Unknown Log events for X10

Hello Jay and team!
I am seeing some unusual log activity:

Code: Select all

   Received X10                    all lights off (house code L)
   Received X10                    J10 status request
   Received X10                    M13 preset dim val of 27


I don't have any X10 hardware in my house, everything is Smarthome Insteon stuff.

What the heck is going on with these messages? it is a bit unnerving to see "all lights off" commands come in that I did not automate nor initiate.

Thanks,
Matt

[jay (support)]

This is generally either because you have an Insteon device that's failing (I've had several over the years that did this) or something else on your power line is spewing garbage that sometimes looks to the PowerLinc like valid X10 traffic.

The net effect is the same - signal noise. So check out the signal troubleshooting page for tips on tracking it down. Add in that you might want to unplug/airgap your Insteon devices to see if it stops.

Excellent, thanks Jay.

I do have some old outlets that don't seem to respond well in scenes any longer - I'll start there. How would you recommend going about the airgap test? I easily have 100 devices. Unwiring them one at a time to find a couple that might be misbehaving is a bit tedious... Also if there is more than one device misbehaving I wouldn't know if the one I just unplugged was a culprit or not? So, unwire them all and only add them back one at a time? then wait a bit to check the logs and see if there is any noise? Ouch

Regards,
Matt

[jay (support)]

Insteon in-wall switches have an LED below the switch that you can pull out - that completely disconnects it from power. The in-wall outlets don't have them though, so any of those you'd need to manually disconnect. But, assuming you're seeing the X10 signals often, you can just turn off the whole circuit where those outlets are and see if the phantom signals go away.

Tracking down signal noise is sometimes not easy unfortunately.

Ahh yes, turning off circuits in various places around the house is a great starting point. I should probably just go ahead and update some my older hardware (a good majority of outlets in particular are 10+ years old).

Thanks!
Matt