Bob Blick wrote: >>> I figure I can put the capacitor inside my 220V clothes dryer so it's >>> relatively safe and not in the breaker panel. >> Things that go boom for 1000 please ... >> >> While that solution may work the tend to eventually go pop so >> make sure it's out of harms way. I just purchased a Smarthome >> SignaLinc repeater which has worked well in my situation. I still >> need to get around to fixing the black hole (the entertainment >> system). I finish my opinion on X10 in another message. > > Thanks for your opinion, but what do you think is inside your $89 > SignaLinc? I bet I can get a pretty nice capacitor for less than $5 that > will be better quality than the one in the SignaLinc. I know what kind of > capacitor will survive 220VAC, I just needed to know what value is > typically used. No, this also has 4 LEDs and an amplifier! :-) I had the passive coupler (tuned LC) and it didn't work very well. Eventually it became so unreliable I almost chuck the whole thing. I decided to get the SignaLinc and the situation improved. The signals now get out to the garage to the temperamental X10 switch (a real piece of junk). One thing, the SignaLinc is very sensitive to electrical noise. It doesn't repeat it but it does see it so the receive lights are usually flashing. BTW, I seem to recall that .01 was a better value to use but .1 is acceptable (and easier to find at that voltage). The only reason I warned about the cap problem was not to dissuade you but to warn. I seem to recall a large number of cap users complain of the noise it made when it went off. Hmm, maybe i should have read where it was going and this would have been a shorter conversation (sorry about that, I missed it). -- Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry@linuxha.com http://www.linuxha.com/ Main site http://linuxha.blogspot.com/ My HA Blog http://home.comcast.net/~ncherry/ Backup site -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist