PIR help required

Hi,
I have a client that has some drive lights coming on at 7pm every evening and off at 11pm, I have recently upgraded the PIR in the porch to turn these lights and others on outside of these hours if triggered, unfortunately if the PIR is triggered before 11pm it is then turning the drive lights off. Is there a setting I can use to tell the system if the lights are already on don't turn them off

thanks

Mick

 

Assuming the light are controlled by an output unit that supports logic (all din relays and dimmers do),
you can create a different group address for the PIR the add into the logic of the output unit and specify OR for a relay or MAX for a dimmer. That way either the schedule ga or the PIR ga can turn the lights on and the lights will only turn off if both GA's are off.

 

Hi Ashley, Thanks for the reply, I am afraid I don't really understand the answer, what is ga . is this logic entered into PICED.

 

A GA is a Group Address. This is what you set in the switches and output units to connect them. Currently you will have a single GA defined that is set up in your switch, pir and output unit. Either the switch or the PIr can control that GA. Whenever one of them changes it, all other devices will update the internal copy of that GA to match the change. This is why the PIR will turn off the lights, because when it time out it sets the GA to zero.

To stop this you need to create a seperate GA for the PIR. To get this GA to also control the light, you can use the logic tab in the output unit (assuming you are using a DIN relay or Dimmer).

To start, open the PIR and click on the + button beside the current GA. This will open a dialog to create a new seperate GA. You can call it the same as the other GA with say _PIR appended to it.

Then open the output unit and click on the logic tab. On the first line, select the new GA from the drop down box, then tick the column that corresponds to the output the light is connected to. At the bottom click on OR if it's a relay or MAX if it's a dimmer.

Now the light will be on if either the switch GA or PIR GA is set.

 

Hi Ashley,

Thanks for this detailed response, I implemented this last Friday and it is working fine,


I have another client local to me that has reported that their cBus is taking a long time to action certain button presses. I went along earlier today and it is weird, you press a button and where as previously that circuit would turn on immediately it is now taking up to 10 seconds to turn on and when you turn it off it is either instant of takes a long time, Also the GA that is being called isn't actually showing on any of the output modules.

I can turn a scene on and off using 2 separate buttons on the switch and the work instantly, but when I tried to use a trigger control with the scenes stored on a different switch it wont work.

According to the electrician who got me the client here has been no work/changes done on the system for years so it is all a bit strange why everything has just slowed down

Have you any ideas on this, Is it possible to update the firmware on the units

regards

Mick

 

Things that can cause this are:

Faulty cbus wiring (very common) either from age, water/dirt ingress, faulty installation finally showing up, owners putting nails through walls etc.

Failing power supplies. (common in 10+ year old systems)

Faulty cbus interface in a unit. This can load the bus or transmit erroneous data (rare).

You need to download a copy of the cbus diagnostic unit and run it on their network. Most end user systems don't have a cbus interface so it's always a good idea to carry one with you.

Only on eDLT's. Firmware won't be the problem.

 

Download C-Bus diagnostic utility from
https://www.clipsal.com/learn-and-discover/trade-talk/trade-software-tools/c-bus-software
look under commissioning tools.
There is a reliability check in this software run that for a few hours and report back.
also use a multimeter and check between C-Bus and earth again report back.
Ask the customer if there was any plan for extension to C-Bus as there may be and end of cable unterminated and left exposed hence the dirt water issue again.
External PIR are also a good place to have a quick check.