Strange Plastic Box

[lagman]

The house I moved into recently has a beige plastic rectangular box measuring about 2 inches wide by 4 inches long with three long metal prongs sticking out the back of it, plugged into a matching three hole socket, located next to a light switch. I can't for the life of me figure out what this thing is. There is no printing on the outside, or on the circuit board inside. The face appears to be a button (if you press on it, it makes a clicking noise).

I do know that ever since I moved in, my front porch lights seem to turn on by themselves at times. When I unplug the device, they stop turing on by themselves, and the switch to turn them on does not work. When the lights do turn on by themselves, they are not 100% bright, they are dim and flicker.

Maybe this is some type of X10 device for automating the lights? I'd like to get rid of it, but like I said, unplugging it disables the on/ off switch. The switch, by the way, is on the other side of the house. The box does not seem to have any control over the switch it is mounted next to.

Anyone have any idea what this thing is and how to disable it?

Thanks, Dan

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Call the realtor, explain the situation, and get the previous owner's contact information. It's obviously some sort of light control, and maybe the previous owner can at least save you some time in terms of correcting the wiring.

[Wayne Boatwright]

Oh pshaw, on Mon 17 Dec 2007 01:46:01p, lagman meant to say...

This sounds like a wireless 3-way switch. Take a look at the other switch on the inside. You may be able to tell if it's a switch that has additional circuitry to work with your mystery box.

[cln]

Shot in the dark here but (pardon the pun) look at the light bulb, is there a 'receiver' that would communicate with your mystery box?

please let us know the results... could come in handy for Christmas lights! cln