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Author Topic: Problems with my X10 Setup  (Read 1625 times)

nycfonephreak

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Problems with my X10 Setup
« on: February 09, 2013, 02:48:46 PM »

I have a very old X10 setup - been in this apartment (NYC) for about 28 years and my 2 remaining 16-unit wired controllers moved in with me. So, some of this gear is growing gray whiskers along with me ;D

One problem goes back to when I moved in - that is, there are two lamps (one in each of the two bedrooms) that do not respond to commands sent from controllers (wired) in other rooms or from any wireless controllers. Each of those lamps will respond only to a wired controller plugged into the same room or to a wireless controller if a TM751 is plugged into that room.

So if I have a single TM751 transceiver, for example, in the living room, kitchen, or foyer,  my wireless controllers will successfully control all devices in the apartment except for the lamps in either bedroom. I can even control the X10 outlets in each of those bedrooms that I installed for the air-conditioners- but not the lamps.

If I move the TM751 to bedroom 1, my wireless controllers will control the lamp in that room but not in the rest of the apartment and my wired controllers will control the lamp in bedroom 1 + rest of the apartment (except the lamp in bedroom 2) - and similarly for moving the TM751 to the 2nd bedroom

I tried just adding a TM751 to each bedroom and that allowed me to reliably control the devices everywhere from my two wired controllers - but, things became very unreliable from the wireless controllers - especially related to dimming.

I'd given up on resolving this years ago after reading something about possibly having two or more phases in the wiring, and needing to bridge the phases, etc. However, I recently got confirmation that there is only a single Phase A in my apartment. So, that cannot be the reason and this is what prompted me to get back trying to figure out what's causing this problem.

Also,  a new problem started about 2 weeks ago. My wireless controller arsenal consists of a bunch of HR12A handheld controllers and a bunch of wall-mounted 4-unit wireless wall switches (RW694 and its 3-unit + dim/brighten counterpart). All of these wall switches stopped working at the same time - but the HR12As continue to work fine (except for the aforementioned problem controlling the lamps in the two  bedrooms).

The only things that have changed around here in these past few weeks are:
 - had an electricity usage meter (wireless) installed in my apartment for the first time ever
     (which is how I confirmed all my wiring is on a single phase)
 - swapped some incandescent bulbs for new LED (fully dimmable) bulbs
 - my CM11A computer interface burned and crashed at about the same time the wireless wall switches stopped working

Any suggestions on what might be going on here?
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dave w

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Re: Problems with my X10 Setup
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2013, 03:13:51 PM »

If you are sure you only have one phase in your apartment, then you may have an electrical noise problem stopping the X10 signal from getting to the intended target.

However sometimes talking phase can be confusing, especially if talking to the power company and if in a large building. The power company generates "three phase power" at the generating station. Industry, large buildings, may connect to all three phases of power.  But when in a home, the power company generally refers to "split phase power". One of the three phases from the power company is "split" into two subphases 180 degrees out of phase. So from a power company viewpoint, you may only have one phase. Very confusing.

Do you have an electric stove with an oven? Or any other 220V appliances? If so, you likely have
split phase 220V" and still could have a phase coupling problem.
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dhouston

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Re: Problems with my X10 Setup
« Reply #2 on: February 09, 2013, 04:53:53 PM »

How large is your building? it is not unusual for large NYC apartment complexes to have 120/208 3-phase power. Unless you are in a small building, I suspect that's more likely than the split-phase dave w describes but it might still be true that your apartment only uses 1 of the 3 phases.

How are the batteries in the RF wall switches? The RW694 wall switches are RF only while the CM11A is PLC only so I can't think of anything that might affect both.

Also, are you certain you have TM751s? Could some be RR501s? Some of the things you describe seem impossible (adding a TM751 helped the wired controllers) as the TM751 does not receive from the powerline but only via RF.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2013, 05:18:07 PM by dhouston »
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