Important Notice: Our web hosting provider recently started charging us for additional visits, which was unexpected. In response, we're seeking donations. Depending on the situation, we may explore different monetization options for our Community and Expert Contributors. It's crucial to provide more returns for their expertise and offer more Expert Validated Answers or AI Validated Answers. Learn more about our hosting issue here.

Some of my modules don respond at all to X-10 commands, but some do. Whats going on?

April 26, 2017commands going modules respond x-10

0

Posted

Some of my modules don respond at all to X-10 commands, but some do. Whats going on?

1 Answer

0

Posted

If your home is over 4000 square feet, you should probably install an X-10 amplifier. If not, you may get away with an X-10 bridge. Your home is wired from the power company with two phases. The power arrives at you electrical panel via two big fat wires. The voltage across these wires is 220 volts. One wire runs down your electrical box on one side, the other down the other side. Thus one wire supplies 110 volts to one side of your house (or half your outlets), and the other, the other side. X-10 signals are only fed into your system through one side (a single outlet), so for that signal to get to any X-10 device on the other side, it needs to go out to the transformer on your electrical pole, then back in the other side. That’s a long trip, and it’s a wonder it works at all. To fix this, you can add an X-10 bridge between the two phases, that essentially couples the two phases and allows X-10 signals to pass.