You need a linear actuator driver, I recommend a "Actuonix LAC board". It should work just fine with your Linear Actuator.

It sounds to me like you had the sensing wires for the 1054 in the same conduit as the rest of the wires. The input impedance for the 1054 must be pretty high, which means that it won't require much of anything to trigger a pulse. I've seen this in industrial equipment, notably a gasoline fill stati...