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tbeckman
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| Posted: December 10 2008 at 14:21 | IP Logged
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I have about 80 insteon devices that work pretty well in the house. I recently took a couple of x10 lamp modules and and thought I would use them for my christmas lights. However, I am quickly finding out that my PLM can not comunicate with some of the lamp modules on some outlets. I currently use a couple of wireless insteon AP's to bridge my phases and that works well, but it does not repeat the x10 signal. I understand I can get fairly cheap x10 devices to bridge phases within a panel, but how do I bridge the panels themselves. I have two 200 amp panels. Also, what bridging devices would anyone recommend. Perferably a device that can send most insteon and x10... but doesn't have to be since I only use x10 for christmas lights once a year. Thanks.
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jbbtex
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| Posted: December 10 2008 at 16:30 | IP Logged
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I have just a couple of x10 devices and use this. It works pretty well.
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Brady
"Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." - Gen. George S. Patton
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BeachBum
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| Posted: December 10 2008 at 16:48 | IP Logged
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I also use the same device and it works just fine but be
aware Insteon could also be adsorbing your X10 signal.
So far I personally have not had the problem yet but
others have.
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Pete - X10 Oldie
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TonyNo
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| Posted: December 10 2008 at 19:26 | IP Logged
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Based on my experience, 80 Insteon devices means no X10 signal has a chance. YMMV
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jeffw_00
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| Posted: December 11 2008 at 17:24 | IP Logged
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another option is to wire in the Leviton HCA-10E (I may not have the model # quite right) active x-10 bridge -it's about $70. But it's also true that X-10 can be problematic in an insteon environment. Although, what i have experienced is that the "strong signal" places in my house still work well, it's the places that were always "iffy" that get a lot worse under insteon
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edtude
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| Posted: December 11 2008 at 21:14 | IP Logged
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I use what Brady recommends and I have 30 insteon units installed in my system and am using 4 or 5 X-10 Lamp Modules with no problems.
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tbeckman
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| Posted: December 30 2008 at 01:14 | IP Logged
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OK... I have each of my panel's phases coupled (I have two panels)... however, how do I bridge the two panels themselves so that a signal can travel across the two phases in both panels.
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BeachBum
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| Posted: December 30 2008 at 08:25 | IP Logged
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The 2 pairs of phases are “bridged” near the meter. They were split when installed unless you have 2 separate power lines coming into the house.
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Pete - X10 Oldie
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tbeckman
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| Posted: December 30 2008 at 11:43 | IP Logged
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My meter is located about 300ft from the house. From the meter there are 6 wires of about 6gauge in size running to the panels... three lines to one and three lines to the other. Does that help explain it better?
BeachBum wrote:
| The 2 pairs of phases are “bridged” near the meter. They were split when installed unless you have 2 separate power lines coming into the house. |
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BeachBum
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| Posted: December 30 2008 at 11:59 | IP Logged
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I would think the APs will do the trick for Insteon. That’s 600’ round trip. If the distance kills you then 2 more APs would work. For X10 it should travel the distance but due to the fact the Insteon eats up signal strength you may need another X10 bridge.
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Pete - X10 Oldie
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tbeckman
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| Posted: December 31 2008 at 11:38 | IP Logged
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My Insteon network is supported by 2 wireles AP's which do a good job of bridging my two panels. However, the X10 devices don't seem to be able to talk across the panels... they are communication across the phases within each panel but not across the panels. I installed two x10 bridges in each panel to bridge the phases. Is there a way to put another bridge across the panels themselves? Thanks.
BeachBum wrote:
| I would think the APs will do the trick for Insteon. That’s 600’ round trip. If the distance kills you then 2 more APs would work. For X10 it should travel the distance but due to the fact the Insteon eats up signal strength you may need another X10 bridge. |
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BeachBum
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| Posted: December 31 2008 at 11:57 | IP Logged
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That’s a good question. I have used in-panel bridges before using hard wired tying into a circuit breaker on each phase. I wonder if you could use the same device between 2 panels to a phase in each. This was years ago but I think it may have been Leviton. I mounted the device in a single gang box and ran wires to the panel.
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Pete - X10 Oldie
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tbeckman
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| Posted: December 30 2009 at 16:25 | IP Logged
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Anyone else had any experience with bridging two 200 AMP electrical panels for X10 signals. I notice the x10 devices seem to work pretty well if they are on one panel but not the other. Thanks for your help.
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BeachBum
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| Posted: December 30 2009 at 16:37 | IP Logged
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I gather you haven’t tried bridging at the source as I did years ago. Installed the bridge before the split.
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tbeckman
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| Posted: December 30 2009 at 18:14 | IP Logged
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If I bridged this at the source... are you talking at the meter? The meter is 300ft from house and I was trying for something a little closer.
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BeachBum
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| Posted: December 30 2009 at 19:15 | IP Logged
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That’s interesting why would they bring 2 lines down from the meter as opposed to 1 line to the meter then split? I guess it depends on who is paying for it. I still would bridge between the panels. That worked for me when I had that problem but my split was at a panel that feed 2 panels as I let the power company embed the cable for 145 feet in rocky soil at their cost..
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Pete - X10 Oldie
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Topic: Bridge Phases and Panels
