Wall-box DMX dimmers?

[RickR]

It's not the dimmers that will get you. You would need a HomeWorks central processor, a radio bridge and a DMX interface. I believe pricing is all project based and installation is only by Homeworks certified electricians.
Know any of these folks? http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Pages/WTB/WTBEliteDealers.aspx?C=1&PJ=2&PD=3&CN=116&ZIP=33701

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Yup. Sorry. They lose.

I never marry /any/ proprietary system

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[Chris15]

I never marry /any/ proprietary system

Yeah, then Crestron definitely is not the right answer.

As a Crestron Certified Programmer, let me just say that I'd be looking hard at other options before I wanted to integrate DMX via Crestron right now...

 

[Jay Ashworth]

I pretty much new that; didn't realize Lutron was down the same hole -- especially since Lutron lists Home Despot as a dealer.

 

[RickR]

Lutron makes a huge range of stuff. Generally good for the price. I even have an in-line dimmer that clamps onto lamp cord. I ran a LV desk light off it expecting it to burn up the cheapy gear. Ran that way for 25 years.

You might go to the simple side. A standard dimmer with 3-way capability. Then use a remote DMX relay pair as the 3-way switch. You won't get level by DMX but you do get On/Off.

I think you're still better off with the electrician.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Likely. I mean, there was going to be another electrician involved either way, he just wasn't going to have to do nearly as much work.

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[Wood4321]

The closest thing I can think of is a captivation dimmer from Phillips. That being said, it does fit on a 2 gang box, but sticks way out from it. They are a great product though, if you can make it work. http://www.lightingproducts.philips...ite_SPECx_DC-DPD_Captivation_Phase_Dimmer.pdf

 

[Jay Ashworth]

I might be missing something, but that dimmer looks as if it takes two and a half 4 gang boxes, where I only have one.

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[RickR]

And still only 600W

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[Wood4321]

It mounts on a 2 gang, but yes, it does take up 4 gang of space, if that makes sense. And yes, it is only rated for 600w. (Sorry, it the closest thing I could think of)

 

[RickR]

Closest I've seen to actually doing the job - right along with http://www.dfd.com/dmx8dim.html in a 12"x12"x4" box.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Yes; the Fleenor was the first thing I saw.

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[BillConnerFASTC]

Ive used that Fleenor box and it's terrific for mains dimming retro fit LED lamps, but it is only 240 watts per channel. The ETC Echo product I mentioned earlier is also good at these low level loads and for a few, probably less expensive. Didn't know you needed 8 channels.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

I need 16 in one room and 12 in the other.

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[RickR]

I need 16 in one room and 12 in the other.

Then remote dimmers are probably the best option. The Echo line has quite a variety of approaches, so you wouldn't need a traditional rack w/3 phase power. There is also enough competition in that stuff to keep pricing reasonable.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Sure. I was simply trying rather desperately not to have to rip a whole bunch of walls apart for rewiring. And it looks like I may not have a choice.

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[RonHebbard]

Rick and Mac are both referring to the idea of using a dimmer in a switch leg, and I'm not certain that that is actually approved by the NEC for commercial installations, which this is. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen a triac wall box dimmer installed on a switch leg, I thought they did require a neutral.

It's beginning to look a lot like I'm going to have to just back fish the wires out of those boxes and feed them into an email box with the dimmers mounted in it on that wall. What a shame. Maybe I'll gamble on the construction and get lucky. I will look into the zigbee and insteon stuff, though I don't think insteon has a dimmer that goes up that far in power.

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"and feed them into an email box" An email box? Huh?? What was this really supposed to say?
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

"NEMA box." :-}

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[BillConnerFASTC]

With 28 dimmed circuits, seems for life of the system finding a place to mount a central cabinet makes sense. You can still use the wiring and just blank out wall boxes and avoid having " to rip a whole bunch of walls apart for rewiring". Data for few control stations could be fished or maybe wireless. From a service point of view, it would drive me crazy having dimmers hither, nether, and beyond.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

Certainly. And I would love to be able to centralize the dimmers. But at the moment, I have no evidence that the building is wired circuit per dimmer. And if it's not, I'm still going to have to play games with the wiring.

Certainly, though, I have about all the input I can effectively utilize without knowing that fact at this point.

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