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[steven r]

...This site has so many interesting things I find it hard to believe that anyone would have trouble meeting the minimum. Dave W, If you have other links that are this good please pass them along...

Ditto to that.
I imagine they have to have the minimum to cover expenses since they appear to be giving the stuff away.

[roger1818]

I wasn't able to locate the manufacturer's part number (Cornell-Dublier Mfg P/N: APFV20316) provided for this line filter by MECI  on the Cornell-Dubilier website (http://www.cde.com) so it's difficult to judge whether it would help, hurt. or do nothing insofar as X10 signals are concerned.  Perhaps someone else will have better luck.

Considering that Cornell-Dublier is a capacitor manufacturer, I would highly suspect that it is a noise trap which will absorb X10 signals instead of blocking them and thus would not be suitable.  I do not have any direct experience with this filter so I may be proven wrong.

[dave w]

OK JimC and steven r

In no particular order, my favorite places ;-)

http://www.allelectronics.com/
http://www.goldmine-elec.com/default.htm
http://www.meci.com/
http://www.sciplus.com/
http://www.discovercircuits.com/
http://www.hvwtech.com/

[steven r]

OK JimC and steven r

In no particular order, my favorite places ;-)

http://www.allelectronics.com/
http://www.goldmine-elec.com/default.htm
http://www.meci.com/
http://www.sciplus.com/
http://www.discovercircuits.com/
http://www.hvwtech.com/

Thanks! I emailed www.goldmine-elec.com/default.htm with a question and they got back to me in less than 30 minutes! That's good customer service! They've earned bonus points with me for that!

[JimC]

Thanks Dave

[steven r]

I ordered my filters the other day. My $20 minmum order cost over $13 to ship the cheapest way. Unless those filters weight a lot, I figure they're making money on the shipping. (I still think I got a good deal, however.)

I found the perfect 18" cords (On sale 5 for $8.49) to use with them from SmartHome when I ordered my ESM1. Check out the cords here.

[Don N]

steven r    I'm going to buy some of those "cheap" filters from MECI too.  And I like the 18" cords you found from SmartHome.  But I have a question, the cords have a ground wire and the filters look like they only have two connects.   Do I just not cut the ground wire when I splice in the filter?  Thanks.

[steven r]

...I have a question, the cords have a ground wire and the filters look like they only have two connects. Do I just not cut the ground wire when I splice in the filter?...

Actually the picture looks like it does have a ground point!
If not, do not cut the ground wire but let it continue unbroken. Trim back the other wires as needed for esthetics.
After I get my filters, I'm headed to Radio Shack for boxes. I'll feel a bit safer that way. If I don't find a box to my liking, I plan to cover my connections with heat shrink tubing. I'm not crazy about exposed wires.
While they can be used with a two wire cord, all of my UPS boxes (I currently have 6 in use.) have grounded plugs and I don't want to defeat their grounding.

[steven r]

dave w:

Do the filters have a grounding point? If so, does it help for our purposes to connect the ground line?
i.e. Do you have any idea if the filter is wired to benefit from having a ground?

[Duck69]

I'm very interested in these filters and have a few extension cords that my dog chewed up  ,that could be put to good use with these filters.
I've noticed that some have ordered the filters. Has anyone installed them as yet ?
If so. What were the results ? Helped, didn't help or caused X10 problems
Anxious to hear the results !
Jim

[steven r]

...I've noticed that some have ordered the filters. Has anyone installed them as yet ?...

dave w has been using them for awhile. I made an order based on his earlier post in this discussion. Haven't received mine yet.

[roger1818]

While they can be used with a two wire cord, all of my UPS boxes (I currently have 6 in use.) have grounded plugs and I don't want to defeat their grounding.

I wouldn't bother using these filters with your UPSes.  Most if not all UPSes have noise traps similar to these filters and shoudl do a good job of filtering out the noise.  The problem with noise traps is that they will absorb the X10 signal.  What you really need is a noise block not a noise trap.

[Duck69]

From what dave w said "YES the URL MECI filter I referenced,  stops X10 in its tracks. You need to place the filter AT the noise source with any X10 control between the line and the filter.". I don't anticipate have a problem. I  am planning to use these for a couple of TV's and stereo that doesn't have any kind of X10 control. So, I imagine plugging them in and then plugging the TV's & stereo into them would be OK.
Am I wrong ? If I am, please let me know so that I can avoid any problems.
Thanks
Jim

[steven r]

...I wouldn't bother using these filters with your UPSes.  Most if not all UPSes have noise traps similar to these filters and shoudl do a good job of filtering out the noise.  The problem with noise traps is that they will absorb the X10 signal.  What you really need is a noise block not a noise trap.

Argh... Am I getting the wrong thing? At least two of my UPS units are generating noise or otherwise sucking my X10 signal. It was my understanding that this is how dave w used his.

I'm a bit rusty on my electronic theory. How do blocks and filters work? Are they one way. i.e. Do filters/blocks in one direction? If so what happens if you reverse them.

[roger1818]

From what dave w said "YES the URL MECI filter I referenced,  stops X10 in its tracks. You need to place the filter AT the noise source with any X10 control between the line and the filter.". I don't anticipate have a problem. I  am planning to use these for a couple of TV's and stereo that doesn't have any kind of X10 control. So, I imagine plugging them in and then plugging the TV's & stereo into them would be OK.
Am I wrong ? If I am, please let me know so that I can avoid any problems.

I am not saying that it will cause any problems, it just won't do much for you.  There are two types of noise filters, noise traps and noise blocks and as I said earlier, the MECI filter is probably a noise trap.   A noise trap filters the noise by attracting the noise (including X10 signals) to it on either side of the filter and sucking the noise up .   A noise block however will keep the noise on one side of the filter and the X10 signal on the other side of the filter. 

If your problem is powerline noise and you have a very strong X10 signal, a noise trap will help you out, but if your problem is signal strength, a noise trap will actually weaken your X10 signal.  It is because your UPS has a noise trap that you want to plug it into a noise block as it will prevent the X10 signal from getting to (and thus being absorbed by) the noise trap inside the UPS.

I hope this clarifies things a bit.