Faulty 8 Channel Dimmer?

Discussion in 'C-Bus Wired Hardware' started by davestevens_uk, Feb 10, 2009.

  1. davestevens_uk

    davestevens_uk

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    All,

    Just gone to connect a new lighting circuit to an existing 8 channel dimmer, and no light.....I originally thought it must be a faulty circuit, but have finally established that none of the 1st 4 channels will drive a load. If you put a meter on them with nothing connected, you see volts. Connect something and you see no volts. Channels 5-8 have been connected for some time, and are still fine (and will also drive one of the new circuits).

    FYI - channels 1-4 have never been connected to anything previously.

    Am I doing something crazy, or has anyone come across this before? Are channels 1-4 internally linked in some way such that you might expect them to fail all together?

    Thanks in advance,
    Dave.
     
    davestevens_uk, Feb 10, 2009
    #1
  2. davestevens_uk

    NickD Moderator

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    Sounds odd..

    I assume you have tried activating them with the local override keys on the dimmer itself?

    If it responds to the local overrides but not bus commands, check there is no logic assigned to those channels.

    If it doesn't respond to the local overrides, the only thing I can think of that could cause this is if you had a maximum level of 0% set for those channels... so it might be worth checking that..

    Otherwise... looking at the schematic, the current for the triac drivers for channels 1-4 and 5-8 comes from 2 separate transistors, so it's theoretically possible that you would see this behaviour if one of those or an associated component had failed.

    Nick
     
    NickD, Feb 10, 2009
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  3. davestevens_uk

    davestevens_uk

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    Hi Nick,

    Yes, I was sat in front of the unit using the local buttons.
    Am I right in saying that they should overide any logic set on the unit? Funnily enough I did have a scene set at 0%, but I replaced it with a simple on/off on a single circuit in order to test. I'll double check to make sure I didn't do anything stupid.

    In the end I extended the circuits to reach some spare relay channels, so at least the lights now come on/off.

    Thanks,
    Dave.
     
    davestevens_uk, Feb 10, 2009
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  4. davestevens_uk

    Newman

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    Local override buttons will override any logic programmed into the unit. Max level will still be respected.
     
    Newman, Feb 10, 2009
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  5. davestevens_uk

    davestevens_uk

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    Thanks, that's what I thought. Think it must be a faulty unit then.
    Dave.
     
    davestevens_uk, Feb 11, 2009
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