Shenandoah's complete mess....
- Thread starter shenandoah75
- Start date
Spanky
Senior Member
shenandoah75,
I was referring to your original pictures. Your latest pictures are making me feel bad about my install again.
Have fun and keep up the good work. :unsure:
shenandoah75
Active Member
Here's a few pics of my latest project which is relay/contactor based control of varous electrical loads (namely outdoor / lighting circuits)...
ViziaRF's 15amp limitation, the distance to my outbuilding, etc all made me realize that circuit generally used for nighttime lighting/landscape lighting/christmas lights and blow up toys would be better suited by another control mechanism... my main panel was maxed out so i put in a 100A subpanel right next to it. I have enough room to add more stuff later...
contactors (counter clockwise):
poles1/2 - outdoor circuit 1 (intended use- misc / blow up christmas decorations)
poles3/4 - outdoor circuit 2/3 (intended use - christmas lights)
poles5/6 - outdoor circuit 4 (intended use - soffit outlets && landscape light transformer (not purchased yet)
poles7/8 - eventually my pool pump (january)
these are 24 volt coils - current passed via one of four elk relays on my second the M1RB board (current supplied by Elk's 24VAC wall wart transformer - feed my sprinkler zones house side as well). The contactors hum a lot but in the garage ceiling, no big deal...
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ViziaRF's 15amp limitation, the distance to my outbuilding, etc all made me realize that circuit generally used for nighttime lighting/landscape lighting/christmas lights and blow up toys would be better suited by another control mechanism... my main panel was maxed out so i put in a 100A subpanel right next to it. I have enough room to add more stuff later...
contactors (counter clockwise):
poles1/2 - outdoor circuit 1 (intended use- misc / blow up christmas decorations)
poles3/4 - outdoor circuit 2/3 (intended use - christmas lights)
poles5/6 - outdoor circuit 4 (intended use - soffit outlets && landscape light transformer (not purchased yet)
poles7/8 - eventually my pool pump (january)
these are 24 volt coils - current passed via one of four elk relays on my second the M1RB board (current supplied by Elk's 24VAC wall wart transformer - feed my sprinkler zones house side as well). The contactors hum a lot but in the garage ceiling, no big deal...
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shenandoah75
Active Member
Ya i'm slow to start with, but the panel work (both subpanel and project panel) took the greater part of last weekend. I ran all that single stranded cable out of the box and through the conduit and to the outlets too, so it wasn't all on those two, but most of it was in the attic and at these two panels or the elk panel inside...
I picked the contactors up at a local electric store for under 15 each. Labeling states Danfoss, but i think they are manufacturd by someone else. They are rated at 240VAC 30 AMPs and are of the difinitive purpose variety. I don't understand the differences in the types, but there are dedicated lighting contactors (used in commercial/etc). This variety is commonly using in HVAC and my father in law always has a bunch sitting on his dash in his work van for that purpose.
The principle of operation is the same as a relay, i think the distinction is in the high voltage / amperage they can handle... Just like relays yo ucan get different ratings on the coils. I chose 24V for several reasons, but naming because i didn't want a new 4-gang box of switches (and the added cost zwave would have made on top of that to automate those four)
hope that helps...
-brad
I picked the contactors up at a local electric store for under 15 each. Labeling states Danfoss, but i think they are manufacturd by someone else. They are rated at 240VAC 30 AMPs and are of the difinitive purpose variety. I don't understand the differences in the types, but there are dedicated lighting contactors (used in commercial/etc). This variety is commonly using in HVAC and my father in law always has a bunch sitting on his dash in his work van for that purpose.
The principle of operation is the same as a relay, i think the distinction is in the high voltage / amperage they can handle... Just like relays yo ucan get different ratings on the coils. I chose 24V for several reasons, but naming because i didn't want a new 4-gang box of switches (and the added cost zwave would have made on top of that to automate those four)
hope that helps...
-brad
shenandoah75
Active Member
Oh ya my next project (maybe this weekend if i can pick up more contactors and another project box) is to do a similar install (minus the subpanel) in my shop/outbuilding. I already have a combo output/relay board from elk and another wall wart for out there. I'm just going to cut my existing lines to the air compressor / dust collector and put the contactors in line and then use one more for soffit outlets for the chrsitmas lights and front lights on the sides of the overhead door... For now i really just want the Christmas lights
linuxha
Active Member
Not all engineers, but a lot, would build such a mess. I have some 35 devices split between 2 racks (terminal servers, Ethernet switches, DSL, and DS3) and won't tolerate that. Wish I could say the same at home (one rack but a bit unorganized). One of the best labs has very large number of OSR/7600 with exact rules on IP and connectivity. It looks like a CO (telephone central office). It's a thing of beauty. My racks change daily, the other lab for months at a time.After seeing Brandon's ELK M1 installation, I was feeling really bad about my house's M1 installation.
Shenandoah75, you have made me feel much better after seeing this thread.
Thanks!
Spanky, I work in an R and D enviroment and have seen first hand how electrical engineers wire things. You need to grab one of your technicians and have him fix it up for you.
Brian
beelzerob
Senior Member
Well, even with racks, if you're not using one for its builtin ventilation and power, I'm not sure what the advantage of a rack is. As long as I have completely free access to the back, that's all I need...I'd rather be able to walk around the back and work from there than slide components out.
I had planned to just make shelves with metal racks so ventilation is completely around the device.
Where are these cheap cans you speak of? I can sure see the organization appeal...but I'm a complete can newb.
linuxha
Active Member
Hmm, I guess I should explain. I work for AT&T Labs and I like my toys (everything from the Cisco CGS to the current 7600's). At home I tend to build networks like I would for my customers or as I would in my lab. I have an okay managed switch so I can segregate my LANs (802.1q/VLANs). One of my 802.11b WLANs (with no WEP) is my protected LAN to nowhere because a great many devices can't support better than that. It's considered part of the internet (unsafe). I have my 802.11g on another channel but it use the more secure WPA2. I also have a 'lab' LAN for experimenting. I've got a long list of devices on IP so my 24 port hub is nearly full. I had to build an OSPF network for my book (Wiley would back down on a chapter on routing and I could barely talk them out of BGP!). My rack is full with much of my computing equipment though lately I've trimmed a lot of it back to save electricity and cooling. When done right a rack makes it easy to manage your equipment and organize your cabling. When done wrong it's a vertical mess.
Ranger Digital
Active Member
I cant imagine have an home automation set up without a can. US Tech, no owned by legrand, has reasonable cans and of course ebay is always there.
