Re: X10 still around?

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Marc F Hult" <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote

<stuff snipped>

> Does all this stuff foisted on gadget-crazed consumers have to be so
> designed in such an ephemeral way?  (Think: how often does one need to
> replace the 100% efficient wall switch most homes had installed in every
> room through about the 1980's.)

Funny you should say this.  I just finished replacing a bum switch
controlling a garbage disposal after checking every other possibility first.
Why didn't I start with the switch?  Because switches fail so infrequently.
This was a cheap, contractor-grade back-stabbed switch.  Fortunately there
was enough free wire to use a better quality switch via the screw terminals,
not the wire holes.

I've replaced at least 6 X-10 wall switches.  Another one's got a dead
pushbutton, but it's the bathroom light that's on a Hawkeye, so no one ever
uses the switch.  The ones used as dimmers have a higher failure rate,
probably due to the heat that builds up in the wall box.

In a perfect world, X-10 wall switches would be standard snap toggles that
could automatically flip down when turned off remotely.  Instead we got
levers that had to be double-flipped and quirky push button switches.  But
they were CHEAP!!!!   I just wish they were "grandma" friendlier.

--
Bobby G.