# Solutions

This page provides solutions for troubleshooting your home automation issues.

## Lamps and appliances do not respond.

There are many reasons that devices fail to respond. Here are the most common causes:

- The INSTEON device has not been linked to the controller, so it is ignoring those requests.
- Phase loss. Most home wiring uses two phases. Signals traveling from one side to the other normally lose strength. An amplifier repeater helps address this. For INSTEON, a pair of Access Points or SignalLincs should be installed. See the Other tab in the Gadget Guide for examples.
- Distance. Signals diminish as they travel along electrical wiring or through the air.
- The RR-501 transceiver sometimes “locks up” and fails to relay signals from hand-held remotes.
- The appliance module in the TM-751 transceiver is designed to not respond (sic) to X-10 actions received from the electrical wiring — only from remotes (and the FireCracker).
- The X-10 device’s house and unit code are not set as expected.

## Lamp goes to full bright first.

The term “Nova Effect” is widely used to describe the sudden change to full brightness when a lamp module receives a dim action when it had been off. This can be avoided by keeping the lamp in a fully dimmed condition prior sending brighten actions. Another alternative is to use a two-way lamp module, since they switch on smoothly.

## Stored Dim/Brighten To actions fail.

The ActivHome (CM-11) does not handle absolute dimming actions properly in all cases. Using a Dim To action with a standard lamp works, but the other variations (Brighten To or two-way lamp) may not work as expected.

## Announcements are not being made.

## Some actions are not being reported.

## AppleScripts are not being run.

Announcements, AppleScripts and logging will not occur for an action that triggers a responder stored in a controller. This is because controllers, like the ActiveHome (CM-11), do not report the action when it has triggered a responder. This is not an issue for responders in the Mac schedule.

## Responder actions operate too early.

Responder actions that are set for a 1 minute delay will be performed when the CM-11 clock increments to the next minute. So, if the controller clock were 50 seconds past the current minute and the responder were triggered, then 10 seconds later actions with a 1 minute delay would be performed.

## Transceiver is not responding.

If it is not a problem with distance, it may be that the RR-501 transceiver has “locked up.” If that is the case, unplugging it for a while can fix it. Also, the TM-751 transceiver is designed to not respond to actions sent over the home wiring. Its built-in appliance module only responds to remotes and the FireCracker (CM-17).

## The transceiver stopped working.

The transceiver models TM-751 and RR-501 operate much more reliably when they have a device connected to them. It can be as small as a night light and it doesn’t have to be turned on. This precaution often helps keep the transceiver from becoming unresponsive or performing excessive dimming.

## Lamps dim all the way down.

In some installations, transceiver models TM-751 and RR-501 dim all the way down every time they dim. The reason for this may be that the electrical wiring in the wall acts as an antenna and emits noise that is picked up by the transceiver antenna. Re-orienting the transceiver antenna should solve this problem.

## I need the Universal Remote codes.

If you need the codes for your Universal Remote and have lost the manual, you can get copies of the manuals online. Other manuals provided are for the Socket Rocket, Hawkeye II's and other devices that are less-than-obvious to set up. The web address is:

http://www.x10.com/support/support_manuals.htm