 is rated as following and maybe on the back of the unit.
15 Amps Pure Resistive
1/3 Hp.
500 watt Incadescent Lights. I believe that takes the power on surge of cold bulbs into account.
400 Watts for a TV or Stereo type device.

How old are the modules?

They could be in a poor signal location.
Have you tried them in other locations?

What type of lights are they?

[gator.bigfoot]

The PAM02 modules were brand new.  Never before used (other than testing a 100W light).  The Christmas lights are a combination of LED and In candescant lights.  I haven't done any load calculations to see if I exceeded the 500 watts incandescent lighting.  They are the old 7Watt ones so means around 70 pcs.  I didn't think I exceeded that limit, but like I said I didn't count them.  Not much point in saying a module is good for 15 amps and then limiting it to 500 watts. That's only 4.5 amps.  Is there a more powerful module?