Print

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

[koalamotorsport]

Looking for help in learning how this stuff works.   I have never played with X10 before.
Bought a house that has a room with 80 light bulbs.  Yes, one room, 80 bulbs.  At least 4 X10 channels, maybe more, controlled from 3 separate 4 button switches.

Switch #1 is totally inop.  It is a Smarthome 12073W I believe.
Switch #2 and #3 have some functions, but the most irritating is "All Off" does not work from either.   Turn the wrong lights on and you have to walk upstairs, or downstairs as the case may be, to turn them back off.

Additionally, 3 or 4 of the individual lights will turn on and off intermittently.  They are recessed cans, and I could see them turning off if they were overheating, but they are correct rated bulbs and might turn on in the middle of the night, after being off for hours.

I've read on this forum about CFL related issues and had a bunch of my questions answered on that issue by searching posts.  But can CFLs be an issue if they are on a different circuit?  Am I destined to have nothing but incandescent bulbs in this house?  There are 293 separate light bulbs in this house and I sure as heck want most of them to be CFL or LED.

My biggest question is how do I find the receivers?  It appears they are small enough to fit inside a light fixture, and with 58 fixtures in that one room, many of which are built in cans, that seems impossible.   I want to either be able to replace them with newer units that are more compatible with CFLs, or at least identify them and see what channels they are set to.  The vast majority of the lights in this room are not intended to be dimmed, and switch #1, which I removed from the wall box, did not have the dimmer wire hooked up, which reinforces that theory.

Thanks for any edjumacation you folks can give me on these systems

Brett

[Brian H]

Here is the link for the manual.
http://www.smarthome.com/manuals/12073_web.pdf

If you find other Smarthome devices in the house. here is the link to many of the discontinued Smarthome modules.
http://www.smarthome.com/manuals.html

The 12073W is a Smarthome Product not a X10 one. Though it is X10 compatible. Many users have mixed manufacturers devices.

Sounds like you may have noise and power line signal issues.
If you can find a light or set of lights that do work with any of the buttons. Try looking for a module controlling them. Could be in one of the cans or in a blank covered electrical box.
If they do not dim. While someone turns a set on and off. Go around and listen for a faint click of a relay if it is a Smarthome or a large clunk if it is an X10

[Brian H]

Few links on how X10 works.

http://www.zimbio.com/Peace+of+Mind+that+Surveillance+Cameras+can+bring/articles/34/Back+basics+How+x10+work
http://www.newtox10.com/how.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X10_(industry_standard)

Troubleshooting links.
http://jvde.us/x10_troubleshooting.htm
http://www.act-remote.com/PCC/uncle.htm
http://www.davehouston.net/

I have some of the Smarthome X10 equivalent modules and if you have any questions on them. I can try and assist you.

[koalamotorsport]

Thanks.  I'm a little bit more educated now, but from what I can tell, I'm screwed.  I have one audible clunk, that's only audible if there is no load.  It's an outside floodlight box on the second floor directly above water.  Time to break out the mountain climbing gear I guess.  No other sounds can be heard from anywhere in the room with any other button press.  I fear it will take tearing out every light fitting to work it out.

Rat bahstahd electrician that did the job didn't leave any notes, and he went and died just before I bought the house.  How inconsiderate of him!   

Do you know if CFLs in other parts of the house can interfere with the INSTEON or X10 signals?

[dhouston]

Bought a house that has a room with 80 light bulbs.

Is there a mirrored ceiling and waterbed?

But can CFLs be an issue if they are on a different circuit?

CFLs and SMPS wall transformers can be an issue no matter their location but, I haven't seen many reports of Insteon devices turning on because of them. In fact, others have found Smarthome made Insteon/X10 or purely X10 devices worked where X10 made devices exhibited the behaviors you describe.

My biggest question is how do I find the receivers?  It appears they are small enough to fit inside a light fixture, and with 58 fixtures in that one room, many of which are built in cans, that seems impossible.

Even worse, they might be inline modules in junction boxes above the ceiling.

You would be wise to invest in a signal strength meter of some type that will help track down noise sources. The one I use is no longer made but others can make recommendations of some currently available.

[Brian H]

If you take the face plates off of the switches. Can you see more model numbers?
I know the 12073W can have loads {bulbs} directly connected to them for local controls.
Some of the other ones maybe slaves to it.
No clicking could just be that they are dimmer types and not relay types that only do On and Off.
CFLs can make noise and sometimes effect X10 and Insteon signals sometimes.

[koalamotorsport]

Thanks for the tips guys.

Turns out I'm in the wrong forum.  I opened the other two switches and located info via Google, they are PulseWorx UPB stuff.   The Smarthome switch I listed in my first post is completely dead as best I can tell, and that could be because it's incompatible.

Thanks for help pointing me in the correct direction with some understanding of how this stuff works, now I'm off to find a UPB forum as good as this one.

Brett

[Dan Lawrence]

PulseWorx can be found at www.PulseWorx.com   They can be contacted at Powerline Control Systems, Inc. ,19201 Parthenia St., Suite J, Northridge, CA 91324

Good luck and they don't seem to have a forum.