This project is not complicated but generall beyond the scope or knowledge of a fair deal of electricians.I believe I have read most of the threads about controlling house lights with a DMX relay, but my situation is (I think) a little different than the ones I've seen on here. I'm in a gymnasium type building with several banks of high bay house lights. In my booth, I have an analog switch (actually a timer switch https://www.intermatic.com/en/in-wall-controls/spring-wound-countdown-timers/ff60mc ) connected to a relay that I can use to turn the house lights off (they will turn back on when the timer runs out). From what I can tell this timer is just breaking the "hot" leg of the relay circuit, similar to a basic analog light switch. Rather than having to manually turn this timer switch, I'd like to turn off the house lights via DMX. What kind of DMX relay do I need to open and close the hot leg of an existing analog relay? I have a licensed electrician that can hook this up, but what do I need to communicate to him?
I think the OP wants to replace the switches, not the timer. If the timer is NC, then the UFR2 won't work because it has no NC capability by itself.You want to replace the timer switch with a DMX controlled relay, correct? I thinkk hard to beat the price and ease of an ETC UFR2 - $207.00 at Full Comapss -https://www.etcconnect.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737493492. Two zones if you want it.
PS: install guide. you do need a neutral at the relay but relay could be located adjacent to contactors. Does not have to be where timer is currently. Installation: https://www.etcconnect.com/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737492916
Calling @jfleenor (Again)umm, maybe you want to consider taking out some of that kludgy stuff and start with a blank sheet of paper:
- what functionality do I actually need?
Seems to me that a Fleenor-like DMX architectural preset station connected with the board DMX looped thru it and then a single contactor downstream of it would be way better than spring loaded timers, hidden switches in the lobby, etc.
The UFR2 is not out of budget, but it not being configurable as NC is a bit of deal-breaker.
Although it lacks normally closed contacts in the traditional sense, the UFR2 is configurable to default to full on (i.e. closed) should DMX data go missing, however, according to the documentation. For non-emergency-critical use I think that would pretty well suffice. For emergency egress lighting, I suspect the existing twist-o-matic timer is already contrary to code requirements, so I'm assuming this is just "ordinary" lighting.
I believe I mentioned that Northlight's DMX relays (10 amp) are SPDT dry contact so you can wire whatever to them. True they do not offer the single relay board ready to go in an enclosure.Well, I'm not sure anyone makes a all in one DMX normally closed relay. You might call ETC and see if there is anything they can do for you. Otherwise I think you are going to have to find a 120vac nc relay and a separate DMX driver and interface them - hobbyist style. I'd recommend an air gap relay since its holding beefy contactors closed when energized.
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