Opening a Clipsal unit

Discussion in 'C-Bus Wired Hardware' started by cvtabc, Dec 6, 2020.

  1. cvtabc

    cvtabc

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    Hi

    I have L5512RVF and L5508D1AP units. How does one open these units. I want to access the inside.

    My initial guess was that one should somehow pop the blue parts off from the housing, as it seems that they might be holding the two halves of the housing together on the face side.
    Then you go to the bottom of the units where one can split the cover in two.
    Well, I got stuck at popping the blue parts on the face of the units. It feels like they should pop off but I am just busy damaging the plastic. Cant get them off. Or should one just pop out the 4 clips at the bottom of the unit.

    Has anyone opened these units?
    Some tips would be much appreciated.

    C
     
    cvtabc, Dec 6, 2020
    #1
  2. cvtabc

    cvtabc

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    cvtabc, Dec 6, 2020
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  3. cvtabc

    Pie Boy

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    Pretty sure the blue bits are glued to the white housing, I don’t have any smart ideas for removing them without breaking anything...
     
    Pie Boy, Dec 6, 2020
    #3
  4. cvtabc

    Ashley

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    They are glued. It is possible to to remove them by carefully inserting a long knife along the edges and gently prying the glue apart. Your success rate will depend on how carried away the assembler got with the glue. Some come of easily, some are impossible without cracking the blue plastic. Once you have done that just remove the bottom screws and they all fall apart.
     
    Ashley, Dec 7, 2020
    #4
  5. cvtabc

    cvtabc

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    Hi

    Thank you for the very informative responses. I want to explain here why I want to open the units.

    I have 3 x Voltage free relay units (L5512RVF) and 4 dimmer units (L5504D2AP) and 1 dimmer unit (L5508D1AP)

    Now I do not have a 5500PC or 5000SM/2 and do not plan to spend the money to buy them. I also have no experience with C-Bus and also no need to learn the skill for future use.

    But I have the units and it seems that their outputs and the manual controls that switch them on and off all work fine. So instead of throwing them in the bin, I can repurpose them.

    My plan is to open the units, add a Arduino or Raspeberry Pi (Compute Modules - CMs) to it and then wire the outputs from the CMs to the PCB with the manual switches. This will allow me to switch the outputs of the Clipsal units on and off.

    The relay units have some outputs switched on after it powers up. But that's not really a problem. I can just use these channels as normally closed outputs. Or even an indication to the CM that the unit is powered up and ready. But it would be nice if I can change the default post power-up configuration without having to use the Clipsal programmers.

    I might also think of a way to get inputs into the enclosure.

    One of the applications that I plan for now is an irrigation control system.

    So my questions are:
    1. Is there a way to change the default startup-config without a programmer?
    2. Are there any cool ideas that you can think off along the lines that I plan to do?
    3. Or do you think it is a bad Idea?

    Thanks
     
    cvtabc, Dec 10, 2020
    #5
  6. cvtabc

    Ashley

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    All seems a bit pointless to me.

    Keep an eye on Ebay and you can pick up a 5500PCI for under $100 then everything is easy. Program the system with toolkit then get the arduino to control it via the PCI.

    Other wise, sell the Cbus units, pick up a some cheap Sonoff devices, load the Tasmota firmware and control them from the device of your choice.
     
    Ashley, Dec 10, 2020
    #6
  7. cvtabc

    fleetz

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    Not easy to open up but is possible with a lot of care. Have opened 3 units that were involved in a lightening strike event where 6 unit survived. Swapped out the comms protection zener diodes and they came back to life. Used some Arildite to glue the case back together. Obviously Clipsal never intended them to be serviced.
     
    fleetz, Dec 12, 2020
    #7
    Mr Mark likes this.
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