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[buzzbomb]

So I had x10 devices all over my home I added a few years ago, but I quit using them because of really poor performance and tons of intermittent issues.  Well, I decided to try again, this time with a smartlinc 2412n driving everything.  Besides the REALLY clunky x10 interface, I also cant find any way to add x10 devices to scenes or rooms.  Its very frustrating.  I also found I had the same issues as before with x10, that a lot of outlets would just never work with any x10 device plugged into them.

Fast forward to today when my brand new passive smarthome phase coupler arrived.  I figured this would solve all my issues.  To ky dismay, after plugging in the phase coupler now NOTHING works.

Someone please tell me where to start, or if I should even bother.  Ive spent hundreds of dollars and dozens of hours and I'm just extremely disspointed in this whole situation.  So to be specific:

How can I make all my outlets x10 ready?
How can I add an x10 device to a room or scene?
what am I doing wrong?
Should I even bother, or am I an idiot for continuing to spend money on crap that will never work?

[buzzbomb]

As an aside, I suppose its kind of my fault.  Ive always said that anything that has "smart" in the name (smart charger, smartkey, smart car) is extremely STUPID.  So far I'm being proven right.

[Brian H]

Sounds like you have power line noise and signal suckers.
When you added the passive coupler it coupled the noise to the other phase of the home. Now both are worse.
Many of us here use the JV Engineering XTB-IIR for their coupling needs.

I would try selectively disconnecting electronic gadgets and see if things get better. Computers, UPS Units, TVs, battery chargers to name a few. Are frequent offenderrs.

If you are using an X10 controller. Make sure it is not on an ups or surge strip with a built in noise filter.

http://jvde.us/x10_troubleshooting.htm
http://www.act-remote.com/PCC/uncle.htm

[buzzbomb]

That makes sense.  Can I also just turn off breakers to isolate the circuit in question?  If there is a "signal sucker" on that leg, will turning it's breaker off disable it?

[buzzbomb]

PS thank you!

[Brian H]

Yes flipping breakers would isolate the circuit and then you could see what devices are on that circuit.

[buzzbomb]

I'm at a loss so far.  I turn off EVERY single breaker in my house except for one; the breaker that is on only goes to one ceiling light, and two outlets.  The only thing plugged in to the outlets are an X10 lamp module (I tried a total of 10 different modules) and either a 2412n, or I swapped that for an older X10 RF receiver (I tried 3 different ones of those!) and STILL have intermittent issues or it just won't work st all!!!

The ceiling light bulb was a CF.  So I swapped it for an incandescent.  SAME THING!

Then I repeat that entire procedure on a different circuit.  Same results!

WTF!!! 

So is it my wiring in the house?  It's no more than 30 feet from the breaker box.  The wiring is a little older I suppose, the house was built in 1974.  This just defies all logic.  There's no way EVERY single module is bad, and I'm seriously doubting that every wire is bad.

Does X10 communicate through the hot leg, the neutral, or ground?  Is there a type of Romex that doesn't work?  Is it possible that the electricity coming into my house is somehow "bad"?  Could there be something between the breaker box and the power company causing interference?  If so, is there some kind of filter, repeater, converter or otherwise I can use to fix it?  Should I replace circuits in my house?  Does God just hate me?

This

There has got to be some explanation here.  This is just baffling.

[Knightrider]

Could it be that you share a pole transformer with a neighbor or two?  Ask Noam about the CFL across the street that messed up his X10 system.

[Brian H]

The 2412N is the Insteon Smartlinc that can also do X10 marginally. That is probably why it has limitations to scenes etc.
Just a heads up. Smartlabs is slowly eliminating X10 support from the latest hardware revisions of Insteon modules.

Passive Couplers don't always work well. Lets say you have a 3.2 volt X10 signal at the controller and it is reduced to 1 volt at the breaker box. Only the one volt signal is then passed to the other phase. Where there are even more losses. Will also pass any noise on the phase to the other one.

Are most of your modules X10 or others?

[Noam]

Could it be that you share a pole transformer with a neighbor or two?  Ask Noam about the CFL across the street that messed up his X10 system.

No need to ask. I'll give the short version:
A few summers ago, several of my X10 modules (actually, they were Insteon switches, running in X10 mode) suddenly stopped working, only at night.
I spent a few weeks trying to test everything in my house (flipping off every breaker,unplugging every device, etc), but found nothing.
My dad (an electrical engineer) even built a test rig to look for signal noise, but found nothing we could pinpoint.
Finally, he suggested it could be a neighbor's CFL, since it only happened at night, so something that was on only at night (like an outdoor CFL) was possible.
I tried the neighbor with the brightest porch lights first (who also happened to be a close friend). One by one, he unscrewed each bulb (they had been in service for years at that point - none were new), until we found the one that was causing the problem. When he screwed it back in, he could hear an audible buzzing coming from it.
I bought him a new pair of CFL bug bulbs for his porch, and the problem went away.

Afterward, my dad took the bad bulb (I asked the neighbor if I could have it), and tested it using the setup he had built. When he was closer to the bulb (maybe 20 feet of wiring), the noise was off the charts!

Both times I had a CFL take down my system (the story above, and one time before when it was one of my own), you could hear the bulb buzzing.
Maybe a neighbor on the same pole transformer has a failing CFL. It doesn't hurt to ask.

[buzzbomb]

All of my modules are X10, actually.  I had these same issues with X10 before, which is why I purchased the 2412n.  The description looked slick, and it said you could "easily add X10 devices into any room or scene".

Still wondering how to do that, BTW.

Does anuone have answers for me on that or any of my other woes?  Looks like it'll take some programming to do?  Fine, I'll do it.  I just need to know how to actually add an X10 device to a room.  Or scene.

I doubt I'm the only one who has run into this.  And not to seem unappreciative of the help ive gotten, but are there any other forums or places I can ask these questions?

[buzzbomb]

So no CFL allowed?  My wife will be happy to hear that.  Should I do away with all fluorescent fixtures in my home?  Can I put a filter in to stop the noise at my breaker box?

[cjhallx]

Are LED bulbs bad as well?  
I ask because they have self-contained electronics as well that might generate as much interference.
Great info. Thanks to all.

[buzzbomb]

I was out on my front porch with my kindle typing this as my neighbor was leaving for work.  I asked if I could unscrew his cfl spotlighted he has had on the front of his house running continuously for EIGHT years he said.  Holy crap stuff works now!

Unbelievable!

Ok, so hoe do I add X10 devices to a room?

Thank you guys SO much!!!!  I never would have figured that out.

[JeffVolp]

I asked if I could unscrew his cfl spotlighted he has had on the front of his house running continuously for EIGHT years he said.  Holy crap stuff works now!

That is why I developed this:  http://jvde.us/xtb/XTB-ANR_description.htm

Jeff