Anyone use X10 home automation?

[MrBond]

A few years ago, I gave my parents a couple X10 lamp modules, an appliance module, and a remote for the indoor Christmas lights. They have two trees and a bunch of other indoor decorations that Mom always puts up, so I figured it'd be an easy way for them to turn them all on/off without climbing under the tree to plug it in/etc.

Well the number of decorations keep growing, so Mom bought a few more lamp modules this year, except none of them work correctly and I'm stumped.

If I plug them into a UPS, they all work fine. I can't go plugging a UPS into every outlet where I need one.

There's one outlet where one lamp module works, but no others will.

So I'm confused. Past lamp modules have pretty much been "set it, plug it in, and go". These are exactly the same thing as before, but they're not working.

Any suggestions?

 

[BoomerD]

Got them all set right? Are they on different lighting circuits in the house? I have 4 separate circuits in my house. Each individual circuit needs it's own transceiver.

 

[MrBond]

Are you sure about each circuit needing it's own transceiver? I thought I had them on different circuits in years past, but maybe not.

I do have them all on their own channels so the remote controls them separatly - they're all on the same "House" channel.

 

[BoomerD]

That's the only way I can get them to work in my house...each circuit has it's own circuit breaker, and each circuit has it's own trnasceiver, otherwise, the circuit without one...doesn't work...

 

[BoomerD]

Well damn...I guess you're never too old to learn something...

"Some Modules Don't Respond
The most commonly encountered problem with systems which use the existing house wiring to transmit signals is the signals are received by some Receiver modules, but not by others. For example, the Controller controls some lights but not others or controls some lights intermittently. This can happen sometimes when the Module to be controlled is on the opposite phase of the house wiring to the phase which the Controller is connected to. .
. Phases in household wiring is caused by two different power currents running from the electrical breaker box. (see figure 1). It is, therefore, suggested that the Controller and all Modules to be controlled by that Controller be on the same phase. This can be accomplished by reviewing your breaker panel (see figure 1 - "N" is X10 units on "B" phase) Where it is not possible, the problem can be solved by fitting a coupling capacitor (also known as a phase coupler or signal bridge) across the two phases of the house wiring to couple the signal from one phase to the other. ."