Re: The problems with X10 ...

[nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Dave Houston)]

I think you really have a lot to learn and could have saved yourself a lot
of trouble by asking questions in comp.home.automation where there are a lot
of people quite skilled in things X-10.

First, even though the price has recently gone up to about $65, an ELK ESM1
X-10 Signal Strength meter is an invaluable troubleshooting aid. It can also
show the presence/absence of Insteon signals.

The inexpensive X-10 Sundowner can be used to detect dawn and dusk.

Some TVs need filters - some do not. The ESM1 will tell you whether yours
does or doesn't.

"X-10 security" is an oxymoron. I can disarm any X-10 security console in
less than 30 seconds from outside the residence without physically touching
anything.

There's nothing "strange" about the current rating of the D-Link power
supply. It's a switchmode supply. It only supplies what the equipment needs
and wastes very little power when idle. Given that California, Europe and
other regions have mandated efficiency standards that can only be met by
such supplies, everyone is likely to start seeing switchmode supplies with
all new equipment. Some may pose problems for X-10 but I have a lot of
D-Link gear (router, WAP, network HDD and had a wireless router until I
upgraded from 802.11B) with these supplies, none of which causes any trouble
for my X-10 & Insteon. I've also tested the switchmode supplies sold by
Circuit Specialists and found them X-10 and Insteon friendly.

Transceivers on the same phase are _NEVER_ a problem. TM751 transceivers on
opposite phases (or legs) will _ALWAYS_ cause powerline collisions on unit
codes 1 & 9. Use RR501s which have collision avoidance (but at the cost of
duplicated commands) or use the Leviton HPCRF transceiver which handles all
housecodes and also has collision avoidance.

That you experience no problems from the AC and other motors, fluorescents,
etc. is the luck of the draw. Others may have problems - it depends on how
noisy the equipment is and on what X-10 gear is in use. Many X-10 switches
and modules are prone to brownouts and to noise spikes which can be caused
by motors, fluorescents, etc. This is documented on X-10's website.

3-phase power to a single family residence is quite rare in the USA (and
3-phase appliances rarer still). I doubt very much that you have 3-phase
power. More likely you have one 240V phase split into two 120V phases (or
legs), 180° out of phase with each other, which the electricians among us
call "split-phase". Again, whether or not a phase coupler is needed depends
on specifics.

I have covered nearly each of these issues, as succinctly as I can, on my
web page...

     http://davehouston.net

You should stick to plumbing. ;)

"accidental plumber" <aplayerinla@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>X10 troubleshooting, or it should actually be X10 essentials.
>
>If you get an X10 kit and try it out, most likely it would work
>beautifully.  But if you expand to any non-trivial system around the
>whole house, I can guarantee that it would not work reliably.  The
>troubleshooting from X10 are well hidden or very distorted.  A few
>years ago it's difficult to find any info in the net though the
>technology is from the 70's.  Now there are two much troubleshooting
>info over the top, without perspective.  Mostly likely something simple
>will make you system work reliably.
>
>1. Check your wiring if you are not in a new house.  It just take one
>moron in the past 10 years before I took over the house to wire a wrong
>socket and disabled half the house from X10 control.  The socket is
>well hidden, never used, but it will work as the neutral is wired into
>the ground.  A few dollars for a 3 pin tester will get the sockets
>tested pretty quick.
>
>2.  You need at least one 5A "noise" blocker and two will be good for
>most people.  One for your TV and all the home theater gadgets around
>it.  Other for the computer and the gadgets around it.  The devil are
>electronics especially higher power ones.
>
>All electronics need to reject power line noise and fluctuations.
>Basically they all attenuate the X10 signals, which is noise to the
>power signal.  The higher the power, the more difficult the job is,
>while the easiest way to do it is to use a by pass capacitor.
>
>The TV alone doesn't cause any obvious trouble but the load of all the
>boxes add up.  The lights near the TV and home theater cannot be
>switched on half of the time.
>
>Since usually you have a single extension where all your devices are
>plugged on, you just need to plug in the blocker to the wall socket
>first, and then plug in the extension plug over it.  But check if 5A is
>enough for all your devices.  If not, either buy a higher amp one or
>plug  some of the lower power devices directly into the electrical
>sockets.  A blocker is basically an inductor in serious so the whole
>extension are isolated from the rest of the house electrical circuit
>via a high impedance.
>
>The other cluster a home may have is a computer.  My 400W switching
>supply is OK.  On the same extension, I have cable modem, wi-fi router,
>scanner, printer, and many more because I needed two extensions with
>between 15 to 20 sockets.
>
>The devil is the D-Link wi-fi router.  Strangely it has a DC adapter
>rated at 2.5 Amp !!  It alone will kill off any X10 action in the same
>electrical circuit.  I replaced it with a 500 mA and it still works
>reliably as a wi-fi router.  Once it's sorted out, I don't even need a
>blocker for the lights to work reliably.  But since these things add
>up, I suggest to add another blocker here.
>
>The moral is, if you plug in a crap battery charger somewhere in your
>house, your whole system could be compromised.
>
>3.  If your house has 3-phase 240V circuit split into two separate 120V
>circuits, x10 doesn't work across the two circuits.  I have 3-phase and
>I thought I had the same problem.  But after I found out what a moron
>had done, now I can control every socket and light in my house, a
>typical 3-bed Cali house.  Anyway, the problem is easily detected and
>the solution is simple.  There's a adapter plug type of thing to couple
>the two phases.  You can still plug in your 3-phase appliance over it.
>
>One even cheaper way is to add another transceiver on the other circuit
>that come to you bundled and almost free, that you never needed.
>
>4.  Noise and interference from outside of your house.  I don't think
>the problem is that common.  x10 house codes are supposed to solve the
>interference problem.  Unless your neighbor has something strange in
>their house, the outside noise is similar to the inside noise you
>generated in your own home.  I would invest in a pair of testers before
>committing to find a qualified electrician to do the job according to
>Cali code.
>
>5.  Noises - overrated.  The big blower of the central system, no
>problem.  Washing machine and drying machine, no problem for x10, even
>though the wi-fi performance suffers.  Ceiling fans, washing machine
>and fluorescent lights, all no problem.  But the truth is, they are
>never turned on all at the same time.  Very unlike the electronics.
>
>6. RF range.  I never have any problem with the range.  The exception
>is when the security console is in the install mode, the range is much
>shorter probably due to old age of the device.  I make sure that the
>backup battery is charged and bring the console near to the detectors
>one by one to "install" them.
>
>Another exception is when there are two transceivers on the same phase,
>listening to the same house code.  The range appeared to be very short,
>but the cause of unreliability is probably the collision of x10 power
>line signals.


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