My IR543 was working perfectly the other day, then all of a sudden the power in my house went out. Now, my IR543 is not sending out any signals to the modules. The IR543 light flashes when I push the On/OFF buttons and dimmer ..etc. but none of the lights come on. Did it go bad? Anyone got any suggestions.

Have you tried a different outlet?

Randy
www.RRDeals.com

Have you tried a different controller? This would narrow down if it's an IR543 problem at all.

Bill
www.homeautomationnet.com

Christian,

Do you also have a TM751 Module in the loop somewhere?

The reason I ask is that I read about KNOWN problems
with the TM751's where they repeat signals and lock
up. And the only way to unlock the unit it to physicaly
un plug it from the wall and then plug it back in.

I also have an IR543 and I also have a TM751 that is
faulty, and while playing around today with the lights
I used my X10 RF remote to send a DIM signal to my
TM751 which caused it to send an infinate MDIM command
and locked up the TM751.

When that happened it also
rendered the IR543 useless as the powerlines were
swamped with the DIM command. Unplugging my TM751
solved the problem and the IR543 began working as
usual.

I called X10 today and told them about the TM751 and
I also told them about the condition where the TM751
sends a looping (infinate) DIM command which causes it
to lock up. I told them I read this at the message
board at X10ideas.com and they of course denied this
problem..... But agreed to replace the TM751 unit.

Just thought i'd share...

The TM751 is notorious for this problem and will routinely lock in a sending loop when over dimmed. This causes nothing in the home to work due to signal collision. You can replace it but you will have the same problem. The PAT01 for the most part solves this problem. This should not be brought on by IR though.

Bill
www.homeautomationnet.com

Bill,

The RR501 is not immune to that sort of problem either. Perhaps the X-10 pro version is, but I doubt it. I can routinely lock up my RR501 by sending an "on" from my IR543, while the RR501 is in the middle of a repeated dimming by holding the dim button down on a Palmpad. The RR501 actually detects the collision and stops transmitting, but it's still locked up solid and won't respond to any commands at that point, rf or powerline. Not even the on/off button on the front of the unit responds. The only good news in this mess, is that it does not flood the powerline with dim commands, like the TM751 does when it's locked up. The rememdy is to unplug the RR501 and plug it back in. Some have suggested plugging the RR501 into an appliance module, to make it easier to cycle power when needed.

John Galvin

John,

I heard that the RR501 did solve the problem.. Glad
to hear that it actualy has not... I think when it's
all said and done I will just eliminate the RF
Transciever alltogether... Effectively eliminating the
problem at the source.

I need to get my new remote to control the IR543 first
and from what Uli at Crisp Solutions tells me... I may
have bought the wrong remote (Sima SUR-20) Argh! :)

Thanks John, The PAT01's have never locked up on me, but I don't think any X10 produced device is completely immune from problems. You get a lot less problems when you buy the higher quality X10 gear. The PAT01 is certainly miles ahead of the TM751, which should to be banned from the system, but is very popular because it's cheap.

Bill
www.homeautomationnet.com

Bill,

To be fair, it is much more difficult to lock up the RR501, than the TM751. I had to contrive a particular set of conditions to get it to lock up. The TM751 on the other hand, can be locked up by doing nothing more than attempting to dim a light. So, the RR501 and it's X-10 Pro twin, are a big improvement over the TM751. Also with the RR501, you get a full 2-way (responds to status request) appliance module that can be controlled by RF or powerline X-10. The TM751's built-in appliance module can only be controlled by RF and the TM751 cannot receive any commands whatsoever from the power line, such as status request.

John Galvin

I Unplugged the device, but haven't tried plugging it back in. This happened to me another time before, and all I had to do was unplug it and it worked. I have not tried other modules, the plug in modules that I have are the stanley lamp module and magnavox appliance modules. Hopefully unplugging the IR543 will solve the problem. Thanks

I also had the same problem with the TM751. And the people at X10 do not admit the problem.
But I had the RR501, and tried it and have never again had that endless dimming problem.

A cheap way to get the RR501 is to buy the RCA version from X10 overstock (TRANSCEIVER MODULE (HC50RX)) it has been on special for over 1 year now at $9.98. I bought it and it is exactly the same as the RR501 and it works great with the remote dimmers.

Remember you will only experiance the problem with the dimming from a RF base signal. Anything directly through the computer interface or right from the wall switch will be ok. It is only a problem from a remote control or a palm pad.