Elk 9200 - 60 Amp Contactor Relay

[Spanky]

ELK is about to release the ELK-9200 Contactor relay in a metal enclosure. It has 60 amp, double pole, double throw contacts, and is power by a 120 VAC line cord. The power cord is intended to plug into any appliance module such as X10, UPB, Insteon, Zwave, Zigbee or any device that switches 120 VAC.

Applications are:
Controlling electric hot water heaters,
Pool/Spa pumps,
Baseboard heaters,
Motors,
or any device requiring electrical switching up to 60 amps.

The ELK-9200 60 Amp Contactor is an alternate to the ELK-9100 which was only X10, and 30 Amp contacts.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Spanky,

The ELK-9200 seems to be a good product for retro work but I preferred the ELK-9100 because it could be controlled by contact closures, has an on/off button and much smaller footprint. Also I have to request that the electrician install 120v outlets next to each water heater.

Now I understand that the 9100 is no longer available. Please bring it back.

 

[RobWalker]

Is there an electrical reason the enclosure has to be that big? Looks like there is a lot of extra space floating about inside.

Any word on pricing?

 

[Steve]

Spanky,

The ELK-9200 seems to be a good product for retro work but I preferred the ELK-9100 because it could be controlled by contact closures, has an on/off button and much smaller footprint. Also I have to request that the electrician install 120v outlets next to each water heater.

Now I understand that the 9100 is no longer available. Please bring it back.

I think I need to agree with this. It is always hard when a new product comes out with less features than the original. Personally I think it is a big mistake to not have it switchable with a contact closure. I know I am not going to pull extra 120v circuits to where I may want to switch 220. The size also does seem a little crazy for this device as well and while I haven't seen it, that European terminal strip must be pretty macho to handle 220V/60A. I would have to agree the 9100 should stay int he line so people can have their choice. Only discontinue the 9100 if the 9200 can do everything the 9100 can PLUS more.

 

[politics123]

I have a 9100 for my water heater, and I'm thinking about getting a 9200.

If I go with a standby-generator, I want to automate a fail-over test once per month (little known fact --> the "exercise" routine doesn't test power-transfer, and this happens to be one of the major failure points). I'll have a 50amp sub-panel, so the 9200 should come in handy. I wouldn't be able to do it with an 9100.

That said, one of the best features of the 9100 is that it is an X10 repeater and phase coupler. X10, even in a Z-Wave house, can still be very useful. I wouldn't mind seeing the 9100 survive.

 

[Spanky]

The main reason for the ELK9200 is so that we could support all the other powerline technologies other than X10 which is waining.

External contact closure can be handled with an ELK912 relay switching 120 VAC to the coil of the contactor and triggered with 12 VDC through a button.

The metal box is 12" X 12" which is a standard. Field response was for bigger rather than smaller. The ELK-9200 will be evolutionary as the market demands change.

All the wiring and terminals are sized for 60 amps.

 

[Captain Caveman]

The main reason for the ELK9200 is so that we could support all the other powerline technologies other than X10 which is waining.

External contact closure can be handled with an ELK912 relay switching 120 VAC to the coil of the contactor and triggered with 12 VDC through a button.

The metal box is 12" X 12" which is a standard. Field response was for bigger rather than smaller. The ELK-9200 will be evolutionary as the market demands change.

All the wiring and terminals are sized for 60 amps.

Spanky,

Again the 9200 is good for the retro market where we need a wireless solution, but this does not fly to well when looking for a hardwired solution. Sure you can work around this by getting extra parts and adding some more cables but that is making things more complicated and costly than it has to be.

No disrespect intended but basically the 9200 was probably less about moving forward with technology and more about cutting cost. Evolutionary would be getting rid of x-10 at the controller and all of the limitations caused by mapping to its table.

Thank you