SmartHomeUSA.com Home Automation

[adamsj3]

I have a Smart Strip model SCG4 rev E that I have had for about six months. I use it to control my home PC, along with peripherals like my printer, external hard drive, etc..

Problem is that when the PC is turned off, the red "Switched Outlets On" LED will randomly start flickering off and on very rapidly. Now I've noticed that one of my items plugged into one of the controlled outlets (my PC's monitor) starts to flicker off and on when the Smart Strip does the same.

Please advise if I need to adjust the sensitivity, and if so, how do I do it and in which direction. Any other ideas? Please help.

Thanks.

JOHN

[Ryan]

Hi John,

First, test your smartstrip to MAKE SURE it works fine. To do that, plug a 40-60 watt lamp into the "control outlet". (We use a 60watt lamp to test when ever we get a defective return, and most of the time, the strip works fine!). Once that bulb is plugged in, turn the lamp on and off. Experiment with the sensitivity dial to discover how far you have to go to make the strip not sense the lamp. Now, Adjust the knob on the SmartStrip so that you can hear the strip "click" when you turn the lamp on or off. Leave it right in the middle of the entire area where the strip "works" (i.e. senses the bulbs state).

Now, plug your monitor back into the control outlet.

The reason the strip is switching rapidly, is because you are exactly on the sweet spot for your monitor. Since your monitor uses SOME current when its off (most new ones do), the strip can't figure out if your monitor is fully ON or fully OFF, so it keeps clicking back and forth in confusion. What you want to do, is nudge the sensitivity dial just a tiny bit further in either direction, so that the strip can easily sense the difference between "ON" and "OFF" for your monitor.

Also, you might want to consider using a regular lamp in the control outlet (or something else you can switch TOTALLY off). Keep in mind that power is ALWAYS going to that outlet as long as the switch on the strip is ON, and therefore that device will continue to consume standby current. If you use a lamp with a hard switch, you will stop 100% of the power to the bulb when you hit the switch. So, all the switched outlets AND the control outlet will use nothing when the lamp is off- saving you a tiny bit more money than with your monitor. and, you wouldn't have to kill yourself trying to get the sensitivity just right for your monitor.

Hope this helps! Feel free to report back if the strip keeps chatering with a normal 40-60watt lamp plugged into it (and we will get you started on a return/exchange).