beelzerob
Senior Member
Hmm..alot of our switches are going to be in a bank of 3 or 4, so multi-gang will be necessary. Anyone have the dimensions of the fattest switch OnQ has to offer?
Cat5 Lighting: EDT iLine vs OnQ ALC
- Thread starter rbroders
- Start date
Hmm..alot of our switches are going to be in a bank of 3 or 4, so multi-gang will be necessary. Anyone have the dimensions of the fattest switch OnQ has to offer?
I have a similar issue with the EDT iLine dimmers. I have a 3 gang box I tried to put three dimmers in. Depthwise is OK since I used the deepest box I could find, but there doesn't seem to be a way of putting two dimmers side-by-side due to the extra wide heat sinks they have on them.
I need to find out from them if the heatsinks are mandatory or depend on the lighting load. If I am running only 200W on the load maybe I can just remove them.
Anyone encountered this?
Ranger Digital
Active Member
brave is correct and its the dumbest thing! the single gang deep boxes rock. you would think multi would be just as easy to find. but they are not. i had to go with the heavy duty and alot more expensive and not as deep boxes. a manufacturer needs to step up to the plate and make some.
rob, no experience with edt, but with alc I THINK the fins are not needed unless you go over 600 or 900. Dont recall but its on their website.
beeze, go ahead and buy a dimmer or relay to show the electrician. it would be best if he had it in hand otherwise may be confused by all the LV wires. just get one and get all his questions out of the way up front. likely will save time which is money in the end. you need some anyways so its not costing you any more in the long run.
rob, no experience with edt, but with alc I THINK the fins are not needed unless you go over 600 or 900. Dont recall but its on their website.
beeze, go ahead and buy a dimmer or relay to show the electrician. it would be best if he had it in hand otherwise may be confused by all the LV wires. just get one and get all his questions out of the way up front. likely will save time which is money in the end. you need some anyways so its not costing you any more in the long run.
Sacedog
Active Member
I actually took a switch into my local planning department, along with the cutsheet, just to make sure that the inspectors were OK with the HV and LV in the same box. They said that as long that I used the included sheathing, and wired it just like the cutsheet showed, they would be fine with it. This would be a good idea, as some inspectors freak out when HV and LV are in the same box. The NEW says that it is fine, as long as the LV wire has the proper insulation, which is acheived with the included sheathing.
Sacedog
Active Member
900W dimmer switch. In white, the PN is 364335-21
Ranger Digital
Active Member
yup, thats the biggest. beez, do you even need any 900w switches? any heavy duty outdoor lights? likely in new construction, your circuit runs are less than 900w. but not always.
beelzerob
Senior Member
Well, I ordered one.
Maybe it wasn't the wisest move, since I really don't see ever needing that much power. Maybe in the kitchen, where we'll have 5 can lights, which could be 100 watts each. I had wanted the largest switch possible, though, so I could show the electrician the worst case scenario for gang box depth. Is it too unrealistic?I'm worried about this whole switch-box-depth thing now....I hope it's not yet another unexpected cost, having to order dozens of specialty multi-gang deep-dish boxes. ah well, par for the course so far.
Well, I ordered one.
I'm worried about this whole switch-box-depth thing now....I hope it's not yet another unexpected cost, having to order dozens of specialty multi-gang deep-dish boxes. ah well, par for the course so far.
I used boxes sold as 'thermostat boxes' for most switches. These are the same as a normal deep box, but have an extra side attachment that is create for shoving the wires into allowing hte switch to use the full depth of the box. The extra cost was negligible given the cost of the wire and the switch!
Two can be joined together for a double gang box with the extensions either side -- though mounting these was a bit tricky. Three gang doesn't work obviously, but I wanted to avoid having too many multi-gang switches since I think they look ugly.
Our local HD also sold any brand of very deep metal box which has a screw adjustment to vary the amount of box that projects infront of the stud bracket. These cost a lot more, but great to work with. My only concern with them was that they were almost too deep for a 2x4 wall, and the wire entering the back of the box is definitely less than 1/2" from the drywall.
Ranger Digital
Active Member
rob, interesting find. thanks!
beelzerob
Senior Member
Well, the switch came. My wife wasn't all that impressed, given the cost. :lol: I told her to consider it the most expensive light switch we'd ever own...I HOPE that's true.
Anyway, I'm pleased with it. Just for fun, I popped the cover off the 3-gang box on our wall here at the rental, and I'd say this switch would have no trouble at all fitting in there with 2 others just like it. Plenty of depth, too. Granted, these gang boxes in here aren't the gold standard, but I KNOW this place wasn't built with anything non-standard.
The directions actually mention the difficulty of fitting many of those in a gang box, and basically it just says to snap off the metal parts on either side, but in doing so, you decrease the max suggested wattage to control, down from 900 to 600. Interesting.
The design is really clever, I think. I understand now what he was talking about running the cat5 to the top of the gang box, not into it. Basically you can run all of the cat5 connections outside of the gang box, so you don't have to worry about needing the extra insulation when they share a box (though that insulation is included).
They also included little splice tubs, which was somewhat of a disappointment. I had hoped there'd be an RJ45 connector on the switch somehow...I really don't look forward to trying to strip 24 gauge cat5 wires. It's like trying to work with hair. At least they're solid....
The instructions also mention not being used to control an outlet or a motor. I had thought it had been said in the forums that it would be ok. I'm mainly looking to control a house fan (not a ceiling fan...a whole-house fan) with one.
Should I be concerned with the switch says "do not connect to power circuit"? I guess I don't understand what a power circuit is, as I would have thought the lights would be considered one.
Anyway, I'm pleased with it. Just for fun, I popped the cover off the 3-gang box on our wall here at the rental, and I'd say this switch would have no trouble at all fitting in there with 2 others just like it. Plenty of depth, too. Granted, these gang boxes in here aren't the gold standard, but I KNOW this place wasn't built with anything non-standard.
The directions actually mention the difficulty of fitting many of those in a gang box, and basically it just says to snap off the metal parts on either side, but in doing so, you decrease the max suggested wattage to control, down from 900 to 600. Interesting.
The design is really clever, I think. I understand now what he was talking about running the cat5 to the top of the gang box, not into it. Basically you can run all of the cat5 connections outside of the gang box, so you don't have to worry about needing the extra insulation when they share a box (though that insulation is included).
They also included little splice tubs, which was somewhat of a disappointment. I had hoped there'd be an RJ45 connector on the switch somehow...I really don't look forward to trying to strip 24 gauge cat5 wires. It's like trying to work with hair. At least they're solid....
The instructions also mention not being used to control an outlet or a motor. I had thought it had been said in the forums that it would be ok. I'm mainly looking to control a house fan (not a ceiling fan...a whole-house fan) with one.
Should I be concerned with the switch says "do not connect to power circuit"? I guess I don't understand what a power circuit is, as I would have thought the lights would be considered one.
Steve
Senior Member
Never seen one but I'm guessing that is referring to the low voltage control side of the switch, not the power side.
beelzerob
Senior Member
Now you've seen one. :lol:
Dunno what Class 2 means, and if it's talking about the low-voltage part, it's certainly not all that obvious. Just a big old warning.
beelzerob
Senior Member
Well, that would make some sense, I guess. Is it perhaps because this is a dimmer instead of a relay?
Maybe Tony can swing by and clear some of this up....
I'm still counting on using an ALC switch to control my house fan, so I'd really like to know this ahead of time.
