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[alexcomp]

About 20 years old. Seems odd they all failed and some quite a while ago. With batteries installed and putting out current on the incoming wire legs (tested by multitester to insure not corroded contacts). No led light and no response to programming attempts. Must have had circuitry prone to "rot out" over time. Not sure they would have worked anyway as my purpose is to have a BIG button on the wall of my garage, easy to find in the dark, but would a second key depression toggle to off? Instructions don't say.

Will need to buy something.  Is there a single on/off button updated and available?

[Tuicemen]

The Big red is available still.
https://www.x10.com/kr15a.html?___SID=U
However I'm not sure this has been updated from the old versions you had.

[HA Dave]

...... my purpose is to have a BIG button on the wall of my garage, easy to find in the dark

Could a normally closed switch wired to a door window sensor fill your purpose/requirement? It would auto-shut-off after 5 minutes.

[roger1818]

Seems odd they all failed and some quite a while ago. With batteries installed and putting out current on the incoming wire legs (tested by multitester to insure not corroded contacts). No led light and no response to programming attempts. Must have had circuitry prone to "rot out" over time.

That  seems rather odd to me.  Are you sure they are set to the correct address and you are transceiving that house code?

but would a second key depression toggle to off? Instructions don't say.

AFAIK it does not.  If you have ActiveHome Pro with SmartMarcro, you could put the button on a different address and then have a pair of macros that will alternate between turning the desired module on and off.

[alexcomp]

All three units are electrically dead. No led light. I opened the units and tested for internal voltage and had 3 volts. There are two leads running across the board to the electrical components and I probed there.  Proper voltage coming in but somewhere on the board is dead.

I want a simple, large button that will send an on signal when depressed, then send an off signal with another depression. Don't think the emergency button will do that anyway. It's more like a panic button.

The HR12A will do this job nicely but would be difficult to find the right button when fumbling in the dark.

[Brian H]

X10 remotes with the carbon contacts on a rubber button.
Have been known to not make contact after much use or over years of use.
You may want to check them out.

I have three in boxes and all of them the Red Button only works sometimes and may have to be wiggled.

I believe you are correct. Only sends On commands. Then a series of commands to sound a Powerflash.

[alexcomp]

X10 remotes with the carbon contacts on a rubber button.
Have been known to not make contact after much use or over years of use.
You may want to check them out.

I have three in boxes and all of them the Red Button only works sometimes and may have to be wiggled.

I believe you are correct. Only sends On commands. Then a series of commands to sound a Powerflash.

Sounds plausible but it would have to be all three buttons as the house and unit code buttons in the battery compartment also non functional. Nothing to lose - I'll try burnishing the contact areas on all three buttons. I opened it and your suggestion is spot on. Green scale on the board tracings where the carbon tabs for the big red and the smaller control buttons contact the board. I've "scaled" this as best possible but haven't checked it yet. I checked and scaling the crud doesn't bring them back to life. I have four of these, some never used and all are dead, dead, dead.

[Brian H]

Thank you for the update.
Sorry the results where not more favorable.

[dave w]

I've "scaled" this as best possible  I checked and scaling the crud doesn't bring them back to life. I have four of these, some never used and all are dead, dead, dead.

FWIW I have good luck resurrecting dead buttons or dead controller. I clean the carbon button and the PC board contacts with a dremel tool bristle brush and very light pressure (do not use the wire wheel). Then use denatured alcohol on a swap on the carbon and the PC board contacts. Finally I dab a TINY bit of graphite on the carbon button. Always seems to work. There are graphite compounds (i.e. "remote control repair") available from ebay, amazon, etc. But I use a graphite powder lubricant I found at a hobby shop, normally used to lubricate axles of a soap box derby car. Bottle was a lot cheaper than the Amazon remote control repair stuff.   

[alexcomp]

I've "scaled" this as best possible  I checked and scaling the crud doesn't bring them back to life. I have four of these, some never used and all are dead, dead, dead.

FWIW I have good luck resurrecting dead buttons or dead controller. I clean the carbon button and the PC board contacts with a dremel tool bristle brush and very light pressure (do not use the wire wheel). Then use denatured alcohol on a swap on the carbon and the PC board contacts. Finally I dab a TINY bit of graphite on the carbon button. Always seems to work. There are graphite compounds (i.e. "remote control repair") available from ebay, amazon, etc. But I use a graphite powder lubricant I found at a hobby shop, normally used to lubricate axles of a soap box derby car. Bottle was a lot cheaper than the Amazon remote control repair stuff.

Thanks for the tip. If the emergency button would do everything I want I might give your system a try but it won't send a turn off command so not what I need.  Interesting they all died but they sat in a very humid environment for years and "grew stuff".

[roger1818]

Thanks for the tip. If the emergency button would do everything I want I might give your system a try but it won't send a turn off command so not what I need.  Interesting they all died but they sat in a very humid environment for years and "grew stuff".

As I mentioned before, if you have ActiveHome Pro, you could make a smart macro to make the Emergency Button do what you want it to do.  Set the Emergency switch to a dummy address (lets say E1) and ensure the house code for the module you want to toggle on and off is "Monitored."  Then write two smart macros as follows

Code: [Select]

E1-ON
If light-on
turn light off
Else (E1-ON)
turn light off

[alexcomp]

I'll check it out. Thanks...