Please, can my dimmer look American ?

Discussion in 'C-Bus Wired Hardware' started by CABrouwes, Oct 11, 2011.

  1. CABrouwes

    CABrouwes

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    I live in the USA and have a system with 2A 110V dimmers (SLC5508TD2A). When I scan the network, they show as 1A 220V dimmers (L5508D1A). I was surprised so I called the support center and what they told me is this:

    1. 1A 220V is the same power as 2A 110V so it is the same product,
    2. The software is written by Australians who don't care about the USA..

    Can anyone confirm ?

    Ok, understand the physics behind the argument but commercially that still sounds fairly absurd. How does Schneider count on beating Lutron and all the other automation systems prevailing in the US with such an atttitude. I can't believe it is very complex to put a little software flag in the firmware to make the two things look different.
     
    CABrouwes, Oct 11, 2011
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  2. CABrouwes

    NickD Moderator

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    This isn't just a problem with the US dimmers.

    While Part 1) the support centre's explanation is technically accurate*, it's not really the reason.

    When Toolkit scans the network, all it retrieves is the "unit type" in this case, it's a DIMDN8... an 8 channel DIN dimmer. In the absence of any further information, it pulls the default DIMDN8 from its catalogue, which is the L5508D1A.

    If you want it to show the correct one, you can

    a) before you scan the network, scan the barcode on the product or packaging in order to add the unit to the database. Then, when the network is unravelled, it will match the units up and they will have the correct catalog number.

    b) if you've scanned it already, just edit that Catalogue number in the GUI.

    Part 2) is slightly insulting, but I understand it was probably only made in jest :) Our software developers are quite passionate about their work and about supporting the people that use it. We do have a plan to improve this, and they would like nothing more to be able to jump in and fix this sort of thing, but like all things, it's a matter of priorities, and this one is a fair way down the list.

    Nick

    *The fact that you guys can get an 8 channel 2A dimmer where we can only get an 8 channel 1A dimmer is because the EMC limits over there are less restrictive. Higher allowable emissions means less filtering is required to meet EMC limits, which in turn means less losses in the filter components, which means we can get more current out of each channel for the same total losses (which equate to heat produced by the product, which in the end is the limiting factor on the channel current rating).
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Oct 11, 2011
    NickD, Oct 11, 2011
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  3. CABrouwes

    Figjam

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    Where is the USA? Is it in Europe somewhere?
     
    Figjam, Oct 11, 2011
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  4. CABrouwes

    CABrouwes

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    Thanks for your response. I did not mean to be insulting just a bit provocative because I am a fan of the product and I wish it could become more popular in the US. What I was told exactly is: "It is because the software is written in Australia. They will not rewrite the firmware to differentiate between Australian and American products because the wattage is the same". I realize that it is safer this way as long as the units are not physically differentiated, you would not want the reverse to occur in Europe or Australia and a user to mistakenly believe the unit can support 2A under 220/240 V.
    I had defined the network first in the toolkit using the US unit types and I had scanned the barcodes in. However when I scanned the network for the first time, the toolkit alerted me that there were inconsistencies between physical and DB units with the same serial number and proposed to fix the problem. Now, I can change the "catalog type" but the unit description remains the same.
    Btw, the pro-dimmers don?t seem to have the same issue and appear correctly.
     
    CABrouwes, Oct 11, 2011
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  5. CABrouwes

    ashleigh Moderator

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    Unfortunately this is a long standing can of worms, having its roots back in the pre-history of the universe. In other words, its partly a legacy issue and partly to do with compatibility. "They won't re-write the firmware" is neither accurate nor even close to true. Changing a unit type is a piece of cake - something that can be done in a moment. If it were that simple it would have been done a long time ago. Unfortunately, its a bigger deal than that.
     
    ashleigh, Oct 11, 2011
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  6. CABrouwes

    NickD Moderator

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    Ok.. having said all that... what you've written above sounds like something else is not right.

    I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "unit description" and "catalog type". Can you describe exactly what you're entering where, and what your seeing? A few screen shots might help.

    Cheers,

    Nick
     
    NickD, Oct 12, 2011
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