[ale] current pulled by computer power supply

[Robert Stickel]

Ed Landa wrote:
> 
> > I tried controlling a screw-in fluorescent with an X10 appliance module
> > (not the lamp module) and it came on fine but when I switched it off
> > there was a bright flash and the bulb died.  Thinking it was a
> > coincidence, I tried again with a new bulb - same thing.  That's two
> > bulbs at about $15 each.
> 
> Have you, by chance, tried it with a lamp module?  I was thinking of getting
> some flourescent bulbs, but now I'm concerned.  Most of my modules are lamp
> modules.
> 
> Ed
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The lamp modules use silicon-controlled switches and have a dimmer
function that does nasty things to the waveform.  They are designed for
incandescent bulbs only.  The appliance module has a mechanical relay
and is supposed to work like a wall switch.  I've used it with filament
lamps and radios w/o a problem.  The screw-in fluorescents have a
circuit card in the base with at least one IC on board and I'm guessing
it was the circuit, not the bulb, that got trashed.  Anyway, no, I
haven't tried screw-in fluorescents with the lamp module but it's not
recommended by X10.

--bs

Robert Stickel
rstickel at mindspring.com
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