Re: Does any wall dimmer have overload protection?

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"BruceR" <razrbruce@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:47fb5fc1$0$6499$4c368faf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Peter,
>
>  If the reason you're switching from X10 is for signal reliability let
> me suggest that you try one of Jeff Volp's XTB-IIR units first. It is a
> truly amazing device that is far better than any
> repeater/booster/coupler solution you may have tried.  I switched to
> Insteon before the XTB-IIR came out but I still put one in and run some
> X10 devices with it.  In my new second home I'm putting in all the X10
> stuff I took out along with an XTB-IIR and I don't expect any problems.

Agreed!  I've been so impressed by the increase in reliability that I wrote
a review of the XTB's for HomeToys (shameless self-promotional link):

http://www.hometoys.com/ezine/08.04/green/xtb.htm

> The new technologies are nice but a bit cumbersome to manage and none of
> them offer a truly sophisticated whole house controller.

That's a very important point to consider and something I mentioned in
detail in the review. With the addition of the XTBs, controllers like
HomeVision, Stargate and the Ocelot benefit greatly.  I had been unable to
use my Ocelot (actually, the older CPU-XA) successfully up until now because
of signal strength issues.  With the XTB-IIR, my whole house controller
really does control the whole house.  It's quite a pleasant change to have
things "just work."  I also have to add that unlike my Leviton repeater,
I've had no lock ups, no phantoms signals or repeater storms.

I also bought two used HomeVision controllers since they'll now be able to
reach all devices on both phases, something that was impossible for me
before the XTB-IIR.  In some ways, I am torn between spreading the word
about the XTB and scarfing up all the good deals to be had by people
switching over to more expensive (and in my opinion, far less capable)
protocols to gain greater reliability.

The truth is that I had been very reluctant to install even Jeff's repeater
because of the bad experience I had with the Leviton.  However, after
running the XTB-IIR for two months, the only problems I've experienced were
unrelated to Jeff's unit.  It turns out that one of my shoplites, which had
passed my testing with the Monterey for noise and signal sucking, began
emitting noise as strong as 2 volts in the X-10 range when one of the bulbs
began to darken at the end and started flickering.  Since then, I've bought
more filters and am busy making sure any fluorescent fixture is behind an
X-10 filter.

As for the OP's issue about accidentally plugging a vacuum cleaner into a
dimmer (been there, done that!) my only suggestion is to make sure that
there's always an undimmed outlet available right next to the dimmed outlet
so that no one is tempted to unplug the lamp to vacuum.  There are also
child protective outlet plates that have "plug locks" to make the unplugging
of the lamp an action which requires significantly more hand action to
remove than a normal plug.

I have a outlet strip plugged into my XTB so that I can run several X-10
loads through it for amplification.  I again used childproof outlet covers
(little plastic doohickeys that plug into a standard outlet and require
fingernails to remove) to cover the empty outlet holes.  I've written "X-10"
only on the covers to help remind me that I should not plug a vacuum cleaner
into the free outlets.  I've done the same on the UPS's ever since our
former cleaning lady plugging a vacuum cleaner into a 200VA unit and all the
magic smoke escaped.  (-:

I don't think there's any way to prevent plugging a vacuum cleaner into a
dimmer unless you made the outlets and plugs incompatible.  An easy way to
do that with a lamp outlet is to replace it with an ungrounded outlet and to
make sure that the vacuum cleaner has a grounded plug.  That way, you
couldn't accidentally plug the three-pronged vacuum cleaner cord into the
two pronged lamp outlet without a three-wire adapter plug.  That's pretty
easy to do with plug-in lamp dimmer modules, because (IIRC) the X-10
versions are all two pin devices.  That's not a complete solution, though,
because more and more heavy duty appliances are double-insulated and do not
use a three-pronged grounded plug.

As Marc has noted, it's precisely this situation that makes dimmer
controlled outlets "against code."  It's just too easy to make a mistake and
plug in a motorized device, often with serious consequences.

--
Bobby G.