Print

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

[grahamk]

I have a sprinkler pump that I want to control via X10. When I turn on the pump I can never turn it off because of noise on the line (I am assuming - the module tests fine and I can always turn it on, but not off).

So - I put a 20 AMP XPF module in between the pump and the X10 unit and.... same problem.

Is putting an additional filter inline an option I could look at, or am I basically toast?

Thanks!

[Brian H]

What X10 module are you using to control the pump?

Does the module turn on and off if the pump is not connected?

Does the module briefly turn off and them back on again?
We have seen some devices make enough inductive noise to trigger a module back on.

[grahamk]

It is a rain8 module.  The module works great, turns on valves and answers StatusRequest polling just fine until the pump turns on - then I get nothing from the unit and cannot turn the pump back off.

[Brian H]

Is the rain8 controlling a relay for the pump as it can't control 120 volts directly. From what I have seen.

[dave w]

It is pretty weird for a heavy inductive motor to make electrical noise. I have driven 220V sprinkler and pool pumps with no X10 problems and no noise from the motors (according to an old ELK X10 noise meter).  
Did it ever work? How/what are you controlling the motor with? an X10 220V receptacle? a relay? Can you look at the relay contacts and see if they are dirty/blackened?Also, does the motor have a starter cap (a big bump on top of the motor)? When you run the sprinkler for a watering cycle, does it run as usual?, specifically is it running hot?

[grahamk]

Rain8 is basically an 8 channel switch. It is providing 24 VAC to a pump relay that turns on the pump.

As soon as the pump goes on - no signals get to the rain8 - specifically, I want to use the 2 way feature to make sure that commands I send get executed ( I would prefer not to have my sprinkler pump run with no valves open).

This is a new installation though I've used this pump and this relay for years.

When the pump is off I can send StatusRequest commands ( I am using ahcmd.exe) and immediately get a response from the Rain8 indicating if the channel is on or off.

When the pump is on the ability to query the unit goes away (it does not respond to StatusRequests) and I cannot turn the pump off. If I move the unit a long distance from the pump it begins to work correctly again.

No starter cap and all contacts are clean.

I'm assuming it is noise from the pump - but I have put 2+2 together with X10 and come up with 3 before.....

[dave w]

If I move the unit a long distance from the pump it begins to work correctly again.

No starter cap and all contacts are clean.

I'm assuming it is noise from the pump - but I have put 2+2 together with X10 and come up with 3 before..

If you move what unit? The Rain 8? How far? To a different circuit?

You are on to something, stick with it, but I question noise coming from the motor itself, yet if the relay contacts are clean I don't know where else the noise could be coming from...is there a GFI in the circuit?

[pomonabill221]

  A possibility:
  First... is the pump 220 or 110
  Second... assuming it is 220, you are bridging the two lines together with the pump.  Could there be a signal sucker on the other line (opposite the line that the Rain8 is on), that is attenuating X10 signals when the pump is on?
  IF there is a signal sucker on the other line (technically NOT called phase... they are 180deg apart, they should be referred to as line 1 and line 2), this would kill X10 when the pump is on.
  Now you "Just" have to find what is doing it.
Just a thought.

[thex10shop]

If it's a 220 volt pump and you installed one XPF filter, you're only half done. You need two XPF filters--one on each hot phase of the AC supplying power to the pump.

www.thex10shop.com