I wonder if anyone else has seen the following problem with the Leviton/X10 switched outlet:
I installed one of these switched outlets a couple of months ago to turn on a garage exhaust fan when it cools down at night, and turn it off again as it warms up in the morning. It had been working fine for weeks, but twice in the last several days it did not respond to the OFF signal in the morning.
Now, here is the interesting problem: It would not even respond to multiple OFFs sent from a maxi controller plugged directly into the switched outlet. However, after sending a single ON, followed by an OFF, the outlet did switch off. It is not the typical broken plastic piece problem because after it finally turned off, it properly responds to additional ON and OFF signals.
The ESM signal strength meter shows a fairly strong 1V signal from my automation controller at the switched outlet. There are no signal suckers, and no noise source. All other X10 switches are virtually 100% reliable. I don't think there was a power glitch because dimmed X10 modules are still dimmed off, and our most glitch sensitive digital clock still has the correct time.
Does anyone know if these switched outlets become confused as to what state they are in? If so, a simple fix may be to preface every OFF command with an ON. Otherwise, I guess the answer is to install one of the Leviton 16293 relay switches I use elsewhere for compact fluorescents.