Looking for advice for new installation

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Scoobalimalima, Jun 26, 2018.

  1. Scoobalimalima

    Ashley

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    Output units and switches have no clock or scheduling functions. You need a touch screen, wiser, pac or shac. That's why I suggested the SHAC as it and the pac are the only ones in production, and the SHAC gives you a CNI and remote smart phone/tablet/pc access
     
    Ashley, Jun 30, 2018
    #21
  2. Scoobalimalima

    Scoobalimalima

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    OK, the SHAC sounds like the go then as I don't think I'm really interested in the touch screen. What is a CNI?

    Steve.
     
    Scoobalimalima, Jun 30, 2018
    #22
  3. Scoobalimalima

    Ashley

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    The CNI is the 5500CN2, a stand alone ethernet to cbus interface. The SHAC has 2 CNI's built into it. One for it's own connection to Cbus and the second for Toolkit etc (a CNI can only have a single host connected to it at a time).
     
    Ashley, Jun 30, 2018
    #23
  4. Scoobalimalima

    Scoobalimalima

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    So if I have a SHAC in my system it will give me the ability to schedule day/time to any output channel on any module I have on that same system?
     
    Scoobalimalima, Jul 2, 2018
    #24
  5. Scoobalimalima

    Ashley

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    Yes. And a lot more
     
    Ashley, Jul 2, 2018
    #25
  6. Scoobalimalima

    Nath1304

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    Great chat everybody! Steve I'm in the exact same boat as you, about to start building my own house (less the amount of experience you have). My current problem I'm trying to figure out is what enclosure to use!? I've found the 'Hager vega D automation enclosures' allow for an addition stepped back din rail from the main din rail to mount terminal blocks for all the common neutral and earth's for the individual circuits. I haven't hit up the wholesaler for a price but the RRP prices I've found online make it a bit pricey. Can anyone recommend any other enclosures or show pics of their set ups? Thanks.
     
    Nath1304, Jul 4, 2018
    #26
  7. Scoobalimalima

    allanf

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    allanf, Jul 4, 2018
    #27
  8. Scoobalimalima

    Nath1304

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    Also with the LED downlights I found a chat on here where one guy tested a few types of brands. He ended up suggesting Pierlite, Some downlight models on their website have a dimmer compatibility chart. I've bought a couple of Pierlite LED's and tested it out by setting up Cbus network on the kitchen bench. They work pretty well and are smooth with dimming, I found that when it gets to the lowest dim its more of a 'step' then 'smooth' dim (if that makes sense)
     
    Nath1304, Jul 4, 2018
    #28
  9. Scoobalimalima

    Scoobalimalima

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    Where did you purchase the BTCINO Flatwall allanf, and how much approx? I've seen a few options on ebay but that cabinet looks quite tidy.

    Nath1304, did you use a LE, TE or Universal dimmer for your setup? Were the downlights the built in electronic driver type?

    Cheers.

    Steve.
     
    Scoobalimalima, Jul 4, 2018
    #29
  10. Scoobalimalima

    allanf

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    Shipped BTICINO Flatwall 2700mm from Italy, cost around $1250.
    Yes the cabinet once installed is very compact.

    I wanted to put the sub board in the house and hence wanted a nicer looking one so went for Flatwall as it also has options to put visual screens etc. I plan to display the Tesla Powerwall data o/p to the screen with various graphs etc.
     
    allanf, Jul 4, 2018
    #30
  11. Scoobalimalima

    NickD Moderator

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    I just used (several of) the Clipsal 4FCC60.
     
    NickD, Jul 5, 2018
    #31
  12. Scoobalimalima

    Ashley

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    Don't forget that Cbus is a distributed system. There is no requirement to stick everything in one huge board. You can put multiple sub-boards around the house. Not only does this save a huge amount of mains cabling, it distributes the power supplies. If you design it carefully it also means that you can partition the network if you get a fault and keep parts of it working.
     
    Ashley, Jul 5, 2018
    #32
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  13. Scoobalimalima

    allanf

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    Completely agree,
    This is really good advice, something I did not have before I did my install. I brought all wires 83 C-Bus + GPO + Solar + AC and it was a mess and very tight.
    A good break down can be one per level and another for AC,Solar, etc.
     
    allanf, Jul 5, 2018
    #33
  14. Scoobalimalima

    NickD Moderator

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    Great advice and exactly what I did. I have 3 x 4FCC60 boards... one in the Laundry, one in the Pantry and one in the Walk in Robe.

    Admittedly my primary reason was that I was retrofitting it, and there was no one spot that it would all fit, but the resulting advantage of reducing the mains cabling and distributing the power supplies was obvious when I planned the layout.

