Print

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

[lj]

Hi,

I have an XPT Pro with an XP2D switch installed.  It is used to control 3 outside lights.  However, sometimes one of the lights comes on without touching the switch.  Does anyone know why one light would be coming on?  Could a remote be turning it on?  And why would it be only one light out of the three?

Any help would be appreciated!

thanks,
lj

[Brian H]

What X10 switch is the XPT with XPD2 controlling?
Is each light on its own X10 switch and what model X10 switch?
Are all the X10 lights switches on the same X10 address?
What type load is being controlled? Incandescent, 120 volt Halogen, CFL, LED etc.?

You mentioned a remote command.
Do you have any remotes?
What model?
What X10 Transceiver are you using if you have remotes?

[bkenobi]

My first thought is that a neighbor has X10 and is transmitting the ON command for that one light either via RF or PLC.  If that's the case, you could try changing HC and/or UC to something different.  Perhaps if you switch the UC on the two lights and see if the issue moves with the UC or if it stays with the fixture that would help isolate the issue.

[JeffVolp]

sometimes one of the lights comes on without touching the switch.

I have seen several instances where noise from CFLs have managed to turn on an appliance module on the same circuit.  Do you have any CFL or LED lights on the same circuit as the one that occasionally comes on by itself?  If so, you might also have a problem with powerline noise.

Jeff

[lj]

What X10 switch is the XPT with XPD2 controlling?
Is each light on its own X10 switch and what model X10 switch?

 No they are on the same switch

Are all the X10 lights switches on the same X10 address?

 There is only one switch

What type load is being controlled? Incandescent, 120 volt Halogen, CFL, LED etc.?

Incandescent

You mentioned a remote command.
Do you have any remotes?

 just remotes for tv, radio, garage door

What model?
What X10 Transceiver are you using if you have remotes?

none


Edited by Tuicemen to fix quote(readability)

[lj]

sometimes one of the lights comes on without touching the switch.

I have seen several instances where noise from CFLs have managed to turn on an appliance module on the same circuit.  Do you have any CFL or LED lights on the same circuit as the one that occasionally comes on by itself?  If so, you might also have a problem with powerline noise.

Jeff

I do have CFL on the same circuit.  I will change that and see what happens.

[Brian H]

The XPT can not control any loads by itself. As it is an X10 power line only transmitter with no load output. It has to be controlling another X10 device or devices.
Like a X10 wall switch, X10 fixture module inside the lights themselves or maybe even the old X10 floodlights.
http://www.authinx.com/manuals/X10/XPT.pdf

What X10 module or modules is it controlling?
With only one of the lights going on. I suspect there are more than one X10 modules controlling the three lights and one is falsely going on.

[lj]

The XPT can not control any loads by itself. As it is an X10 power line only transmitter with no load output. It has to be controlling another X10 device or devices.
Like a X10 wall switch, X10 fixture module inside the lights themselves or maybe even the old X10 floodlights.
http://www.authinx.com/manuals/X10/XPT.pdf

What X10 module or modules is it controlling?
With only one of the lights going on. I suspect there are more than one X10 modules controlling the three lights and one is falsely going on.

When I bought my house, it had this controller to control the lights in my outside entry way.  They worked fine for 10 years.  Then the lights would stay on and I could not turn them off.  I replaced the controller.  Now one of the 3 lights comes on without any input from me touching the controller.  So could it be the receiver that is causing the problem?  last night all lights were off.  When I got up this morning, the one light was on.  I cannot use the controller switch to turn it off.  If it reacts light it has the last few days, in a couple of hours, I will be able to use the switch to turn it off.  I did not touch any lights in my house.  I did turn off the fan in the bedroom, and used a kettle in the kitchen to make coffee.

[dave w]

Ij, I think you are missing something. The XPT can not directly feed power to the three lights. It is sending ON-OFF commands to X10 modules which do control the lights directly. These could be wired in modules or perhaps socket modules which the bulbs screw in to. One of those could be bad, or perhaps noise is turning it on, or sometimes leakage current will cause the CFL to flash when off, and that will cause the controlling module  to come on. As a test you might try temporarly replacing the one CFL bulb with an incandescent bulb to see if it also comes on. If it does not, try replacing the CFL with a new CFL.

Try to determine what X10 modules are truly supplying power to the bulbs, which will help readers trouble shoot.

[Brian H]

You are going to have to find the X10 modules controlling the lights. As dave w and I pointed out.
If they are not an X10 wall switch where you can also locally turn them on and off.
The lights may have a X10Pro fixture module in their electrical box.
http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/XPFM
http://kbase.x10.com/wiki/XPDF

They could also be the old discontinued X10 PR511A Flood Lights with Motion Detectors.
I could not find the model in the X10 Wiki but found it on an independent X10 dealers site and it had a link to the manual on it.
http://www.thex10shop.com/product/x10-powerhouse-pr511-motion-detecting-floodlights

[lj]

Hi,

I found the transmitter and receivers.  I now understand how this is suppose to work.  There are three lights.  There are three receivers, one in each light.  the lights are connected to a power source within my house wiring.  These are outside lights attached to different walls.  When I have lightbulbs in these lights, all lights are on.  I use my electrical breakers and see that the lights are on different fuses. The transmitter sends a signal through my wires  - should switch on/off.   One light works ok most of the time.  However,  2 of the lights will stay on all the time.  Can I assume that this is the receivers not working correctly?  I have replaced the transmitter.

Is there another technology that work work and be cheaper(receivers/transmitters are around $30 each).

thanks
lj

[Brian H]

I have not seen any other technologies that are cheaper than X10. Most are more expensive.

[lj]

Thanks!

So can I assume that it is the receivers that are malfunctioning as the transmitter is new?

[Brian H]

Sounds like they did fail but other factors maybe influencing things.

Have you determined what model X10 or X10Pro module the XPT with the XP2D face plate are controlling?

If the modules controlling the lights, have a local On/Off button. Does the local button it turn them one and off?

If the lights have a wired in XPDF dimmer module in their electrical box.
When you cycled the power tracing circuits. Did the lights come right back On after the power was cycled?

[JeffVolp]

One light works ok most of the time.  However,  2 of the lights will stay on all the time.  Can I assume that this is the receivers not working correctly?

If the modules are controlling CFL or LED lights, they could be injecting noise onto the powerline when on, which prevents the modules from decoding the OFF command.  If so, you could try a different type of light bulb that may be more compatible with X10 operation.  Or you could add filters between the X10 modules and the light fixtures to block the noise from reaching the X10 modules.

Jeff