Re: X10 units kill compact fluorescents

[Neil Cherry <njc@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 10 Nov 2006 13:18:22 -0800, arantius wrote:
> I can't believe it took me so long to realize, but I've blown 4 (2 each
> of 2 kinds) of compact fluorescent bulbs, and I'm confident it's
> because of my X10 units.
>
> I figured out quickly that they don't work with the lamp modules, so I
> had them plugged into appliance modules.  This appeared to work for
> some time, but sooner or later (probably within a week), the bulb would
> die with a loud noise when switched on.  No unusual behavior was
> exhibited (blinking, interference, etc) until they blew.
>
> Taking the busted bulb modules apart, they all seem to have burst one
> of the two big radial capacitors inside.
>
> Any idea what causes this or if I can do something to make the two
> compatible with each other?  I really miss remote control of my lights,
> and I'd prefer to not go back to incandescent.
>

I think what you've got is the local sense current burning out the
bulbs. Many of us disable this feature because of the problems the
leakage current. To disable this go here:

http://www.geocities.com/ido_bartana/Modifying_Appliance_module.htm
#Defeating%20local%20current%20sensing

That's really just one line.

--
Linux Home Automation         Neil Cherry       ncherry@xxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.linuxha.com/                         Main site
http://linuxha.blogspot.com/                    My HA Blog
http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/               Backup site