I?m trying to determine if I can (and should) disable the ?Learn Mode? in any/all of my network units. I have inherited an existing wired C-Bus network from an initial installer, and I am just coming up to speed on this system operation. Using ToolKit with this network in order to understand it, I have found that for all my INPUT devices (such as DLT?s) and OUTPUT devices (such as dimmers and relays) which I now have on my C-Bus network, there is a tab for ?Global? Settings, and there I find a checkbox now selected for ?Allow Learn Mode?, and a sub-checkbox now selected for ?Any Application Learn.? From some of the reading I have done on C-Bus operations and training, there are cautions in areas about ?learning? possibly being inadvertently invoked to change current network programming by the use of keypads and output device buttons. My network is programmed via a laptop interface using ToolKit, and I do not desire for any changes to be made to groups, scenes, button operations, etc., other than through this laptop interface and using the Toolkit program. (Visitors will many times just press buttons randomly to see what happens, even sometimes holding them down for a period of time ? I don?t want this to change the settings!) My initial thought is to disable the ?Allow Learn Mode? in each and all of the input and output devices so I can better prevent any inadvertent changes to my network. But my concern is that if I uncheck this option box, will this then prevent, in any way, me making needed changes via ToolKit and then having the C-Bus network properly distribute/propagate these changes throughout my network? Is this ?Learn Mode? necessary at all if one only uses a computer and ToolKit to program the network? If anyone has insight into this issue or can point me to better documentation or guidance, please let me know. Thanks in advance for your help.
Hello LynnT Disabling learn mode won't affect the ability to program the devices with ToolKit. Since learn mode is activated from the output units by a 10 second press of the override button the chance of inadvertent changes are small. In any case I always disable learn mode to prevent users making unwanted changes.
Sometimes entering learn mode will cause some units to readdress themselves to a new address. If you have kept a database copy of your project it is fairly straight-foward to reconcile this in Toolkit. The software has a small amount of built-in smarts to help you do this.
