X-10 on/off oscillation problem

[joelsaxton]

When I go into the ACII to view my setup/timer configuration, my dusk lights and nilsen reactor powerhead will begin turning themselves on and off in a 1-2 minute pattern. None of the other things attached to X-10s behave this way. Why is this? The lights and the powerhead will do this sometimes for an hour before going back to normal. Why does examining the ACII (I usually don't even change anything, I am merely observing my setup parameters) cause it to send out these X-10 signals? And why would only 2 of the X-10 units respond in this way?

Joel

 

[clp]

This sounds like X-10 interference to me. When you modify the AquaController's program (or even just look at it on the LCD display), the internal program structures are re-initialized, and OSC timers, etc. are reset. This results in many X10 commands being sent out. I suspect that one command is slightly corrupted and being interpreted as another command. Only two of the modules have this problem because:
- addresses are very similar to commands being sent out.
- on different circuits - possible noise or signal attenuation.
-
Possible solutions:
- Don't use X10 - instead use the Direct Conect boxes.
- Find the source of the X10 interference and install a noise filter.
- If multiple circuits are used for X10 control are used then they should be on the same phase of power or a signal bridge must be installed.
- Try the manually turn on/off the devices through the AquaController control & status ->manual control menu. If they don't work 100% of the time then there is X10 interference.

Curt