RE: problem with AD10 / flourescent lighting

["Paul Gordon" <paul_gordon@xxxxxxx>]

Thanks keith, I'll give it a go at the weekend...

If it does turn out to be the load that's causing the problems, is there
much (anything!) I can do about it? - I can't change the fittings or the
bulbs, as they are the slimline jobbies mounted beneath the wall
cupboards...

I suppose I could change over to a relay instead of an X10 module... (more
bloody work!)

cheers.

Paul G.


>From: "Keith Doxey" <lists.diyha@xxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>To: <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
>Subject: RE: [ukha_d] problem with AD10 / flourescent lighting
>Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 23:29:22 +0100
>
>Hi Paul
>
>Most flourescent fittings have a Power Factor Correction capacitor
>connected
>directly across the mains input. It could be that this is soaking up
the
>X10
>signal thereby reducing the signal strength reaching th module when its
>load
>is connected.
>
>Try disconnecting the load and sticking a couple of hundred watt bulbs
on
>there to see if it works.
>
>It may also be that the flourescent units contains an electronic
ballast
>not
>a conventional choke type.
>
>Local transmissions may still have sufficient strength to get through.
>
>Keith
>
>www.diyha.co.uk
>www.kat5.tv
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Paul Gordon [mailto:paul_gordon@xxxxxxx]
>Sent: 16 October 2002 23:21
>To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
>Subject: [ukha_d] problem with AD10 / flourescent lighting
>
>
>Hi chaps.
>
>anyone got any ideas re this problem I'm seing:
>
>in my new kitchen renovation (http://paulgordon.homeip.net/kitchen),
I have
>put all the lighting on X10 DIN modules, which are the other side of a
new
>consumer unit. (We ran new tails from the meter, and fitted new
circuits
>and
>MCB's)
>
>I have:
>
>LD11 - ceiling lights, - mains halogen, - 400W (8 x 50W)
>LD11 - patio lights, - mains tungsten, - 120W (2 x 60W)
>AD10 - laundry room light - mains flourescent, - 1 x 36W
>AD10 - cupboard lighting, - a mixture as follows: 3 x 24W mains
>flourescents, 2 x 13W mains flourescents, 2 x 10W mains halogens
>AD10 - 1 mains neon
>
>now, I am having some problems with X10 signal reception.
>
>Firstly, if I take a mini-controller into the kitchen and plug it into
the
>new socket ring, everything works 100% perfectly
>Take the mini-controller out into the hall, (so now it is on the
"other"
>socket ring main), and everything still works 100% perfectly, - thus
>proving
>X10 signal transmission through to the new wiring yes?
>Take that controller a bit further away and things start to drop off a
bit,
>- many commands are not seen. this would seem to indicate a simple
signal
>strength problem....
>
>however, where things start to get a bit weird, is that having spent a
>while
>testing sending various commands from the HA PC, I can see the
following
>behaviour:
>
>the LD11's seem to be OK (actually I only tested the ceiling lights,
not
>the
>patio), but the ceiling lights responded to *every* one of about 20 on
/
>off
>commands I sent.
>
>The AD10 for the laundry room light, similarly semd to be OK, - it
>responded
>correctly to every test transmission I sent.
>The AD10 for the Neon indicator, similarly semd to be OK, - it
responded
>correctly to every test transmission I sent.
>
>The other AD10 though, seems to only respond to ON commands. - try as I
>might, I could not get it switch off via X10 from the HA PC (but as I
said,
>a mini-controller in the kitchen works for everything). It seems to
respond
>to 100% of ON commands, but not at all to ay form of OFF command,
including
>an ALL UNITS.
>
>So my question is: is it likely to be a dodgy AD10 unit? - like I said,
it
>response perfectly to all commands sent from a nearby mini-controller,
but
>seems not to see more distant OFF commands. (I haven't had a chance to
swap
>the AD10 unit out yet...). Is there any basis for believing that OFF
>commands might be inferior to ON commands? - i.e. could they be
"weaker"
>and
>thereby more prone to signal strenght problems? or could the load be
>causing
>a problem? (but like I said, there's no problem with a
"close"
>transmission,
>or with local control for that matter).
>
>To be clear, there are absolutely no low-voltage items involved, and no
>transformers of any kind.
>
>I'd appreciate any pointers, - up 'till now, I haven't really had any
X10
>transmission problems...
>
>Paul G.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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