tmbrown97
Senior Member
OK. For the irrigation, if it's still home-run to one place, I'd personally put an M1XOVR and M1RB in the garage in a can (I used the 28" one that comes with the system) and run the irrigation directly off those relays. In my case I tied in another 12V power source to run everything else and put one of these in to distribute power and protect the circuits... I'd consider that for you too - so that you can use a single power supply to power all your exterior relays but if one of the three "legs" gets shorted, that would isolate it so it doesn't take out the other 2 or anything else running on that power supply.
For the lighting scenario, earlier I was under the impression you only had 3 zones - but this is a lot more complex - so I would definitely go the route of the double relays and do the exterior enclosures with the second set of relays. Sorry if this wasn't clear earlier - I only meant losing the double relays for the irrigation; since your others will be exterior, I'd absolutely double-relay them.
To answer some questions -
Also in an earlier post you asked how much could fit in a 14x14 enclosure - I started with a 28" in my last house with the audio amp (elk 124), ethernet expander, input expander, M1 itself, a DBH and a couple XSP's - and it got full fast. Here's a picture (yeah, I know - a total mess). For my current house I didn't screw around - I went straight for the 50" can directly above an existing 20" so I should hopefully never run out of space. I think the general rule for us DIYers is to go as big as you can. You might be able to make a 14" work but you'd be looking at mounting the boards vertically and keeping the ethernet module elsewhere most likely. Keep in mind - you don't have to go with the Elk can - but with most other can's you'll lose the UL rating if you care unless you use a can that's UL rated for residential security and use the specific odd bracket that they evaluated; though I think most of us just drill screw holes in the new can to fit.
For the lighting scenario, earlier I was under the impression you only had 3 zones - but this is a lot more complex - so I would definitely go the route of the double relays and do the exterior enclosures with the second set of relays. Sorry if this wasn't clear earlier - I only meant losing the double relays for the irrigation; since your others will be exterior, I'd absolutely double-relay them.
To answer some questions -
- You can daisy chain in any scenario - even if you do Cat5 with the DBH... the instructions aren't the most intuitive, but if I had a manual in front of me I could describe it.
- You can use another power supply to power devices on the databus in the manner you described; but a couple of things (please - experts, double-check this) - you should definitely use a battery backup that will run the extension of the databus at least as long as the main controller - losing items on the databus causes all sorts of errors. Also, I believe you want to keep the ground reference the same so you'd want to tie the grounds together on each power supply.
Also in an earlier post you asked how much could fit in a 14x14 enclosure - I started with a 28" in my last house with the audio amp (elk 124), ethernet expander, input expander, M1 itself, a DBH and a couple XSP's - and it got full fast. Here's a picture (yeah, I know - a total mess). For my current house I didn't screw around - I went straight for the 50" can directly above an existing 20" so I should hopefully never run out of space. I think the general rule for us DIYers is to go as big as you can. You might be able to make a 14" work but you'd be looking at mounting the boards vertically and keeping the ethernet module elsewhere most likely. Keep in mind - you don't have to go with the Elk can - but with most other can's you'll lose the UL rating if you care unless you use a can that's UL rated for residential security and use the specific odd bracket that they evaluated; though I think most of us just drill screw holes in the new can to fit.