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[darryl1959]

Hi All -

New to the forum so I hope I'm not duplicating something that's already addressed. 

Received my box of goodies on Saturday 6/12/10 which included the active home pro kit and additional LM 465 lamp modules.  I've been working with and using X10 since I first discovered it at Radio Shack back in the day....I love the system and was looking forward to automating the lighting in my new 3 story townhouse (saves on the walking up and down what we like to call "the bell tower")

Anyway, I am disappointed to find that the LM 465 FULL Bright appears to be approximately 50% of what it should be. This is validated by unplugging the lamp from the module and connecting directly to the outlet.  I have six modules in use - all behaving the same. 3 are in my living room so I can watch them simultaneously. 

My question is this: is this the nature of the beast or is there something I can do?  I never had this issue in the past but I haven't worked with x10 in probably 5 years or so.  I'm set to order one of the special packs of dimming wall switches but am reluctant to until I know what is going on here. 

The only common element is the controller - is it possible the controller is not sending the full bright command?  I don't think that's it because I do a local turn on of the lamp and it ramps to this half bright mode.

Any help would be most appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

[Brian H]

There are other threads on this subject and NO it is not normal, but it has not been brought up lately.

X10 had a run of LM465s that went to about 50%.

I had one out of three {All the same date code} from one of their Maga Module sales. Others had maybe four out of six where 50%

Being a electronic technician I verified it was only turning on for in my case the negative half of the AC waveform. I replaced the flaky triac in it and it then went to 100%.

The new wall switches have soft start and preset dim level that you may not be familiar with as do the new lamp modules.
http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/Newer_Wall_Switches_and_Preset_Dim
http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/SoftStart

[darryl1959]

This is what I get for being impatient.  I just read this post: http://forums.x10.com/index.php?topic=19597.0 which addresses the issue.

So, I have a bunch of bad modules - need to call X10.  

Has anyone had issues where they get defective replacements?  I mean if they have a bad batch and are not pulling them from stock - what is to be done? (other than stop doing business with them I guess)  

I'm curious about the dimmer switches - any known issues with those?

Thanks.

[darryl1959]

Thanks Brian!

You're quick!  I'm an aerospace engineer and my dad was an electrical engineer so I had a theory that it was something like you described in the posted I quoted - wish I still had his old scope but it finally died a few years ago - never could justify the expense of a new one otherwise I would have seen the issue immediately.

Thanks again.  I'll give them a call and ask them what they're going to do to keep me from getting another bad batch.

Darryl

[Brian H]

We where typing at the same time  .

I actually found it first with a few meters. One said 60 volts AC with a large DC component while another said no AC and 60 volts DC.

So I dug out the scope and floating it to prevent sparks and not touching the scope so I saw stars  . It showed just the negative half of the waveform and if I dimmed it. The negative swing started later in the cycle.

I don't know as this was reported awhile back as you found. Maybe X10 is using the end user to QC them and replacemet as needed.