2 units blown ?

Hi Guys,

Came back today to find all the lights in the garden stuck on. On further examination it seems 1 x 8 way 10A relay unit and 1 x 4 way 2A dimmer unit have both failed with every channel stuck on.

That sound likely ?

I can program them, have tried resetting - no effect. All channels remain stuck on.

I have MCB's on all outputs - non tripped.

Chris

 

I would unplug the cbus cables one by one and see if the units go back to normal operational state.. If they do then its possible you have a short in your cbus cable somewhere activating the remote on functionality..

Cheers..

 

Just a quick sanity check - I have 50 odd CBUS modules - 5 in a group in the garden shed and only 2 showing this behavior. Still likely to be a short ? And again programming /comms with the units work fine.

Ta
Chris

 

Hi phcjpp,

Roosta's advice is the most likely thing to look for as the relay modules will go into all channels 'remote on' or 'remote off' based on just one wire being shorted to the C-Bus negative. You can look for this in Toolkit as well as you will see the 'remote on' indicator lit on the status pages for the relay and the dimmer.

In your case, if 'Remote On' is the fault causing the problem, it would likely be the patch cable (or the in-wall UTP link cable) between the dimmer and relay in 'remote on' is faulty, C-Bus grounding the remote on line.

Good luck in your search,

Brad

 

Aha ......

Pls see attachment !!

This is so weird - this wiring has been OK for 3 years. and now only 1 of the 4 units is acting up.

I presume that scenario is possible ?

Chris

 

Yep entirely possible.. ACtually more common than you may think..

I have seen on a couple of jobs where vermin excrement, insects and swarf have gotten into the relay and dimmer units via the ventilation holes at the top of the units that has a created similar scenerios after years of seemless operation.. Usually it gets misdiagnosed as being a faulty from manufacturer item..

Cheers..

 

All fixed - disconnected lines 1,2,7,8 into the unit (remote lines on the cat5). All working nicely now.

Chris

 

Good to hear it's all working.
Please post some info if you find the cause.

 

Almost certainly a short between one of 1,2,7,8. The cable runs in a tube outside from the house to the garden shed/observatory. Its 6 years old now. I am guessing weather / rodent or similar got to it. We ran a spare CBUS cable too (currently unused) and also have around 4 spare cat5e (normal) cables run out to the garden so we have options if it the situation gets worse. Didn't realize just how many units we have in the garden - 13 - perhaps a record .

If anyone is interested - shots of the garden observatory http://www.wimbledonastro.com/observatory-all-done/
And the new one in Australia http://www.wimbledonastro.com/siding-spring-observatory/

Thanks again to everyone!

Chris

 

Hi Chris
Just for interest, what type of cabling did you use for the underground?
I have some which is not connected presently but I used a CAT6 gel filled underground cable in conduit.

 

The CBUS is pink CBUS so certainly not outdoor cable. The cat5e was outdoor grade cat5e. About ?100 a roll vs ?30 a roll of the non-outdoor if i remember.

Its all in PVC tubing held above ground (not buried).

Chris

 

OK
Hopefully easy to replace if needed.
Thanks for the info.