General Home Automation Slightly OT question

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Subject Author Date
Slightly OT question BruceR 03-19-08
Posted by BruceR on March 19, 2008, 5:25 pm
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I installed a couple of simple Leviton motion detector switches each to
control incandescent bulbs in closets off a bathroom. They work just
swimmingly except for one problem: if the exhaust fan over the toilet
is turned on - even briefly - one or both (usually both) of the closet
fixtures will go into a "strobe" mode flashing on and off very quickly.
To resolve the issue the manual switch must be turned off then back to
auto for normal operation. I am assuming the fan is on the same circuit
but I'm not there now to check that. Any ideas as to the cause and,
more importantly, a fix?



Posted by J Miller on March 19, 2008, 8:34 pm
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BruceR wrote:
> I installed a couple of simple Leviton motion detector switches each to
> control incandescent bulbs in closets off a bathroom. They work just
> swimmingly except for one problem: if the exhaust fan over the toilet
> is turned on - even briefly - one or both (usually both) of the closet
> fixtures will go into a "strobe" mode flashing on and off very quickly.
> To resolve the issue the manual switch must be turned off then back to
> auto for normal operation. I am assuming the fan is on the same circuit
> but I'm not there now to check that. Any ideas as to the cause and,
> more importantly, a fix?
>
>

I'd guess the switch is freaking out for one of two reasons:
1)There's noise on the power line when the fan goes on and it sends the
switch into la-la land
2) the "Motion" of the fan blade is freaking out the motion sensor (you
didn't mention if the sensors could "see" the fan)

I'd contact Leviton on this one. There could be a way to filter the
power at the fan or switches (many fans actually have a single outlet
inside that the small fan plugs into)


Posted by BruceR on March 20, 2008, 6:05 pm
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J Miller wrote:
> BruceR wrote:
>> I installed a couple of simple Leviton motion detector switches each
>> to control incandescent bulbs in closets off a bathroom. They work
>> just swimmingly except for one problem: if the exhaust fan over the
>> toilet is turned on - even briefly - one or both (usually both) of
>> the closet fixtures will go into a "strobe" mode flashing on and off
>> very quickly. To resolve the issue the manual switch must be turned
>> off then back to auto for normal operation. I am assuming the fan
>> is on the same circuit but I'm not there now to check that. Any
>> ideas as to the cause and, more importantly, a fix?
>>
>>
>
> I'd guess the switch is freaking out for one of two reasons:
> 1)There's noise on the power line when the fan goes on and it sends
> the switch into la-la land
> 2) the "Motion" of the fan blade is freaking out the motion sensor
> (you didn't mention if the sensors could "see" the fan)
>
> I'd contact Leviton on this one. There could be a way to filter the
> power at the fan or switches (many fans actually have a single outlet
> inside that the small fan plugs into)


The blades are actually hidden as it's a "fart fan" up in the ceiling
and the two closets are some distance away. I'll try a call to Leviton.
What's interesting is that once the flickering is triggered by the fan
being turned on, turning the fan off does not stop it. It will flicker
till the switch is manually reset.



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