Kitchen x10 (WS12A) controlled lights randomly turning off.

[LucidLight]

I am baffled. I have 2 x10 controlled lights in my kitchen. Both use WS12A dimmer switches. The first one controls 4 recessed lights (3 halogen, 1 CFL), the second one controls a hanging lamp with 2 regular 60 watt light bulbs. Both will randomly shut off. It appears the first one does it more. It could happen once an hour or 3 times in 5 mins. I tried unplugging all my transceivers and controls. No change. I then changed the house code on them. No change. It seems as it has gotten worse. My roommate noticed it long before I did. I thought she was just being crazy, but now it happens multiple times a day. Previously my x10 devices stopped working almost completely before I got a coupler/repeater and wired it in to the fusebox. However, I do not know if this problem predated the addition of the coupler. I know CFLs create noise, but even when the first switch had 4 CFL, I do not remember it turning off. I have 4 of the exact same switches in the rest of my house, and I have not noticed them going off. Any ideas would be great!

James

[bkenobi]

If it were me, I'd remove the CFL off a dimmed switch.  Others have found that this will work out find, but it just seems like a bad idea.  You could just remove it for testing to see if it helps.  If you are controlling CFL and you have decora style switches, why not move over to the XPS3.  That is designed for CFL and other inductive type loads.

[Brian H]

CFLs can change over time. You may want to test for awhile with it removed and replaced with a standard incandescent bulb.

[LucidLight]

Well I have replaced the other 3 recessed lights since I have found that the CFLs tend to last 6 months instead of 7 to 10 years as advertised. I will try removing it as well. The other switch having the problem is right next to it, but has no CFLs.

[Brian H]

Do you have any other X10 devices and are they also doing strange things?
Your power company didn't recently change you meter to one of the new Smart Meters?

[LucidLight]

Ok I have removed the CFLs in the kitchen. Any other CFLs in the house are on regular switches and turned off. It just happened like 4 times in a row for both x10 kitchen switches. No other x10 problems in the house, unless you count the slim wall mount switches not always working. I would not rule out a smart meter being installed, but I might need to call the power company to verify. Of course it could just be a ghost unhappy with my meal choices.

[dave w]

If the switches are the same age/date code, it could be a developing problem with the switches. I suppose the only way to verify that is to replace one with a new and see if the problem persists.

[bkenobi]

Have you considered that you might be receiving signals from a neighbor?  I don't know how close you are to anyone else that runs X10, but if you are, they might have their signals entering your house and controlling your lights.  If that were the case, you could try changing the house code on the switches to see if this is still an issue.

[LucidLight]

Yes, I already changed the house code. Lights still kept going off.

[LucidLight]

Any other ideas?

[Brian H]

They never go On only Off if they are On.
Many X10 devices default to Off on a power loss. I don't know how fast a short interuption is before they stay Off. Maybe you have a wiring problem with the power feeding them.

[LucidLight]

You know I was just wondering if I was getting super quick drops in power. I will have to see if there are any other x10 devices on that same circuit, or if it is limited to just that light box.

[Noam]

Do you have any motion sensors on the same house codes, one unit code below the lights?

[LucidLight]

I had 2 motion sensors. One which is an x10, that was recently added. The lights were turning off way before that. Also ruled that motion sensor out by unplugging all my transceivers. The other was a porch light with built in motion sensor. I just moved it to a regular single pole switch. The lights still went off. I did find that the front door light (which is not used that much) is going off as well! It is on the same circuit as the kitchen lights, but on a different wall. So possible power dips are still a possibility. How would I go about testing for them or fixing them?

[dave w]

So possible power dips are still a possibility. How would I go about testing for them or fixing them?

$0.02
I'm not real sure this will be any help, but anytime I have had a module fall out of conduction, causing the light to extinguish, the power line dip was severe enough to clearly see. Do you see your lights dim when a (pick one) air conditioner, heat pump, well pump, shop air compressor, shop vac, etc. switches ON?