X10 Motion Sensor - Power Source
#1

Can anyone tell me what drawbacks I might encounter, other than the obvious one of losing power, if I substitute an ac/dc converter as the power supply for my X10 motion sensor rather than using 9 volt batteries. The ac/dc converter is supplying the right amount of dc current and the sensor appears to be working fine. Can house current fluctuations, peaks and spikes accidentally trigger the sensor? Thanks for any info you can provide.
#3

Thank you for responding. Based on what you said I would like to substitute the power on the rest of my motion sensors but I am curious as to what would occur if once I did this I had a power outage while the alarm was set. Would losing power cause the alarm to trigger or just cause the console to report the sensor as off line? I am planning on flip flopping back and forth between battery and ac/dc converters. I would put fresh batteries in the sensors while I was away for a long period of time but for the daily or short weekend utilizing the household power to cut down on the cost of the lithium batteries. The ac/dc converter from Home Depot is $7.00 while the lithium batteries are running about $9.00 apiece. Thanks again for your help and patience with these questions.
#4
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I'm not really sure on what a X10 sytem will do, but in my alarm the sensor will simply reseti itself, and send an "I'm ready" signal. For your system I would simply see what happens. You can cover the face of the sensor with something opaque, it should not sense you then. Regarding your battery problem, you can also get rechargable batteries, they last longer. My detectors run for 1 year on one battery.
#5

Since we're talking about x10 alarm system,
I have two 110 db horns in my attic....but
they don't sound that loud when I was standing
outside my and triggered the panic button (just
for testing). I was wondering if I can get
anything louder than these horns.
I have two 110 db horns in my attic....but
they don't sound that loud when I was standing
outside my and triggered the panic button (just
for testing). I was wondering if I can get
anything louder than these horns.
#6
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You can get louder ones (and bigger), but they mean need their own power supply (you need amplified ones) since the X10 head won't be able to supply enough power. You can also move the sirens outside....
#7
X10 Siren
Smarthome.com sells an outdoor Siren that works with the X10 system. It requires a lamp module for the trigger and power supply.
http://smarthome.com/7344.html
http://smarthome.com/7344.html
#8

Originally posted by misnomerny
Smarthome.com sells an outdoor Siren that works with the X10 system. It requires a lamp module for the trigger and power supply.
http://smarthome.com/7344.html
Smarthome.com sells an outdoor Siren that works with the X10 system. It requires a lamp module for the trigger and power supply.
http://smarthome.com/7344.html
I'll try to rearrange my other sirens close to the vents and
see if that helps...
#9
For the power, you can connect a rechargable battery in parallel with the AC to DC power supply. When the house current is on, it will power the sensor and recharge the battery. If the power fails, the battery will take over. You should be able to get a nicad cheaper than those lithiums.