Automatic Litterbox Central

Those of you who have your LF in the house .. *HOW* can you tolerate the smell? I have mine in the garage (cats go in and out through a pet door), and even then I have to make sure any garage tasks are completed and I won't need to go back out there for an hour or so. What I've noticed is that the smell comes mostly from the first two cycles when the drain blower kicks in.

I really hope there is a resurgence of LF, and I would definitely buy another one provided that the box is made a little larger, they put a sensor in to delay the start if a cat is in it, and the blower doesn't run during the first three cycles to reduce the smell.

I had to go into the garage today when it had just started and just let me say that in addition to the smell being ingrained into my nose for two hours, I am also emotionally scarred for life.

I agree the initial smell was not pleasant. However, I have had mine for a year. Believe it or not, I got used to it. I do make sure though once I hit the start button, I don't hang around.

One way to deal with this, although it's a bit awkward, is to put a fan (120 MM or larger) in the hood (you need to cut a hole in the hood) exhausting air from the box upward, and put an activated charcoal filter pad (from an aquarium store) either below or above the fan so that the air is forced through it. You can get a small AC fan at Radio Shack for a few dollars. This will get rid of the smell, but you will need to change the filter pad occasionally.

I have not figured out how to make the fan only go on when the box is running, so you would either have to leave it on all the time, or turn it on manually. You might be able to use an X10 controller to turn the fan on and off automatically at the same time the box goes on, but the X10 site (http://www.x10.com) is such a nightmare I haven't bothered as yet - I just leave mine running. You could also probably just use a simple timer such as the ones used for lights if you can get the time down accurately enough - the LCD types tend to be pretty good.

Yeah. Those 'boys' over at X10!

The sad thing is that when I loaded my HOSTS file last year that basically neuters all of the popups, SPAMMERS, etc from my browser, I had to go into it and delete the reference to X10. I actually WANTED to go to the X10 site and have it load properly because I use a lot of X10 stuff with my HAL software so that I can voice-control lights and other tasks in my house. It's really sad that a company that makes good products ruins their product image by being such an obnoxious SPAMmer!

I would really like to buy some X10 equipment, but as a matter of principle I refuse to do business with spammers...

X10 is two things: A protocol, and a company. You can buy equipment that uses the X10 protocol without patronizing X10.com. Patents on X10 expired a long time ago (it came out in the 70's), so they wouldn't even get royalties. Consider devices made by Leviton, or the Smarthome.com house brand stuff, which is very good. There are lots of other brands. Smarthome easily has the best selection of stuff, and lots of good tech info for newbies.

The products made by the X10 company are nowhere near as good as those made by their competitors. (Read: X10.com products are crap.)

When I had my Litterfree, I resorted to using X10 to flush it. It's quite easy to do -- Get a piece of hard foam (or similar) and put it on the flush button. Then get some strong tape (I used packing tape) to hold the button "down" by way of the foam. Connect the Litterfree's power cord to an appliance module (RISK OF FIRE -- DO NOT USE A LAMP MODULE!!) The LF will run just like normal, except that every time you turn it on, it will initiate a cleaning sequence. So, to make it clean via X10 commands, send it an OFF followed by an ON. Leave it on all the time. It will not repeat the cleaning cycle except when you power it off & then back on. How handy!

I used my LF for months in this manner and it always worked great. It let me work around the limitations with the built-in timer.

Thanks Jeff!

Yeah. I buy all of my X10 stuff from Smarthome.com. I use HAL Deluxe software coupled with about twenty X10 modules throughout my house to automate lights and appliances. I have all of my can (ceiling) lights in my living room on X10 coupled with a handheld remote to OFF-ON-DIM, in addition to the automation that HAL D affords (I really want to upgrade to HAL2000 but $300+ for just the software is a little silly!).

I've started a couple of times to buy one of the super-specials from X10.com because they were so cheap, but ultimately all I end up buying is from Smarthome.

They're a great company, and they also used to sell the LF. In fact, if you go to their site and click on "Pet Products," you'll still see a picture of the LF, but all they sell now is the LitterMaid.