Can X10 module be used with PSC05 two way module?

[davidoh69]

I'm having difficulties getting the X10 smart board to work.  The widget doesn't seem to cause the X10 on/off command to go out.  Does the PSC05 two way X10 module work with the smart board or does it have to be the PSC04?

[jason]

The PSC05 should work.

Do you have the I/O channel set to X10 mode?  It's a setting on the the "modules" tab for each I/O channel.  If the channel mode is configured correctly, a little green LED should light up on the X10 smart board.

 

[davidoh69]

I do have the modules set to X10 mode and the LED is on.  The PSC05 is on the same circuit as another X10 controller (See http://www.amazon.com/SmartDisk-SC503-X10-CONTROLLER-4020/dp/B0007N5LLI ) and it's controlling the X10 module perfectly.

Any thing else I should try?

[jason]

Here are two things that have tripped me up in the past:

Is is possible that the PSC05 is plugged into the other phase of your home power wiring?

Also, if the PSC05 is plugged into a surge protection power strip, the signal might not be getting out past the purge supressor.

   

[davidoh69]

I tried it with a different PSC05 and a new PSC04 - no luck.  I have it on the same power strip as the X10 module that I'm trying to control, so it isn't on a different circuit/phase.  Also, the X10 Maxi controller is on the same strip and it works fine controlling the X10 module.

Could the ioBridge X10 module be bad?  The green LED is on and I believe that I've configured it correctly.  Is there any other way of checking the functionality?

[jason]

If an X10 command is successfully getting from a widget to the PSC04, a few thing will happen.

1) The I/O channel number of the X10 Smart Board should be shown on the LED display of the Io-204 for about a second.

2) The green LED on the X10 Smart Board will go dark for about a half second while the command is being sent.

3) The red LED on the PSC04 will go dark for about a half second while the command is being sent through the home wiring.

It's possible that you have a bad X10 board.  But with so many links in the X10 chain, 99% of the time it's something else.  Send me a private message with your IO-204's serial number and I'll see if there are any errors in the server logs from your hardware.

[jason]

Everything appears to be set up correctly with the widgets and IO-204.  The X10 board just isn't responding.  If you send it back, back we'll replace it.

Two last thing to check.  Are you using the white cable that came with the X10 Smart Board?  I know it looks like a telephone cord but the wiring is slightly different.  A few people have used telephone cords in the past and it caused problems.  And finally...  remove the X10 Board and looks closely at the pins.  The one other time this happen it was because a little glob of soldering flux got one of the pins, preventing it from making contact.  After the glob was scrapped off, it worked again.  

[davidoh69]

I did as you suggested - checking/cleaning the contacts - and it works now - the Green LED blinks when a command is sent, unlike earlier.  I hope it isn't an intermittent problem that comes back later...

thanks for the help and quick responses.