X10 lamp modules and flickering LEDs

This page describes a solution for X10 lamp modules that cause LED lamps to flicker.

In an experiment with a digital storage scope it was found that the problem is that the LED bulb current sometimes (~ 5% of the time) drops below the TRIAC (in the lamp module) latching current and thus turns off:

The 6W LED Bulb current averages around 50 mA and the BTA10-400C TRIAC in the lamp module has a typical IL spec of 35mA (and no maximum in the specs). If you replace the TRIAC with one with a IL MAX of 15 mA and the problem should go away.

The solution is to do a straight forward component replacement in the X10 Lamp Module. The BTA10-400C TRIAC in at least some brands of the modules can carry up to 10A (1200 watts) yet the module states 300W max. Replacement Triacs with the lower latching current are readily available up to 8 A of load (960 watts) that still exceed the 300W max for the module and cost < $2 each – it takes about 30 minutes to do a module (the first time).