GE Simon 3 HELP X-10 alarm not working

Set the letter dial on the siren one letter higher and leave the number dial at 1

I'm on housecode A for the unit, so I set the Appliance Module on B1 that triggers a power supply ON to run a loud siren.

NO LUCK. Have you done this yourself? ANYONE ELSE DONE THIS? Is it just me or my unit? GE can't even tell me straight! Your help is appreciated imensely in getting this running!

-Brendan

Mark Leuck wrote:

When I called X10, they claimed that the PSH02 ran using standard X10 commands.... I don't want to use the PSH02 I want to use an appliance module. If X10 is right, which they should be... the PSH02 should be receiving standard X10 commands and I should thus be able to switch an appliance module no? thanks!

-Brendan

Your problem is that you are using a appliance module to trigger the siren. You should be using the X-10 Siren. I believe the Simon will send a "double on" to the x-10 siren to turn it on, and a "double off" to stop it.

It won't work with an appliance module.

When Simon goes into alarm, it does not send On or OFF command to the PSH02. I If I remember right, the X10 command sent by the Simon in alarm is well documented in the specs of the PSH02.

You may also want to check if the power adapter that comes with your Simon is X10 compatible.

Could find no documentation anywhere on X10, X10 support said it switches using "standard X10 on/off commands" twice now... they claimed a level2 tech support would call me back in an hour; that was 5 hours ago.

X10 light controls are working from my Simon3 so I know it sends some form of commands.....

So can you tell me or share with me exactly why a PSH02 would function different than an appliance module and why, as you said, the appliance modules won't work? Will a lamp module work instead? I just want to run an external X10 device without integrating a Powerflash module.

Thanks!

-Brendan

A.J. wrote:

When the alarm control panel goes into alarm condition, it puts out "ALL LIGHTS ON / ALL LIGHTS OFF" X10 sequences. So it's pretty obvious that an appliance module will never work. A lamp module "may" work if you have a power bar connected to it and have a lamp plugged into it, then you can use the other outputs on the power bar triggering whatever you want with it. But then when you use the remote control from the Simon 3 to turn on the house light, you end up turning on the external device also.

I think the easiest solution to your problem is to use the external siren output on the Simon 3 to trigger whatever you want instead of doing it via X10.

Or Simon 3 is the wrong guy for the job ?

For anyone following this thread, GE tech that actually knew something about their X10 integration said that I can't do what I want; their device won't control an appliance module durring an alarm state (call me crazy, should be doable!) Anyhow, they ultimately suggested using an X10 Powerflash device to re-transmit the alarm condition. It is in and working great for my intended appliance controls. I can now run X10 macros durring an alarm condition to turn on all my external floodlights, turn off my noisy water fountain outside, and turn on some light inside the house. -Brendan

When x10 transmitters such as Simon 3 or X10 Powerflash want to turn more than one x10 receiver on, then off, they send the commands:

"Lights On" followed by "All units Off"

Please note that these commands are different from "All units On" and "Lights Off". These latter two commands cannot be sent from Simon 3 or X10 Powerflash. (Or many other X10 transmitters)

The reason this matters is because the "applicance module" does not respond to "Lights On" command. It will respond to the "All units Off", but that doesn't do much good.

If you used a "Light module" instead of an "applicance module" it would respond to Simon 3's alarm state, however the "light module" has a dimmer circuit which may be incompatible with the deivces you plan to connect.

Your current solution, using Powerflash and Simon 3 seems like it would be unreliable. Both devices would be transmitting x10 commands over the same house wires at the same time. They would interfere with each other and reduce overall reliability. Are you using Powerflash in mode 3? In this mode Powerflash only sends an x10 command once. This could easily be lost if the Simon 3 was transmitting X10 at the same time.

The X10 alerts should only supplement Simon 3's internal or external hardwire siren and not replace it entirely in case of power failure.