    Nick
     
    NickD, Jul 5, 2018
    #34
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  15. Scoobalimalima

    iwasaguru

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    Like others on this thread I am considering a renovation and introducing C-Bus into the house. I have seen a couple of domestic installations with all wiring to one C-bus board. Those installations looked too cluttered. I want to go distributed.

    I have an industrial controls software background and distributed I/O is the go. I have experience in programming C-Bus and interfacing to it. Hardware design was always by others. I now have a CNI and some C-Bus units on the work bench and all working well so far.

    I do not want to be constrained to a builder having to get in a C-bus expert to install it. I want to do the preliminary design myself and then do the programming. I am thinking the builder's regular electrician should then be able to wire it up via my drawings and instructions.

    I have a couple of questions on using distributed C-bus boards:

    Q1 Should each distributed lighting board be fed from a separate lighting breaker from the main power board or can the power to the boards be cascaded from one lighting board to another (ie like a sub-board)? I currently have one lighting circuit breaker in the main power board.

    Q2 Can one of these lighting boards be installed in the ceiling space where access is a little tricky ie one has to climb into the ceiling space via the manhole? I am thinking the wiring rules might prohibit this.
     
    iwasaguru, Jul 12, 2018
    #35
  16. Scoobalimalima

    NickD Moderator

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    These are really questions for a sparky, however

    1) My 3 sub-boards (done more than 10 years ago now so the rules may have changed) are fed from 3 dedicated MCBs in the main board. Each sub-board has a 2.5mm^2 feed, and then there are MCBs for the gauge change to 1.5mm^2 and RCD protection for the final lighting circuits in each sub board.
    2) Regardless of what the regs say, I wouldn't do it. The DIN rail units are only rated for 45C ambient... roof spaces typically exceed this.

    Nick
     
    NickD, Jul 13, 2018
    #36
  17. Scoobalimalima

    Scoobalimalima

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    Ok, so I just scored a Wiser II at a great price, but I also have a 5500PACA that I purchased second hand earlier on that I was going to use for all of my scheduling/clock functions, my question is,

    - Now that I have the Wiser II can I do away with the PACA? Will the Wiser II give me scheduling/clock functions as well as the added ability to program my system via wifi over my LAN etc like the SHAC?

    Cheers,

    Steve.
     
    Scoobalimalima, Jul 13, 2018
    #37
  18. Scoobalimalima

    Ashley

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    The Wiser II will do everything the PAC can do and more. It keeps better time to as it has network time sync.

    Yes. and yes. Personally I prefer the Wiser to the new SHAC. You don't have much choice over layout, but it's much quicker to get going because you spend so much less time on layout, and it has a so much nicer Pascal based logic engine compared to the awful trendy Lua stuff in the SHAC. It also works, which is a bonus.
     
    Ashley, Jul 13, 2018
    #38
  19. Scoobalimalima

    Scoobalimalima

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    That's great to know. Cheers for the info yet again!

    Steve.
     
    Scoobalimalima, Jul 14, 2018
    #39
  20. Scoobalimalima

    P_R

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    Having just completed a new build a year and a half ago, with c-bus a design requirement from the start i'll give you my 2c worth:
    Clipsal 4FCC60 is good. When closed it hides all the units and cabling, but the front can be removed to give you better access to the units.
    Distribute your bits as invariably one central location is not enough. Plus it helps with power distribution.
    Ethernet interface is better than usb, ladders notwithstanding!
    You can do a lot of the programming yourself. I was not brave enough to do it from scratch, but I could upgrade items, install new bits and change all manner of settings.
    eDLTs are great. Love 'em. So am upgrading (slowly) to an all eDLT house. But half way through I ran out of power so consider your power needs as only increasing as you go. If you distribute your units and each location has spare capacity you'll be fine.
    Will you have a house alarm? I have a Ness M1. It is connected to c-bus and when we set the alarm all the lights go off and shutters go down. Wife loves that. But the M1 tells c-bus what time it is. Problem is that the M1s time drifts somewhat. So I'm have to connect the M1 to NTP server (with a M1EXP) to get network time then the eDLTs will have accurate time.
    Aircon - found this too hard. I was hoping the a/c manufacturers had c-bus modules which made everything talk happily. Not the case! But it can be done - there are threads that go into what people have done.
    Lastly, aside from self inflicted gremlins (when I added too many units resulting in not enough power), I've found c-bus to perfectly reliable. Our previous house had it and now here and it simply always works. Sceptical wife has even accepted that it simply does what it is supposed to every time.
     
    P_R, Jul 19, 2018
    #40
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