X10 Module with LED lights?

I wan to control some under cabinet LED lights with an X10 module and when I tried the X10 Lamp module, there was some voltage leak after the "off" command was sent and since LED's don't need much power, they were still partially on.

Does anyone know if the X10 Appliance module (AM466 - 3 Prong Appliance Module) does the same thing?

Thanks in advance!

The older ones would for sure. X10 redesigned them to be more CFL friendly. I have one of the new AM466 3 pin units Date Code 08A02. I tested it with a Sylvania LED/UC/22/W/22; LED Under Cabinet LED Strip. They glowed. Though not as brightly as with an older one.

It's my understanding that appliance modules in general cut all power when off. They don't have the power bleed through issues that the lamp modules have.

I would definitely try a appliance module.

I know that Insteon ApplianceLinc modules do the same with LED lighting. The "power bleed" is from the load sensing circuity that can optionally turn on the ApplianceLinc if a load is detected as being turned on. Not sure if the X10 issue is the same, maybe not.

One solution people use is to plug a small nightlight or spare AC adapter into the module along with the LED lighting. This should provide enough of a load so the LEDs will not be lit.

Appliance modules have the same leak as the lamp modules. I believe they do this so the "local control" will work. There are some hacks available to disable this though. I looked and couldn't find the site anymore. Hopefully someone here has the link.

Rupp said:

Appliance modules have the same leak as the lamp modules. I believe they do this so the "local control" will work. There are some hacks available to disable this though. I looked and couldn't find the site anymore. Hopefully someone here has the link.

Click to expand...

Here is the link I found: http://www.idobartana.com/hakb/index.htm

How bright are they glowing? Because LED's need almost no power to show light. My previous 2-story house had lights in the walls in the stair-case... the 7-watt incandescent night-light bulbs kept burning out after a few months, so I ordered some LED lights (forget model now, but they were like 3W, about $40 for two).

These were on a standard 100% positive off wall switch, and you could Still see them glowing at night. Obviously it was very dim, but in the dark you could see them pretty clearly.

I do know all to well about the power bleed - that's what's made me stall this long to install lighting control - I have all CFL's in my house and have had nothing but problems with anything other than a standard wall switch.

The hack for the X10 Appliance Modules shown on the web site. Is for the older modules. Before X10 redesigned them with more modern parts and made them less prone to turning CFLs back on. I have not seen any hacks for the newer ones with surface mounted parts. I do know the Local Sensing Current is a lot lower on the new ones but still will keep a LED light dimly glowing.

Anyone tried the new Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lights? I have a few to play around with.

BLH said:

The hack for the X10 Appliance Modules shown on the web site. Is for the older modules. Before X10 redesigned them with more modern parts and made them less prone to turning CFLs back on. I have not seen any hacks for the newer ones with surface mounted parts. I do know the Local Sensing Current is a lot lower on the new ones but still will keep a LED light dimly glowing.

Anyone tried the new Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lights? I have a few to play around with.

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I have an old lamp module and on that site, there is a part on defeating local control on a lamp module. Is that what I want to try to remove the power bleed?

Thanks!

Cutting the diode will stop the lamp module from being trigged by local control. I believe there is still some current sneaking out the output as the sensing components are still there. I did one with the SSR modifications; shown on the site and removed more parts than the author did. Just to kill all the sensing current.

I ended up just trying to use up the extra power by plugging in another load (ie. nightlight) and that soaked up enough so that the LED's didn't glow anymore.

Not elegant, but it works...

And just my luck, my X10 IR controller is acting up now....

Thanks for all the replies!

Using a wall wart as a load is one of the ways I have seen folks using.
I did see one old time X10 user adding a 22K [22,000] Ohm 1 Watt resistor across his load that flickered or glowed dimly.
This was verified with an older LM465 with out Soft Start. Cutting D10 as the mod shows will stop triggering from a local sense, but the current is still there. Also removing R3 100K 1/2W and R6 330K 1/2 watt resistors will kill the current.
I tried a few varied LED devices after removing R3 and R6 and they seemed to be fine. Though their wattage was way below the minimum for an LM465 and I may have sensed one flickering when on, but that may have just been my old eyes.

BLH said:

Using a wall wart as a load is one of the ways I have seen folks using.
I did see one old time X10 user adding a 22K [22,000] Ohm 1 Watt resistor across his load that flickered or glowed dimly.
This was verified with an older LM465 with out Soft Start. Cutting D10 as the mod shows will stop triggering from a local sense, but the current is still there. Also removing R3 100K 1/2W and R6 330K 1/2 watt resistors will kill the current.
I tried a few varied LED devices after removing R3 and R6 and they seemed to be fine. Though their wattage was way below the minimum for an LM465 and I may have sensed one flickering when on, but that may have just been my old eyes.

Click to expand...

Finally had some time to play around with this thing again and i removed R3 and R6 and it worked like a charm! Off was actually off with the LED lights.

I will have to let it run for a while and test it out more to see if it flickers or not.

Thanks!!!

http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/25399-replacing-existing-outlet-with-an-x10-sr227-questions/#entry244044

I have a strip of leds controlled by an X10 Sr227 wall outlet. The leds flicker when off every few seconds. Are you telling me I have to do the same thing with the night light to stop the flicker? I don't have any issues turning the leds on/off, just the flicker.