" wrote:
On Friday, December 20, 2013 11:35:41 PM UTC-5, DerbyDad03 wrote:

....snip...

Would adding an incandescent light like you do when using an appliance
module with fluorescent tubes help in any way?

I had to add a small "Christmas candle" off an X-10 module so the
fluorescent shop light wouldn't turn off immediately after the motion
sensor turned it on.

Maybe. If what you're saying is that you did that with a standard
X-10 incandescent only module and it worked for a fluorescent, then
it may work for an LED too. They are designed for resistance loads
and the more a load looks like a pure resistance, the more likely it
would be to work. How long it lasts might be another issue. It
all depends on the design, which we don't know anything about, except
that it's cheap, likely made in China, etc....

I'm using an RR501 transceiver module with an MS14A motion sensor.

http://www.thehomeautomationstore.com/ms14a.html



Given that the world is moving to LEDs, you would think that if
the basic X-10 module could be used with them, that they would say
so. The real problem with X-10 is that AFAIK, at this point, nothing
is being invested in any new products, nor has there been for years.
What you have is cheap and
OK for some simple applications where good reliability isn't needed.
IDK enough about the state of other contenders today to make any
recommendations. Perhaps if Lee posts more about the overall application,
some others can make suggestions.

Trust me, I know all about the unreliability of X-10! My dad was looking
for a setup to control some outside lights. I bought a bunch of X-10 stuff
to test at my house before installing it at his and was very disappointed.
The motion sensors would turn the lights on but sometimes they wouldn't
turn off for hours at a time. I'd come home from work in the bright
sunlight to find the lights on even though everything was set to only work
after dusk. The thing is, it wasn't consistent so it was really hard to
troubleshoot. I also experienced other strange symptoms when the modules
were plugged into GFCI receptacles. There was no way I would saddle my dad
with an inconsistent, unreliable lighting system.

I eventually took most of it out and installed standard fixtures with their
own motion sensors. I left one setup installed which, for the most part,
works fine. I put a motion sensor just inside my shop door and have an
RR501 controlling a 4' shop light. It's just so I can some light in the
area when I come in through the back door where there is no convenient
switch. It works fine 95% of the time but it's not a critical set up.
That's the one where I had to add the Christmas candle to get it to work
properly.

In fact, I just paused putting this post together and did another test. I
have 3 areas of Christmas lights in the house. I just plugged 3 RR501
transceivers into the 3 receptacles and tried to use an MS14A as a remote.
The 2 RR501's on the living room circuit *sort of* worked but the one on
the kitchen circuit will only turn off, never on. Plug the same RR501 into
a living room receptacle and it works, sort of. By sort of I mean that 100%
of the time the RR501's will turn off with the remote but they only turn on
about 90% of time. I tried different channels and house codes but the
inconsistencies were consistent.