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[NeilF]

A few days ago out of nowhere after 6 years of working a couple of my wall switches lights just turned on by themselves and kept doing it - within minutes of me turning them off.  I then ubplugged EVERY wall module including the one attached to a PC.  Still the problem happened and it is now happening to almost all of my lights in the house.  I have had to turn the switch off on the bottom oe each to stop this.  I am trying to turn them back on one at a time to figure the problem but it's difficult.

I also turned the breaker off of the booster I have wired in.

Any ideas why my lights are turning on on their own.  I'm wondering if a neighbor has a switch and is fooling aroud but I know that's not the case - no one I know has X10 around me.

Thanks in advance

Neil

[Brian H]

You could try a different house code as a test for neighbor interference.
No motion sensors or remotes?
We actually had a strange one here recently. The problem was a remote stuck in a box not being used and the button on it got pushed.

[NeilF]

We have remotes but the one motion sensor has had the batteries removed and I'm fairly certain all modules have been removed from the walls so can a remote still work with w/o them?

Thanks

[TakeTheActive]

Any ideas why my lights are turning on on their own.

Light are Turning on their own

[nelson]

I've had the same problem recently and the problem has some very unique characteristics.

• While I have a number of modules set to the same code (A13) only one module turns on by itself
• Like the original post in this thread, mine will turn on again within minutes, or even within seconds of turning it off
• I immediately thought it was a defective module so I replaced it with a new one...that made no difference
• If I have the module on and dimmed to any level it will stay steady...it will not go to 100% by itself
• I use filters on my TV, computer etc.
• This is the only x10 problem that I'm having as of now
• I've had my whole house on x10 for about 25 years and consider myself an experienced user

This is a very strange situation and has me baffled. The only possible explanation that makes sense to me is that perhaps I've installed two bad modules in succession. Is it possible that there is a big batch of bad modules?

I would appreciate any input...any guess on your part to shed some light on this weird problem.
Thanks,
--Nelson

[Brian H]

nelson; Regular Incadescent type bulbs?

[nelson]

nelson; Regular Incadescent type bulbs?

Yes...incandescent bulbs...

[roger1818]

I have read that there is a design problem with X10's wall switches.  This problem is described and a fix is provided at Fixing module that randomly turns on.  I haven't tried it myself, but I have read that it has fixed the problem for some people in this forum.

[nelson]

I have read that there is a design problem with X10's wall switches.  This problem is described and a fix is provided at Fixing module that randomly turns on.  I haven't tried it myself, but I have read that it has fixed the problem for some people in this forum.

Thanks Roger...very helpful response.
However...I don't think I'll start modifying switches until my frustration level is at maximum...not quite there yet.

[roger1818]

Thanks Roger...very helpful response.
However...I don't think I'll start modifying switches until my frustration level is at maximum...not quite there yet.

If you don't feel up to modifying the switches, you could always replace them with better quality ones.  The X10 brand wall switches are the worst modules out there.  SmartHome makes some reasonably priced ones that are much better, though they aren't as cheap as the X10 brand.  Leviton and ACT also make some good quality switches but they cost a bit more.

[Dan Lawrence]

What's odd is that I have 6 WS467s on 3 different housecodes on my X10 system and have never had any tum or by themselves going back to the DOS days. All have timers, and the timers work flawlessly.

I might guess the problem related by NeilF just might be noise related.

[roger1818]

I might guess the problem related by NeilF just might be noise related.

According to Steve Bloom, the problem is caused by "a power spike from a large bank of magnetic ballast fluorescents on the same circuit, large motor, etc."  If you don't have this situation, you won't have this problem.

[Dan Lawrence]

Roger. who is Steve Bloom?  A Google search gives no Steve Bloom with an X10 link.

You are right, I don't have any "large bank of magnetic ballast fluorescents on the same circuit, large motor, etc." in my house. Just 1 fluorescent light in the Breakfast Room, which has a X10 Pro wired in module on address F2, works perfectly.

[dave w]

I think Steve's statement is correct, but a bit too broad. I have a couple WS467's that some times turn ON for "no reason". However there really is a cause. When our 30 year old heat pump compressor starts, the house mains dip, almost imperceptibly. The fact that the 467 has unused inputs on the controller chip that are not tied either high or low,  explains the occurrence.  It is not un-acceptable to let unused inputs on CMOS float, but the unsophisticated reactive power supply incorporated in nearly all X10 products do not provide a "rock solid" environment for the controller chips supply voltage. When the supply voltage for the controller dips all over the place and the floating inputs do not track, the chip "thinks" it just saw an input toggle, and triggers the triac. In other words Steve's qualification of "on the same circuit" is a little broad. I have the problem and the HVAC is not on same circuit as the dinning room light.  Now if I can just find the stash of 10k resistors and the soldering iron I use to fix the gutter down spouts. I will fix these things 

[roger1818]

Roger. who is Steve Bloom?  A Google search gives no Steve Bloom with an X10 link.

I am not sure exactly who he is, but he is the one who apparently originally suggested the solution of soldering pull-up resistors on the wall switch (see Fixing module that randomly turns on).  He is also credited for having drawn schematics for many X10 modules by reverse engineering them.

You are right, I don't have any "large bank of magnetic ballast fluorescents on the same circuit, large motor, etc." in my house. Just 1 fluorescent light in the Breakfast Room, which has a X10 Pro wired in module on address F2, works perfectly.

That would probably explain why you "have never had any tum or by themselves."

I have one wall switch that earlier in the summer would sometimes turn on randomly and at other times wouldn't turn on via an X10 command (seemed to reliably turn off though).  The problem seems to have gone away for now but I suspect it was somehow related to a fan or my central air conditioner (I never had a time to debug it properly).