blub Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 Hi, There have been some threads about the Hunter Douglas Powershades already and there have been posts stating either some driver or motor issues - subjectively I saw more people complaining about Hunter Douglas products than over Qmotion. That however can be due to numerous things like more ppl using HD compared to Qmotion or different product generations etc.. So long question cut short: Are both motors worth buying in 2019/current gen.? Does Qmotion integrate directly with Control4 like in the available youtube videos or do they use a hub nowdays? Does anyone have experience with the new Powershades driver from Cinegration v2018 - https://drivercentral.io/platforms/control4-drivers/blinds-shades/hunterdouglas-powerview/ thx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 You'll see more complaints on HD because it's used more. -HD BRIDGES have just proven soooooo unreliable in the past. Their blinds as such generally work, it's the bridge that has been the failure point. We have steered away from them -The newer driver by Cinegration is excellent however. We hAVE used it on a few occasions. Problem is, no driver will fix random blinds dropping off of the bridge (or randomly joining groups on the bridge, even across (bridge defined) rooms which shouldn't even be possible...) If we can't reasonably stay away from the current gen bridge, we'd not be completely unwilling to try (with clear caveats towards the client!) with this driver and the current bridge - I've heard it's much better (the bridge I mean). -Qmotion is direct over ZigBee into Control4. OLDER models used a bridge, so you may have seen something about one because of that. -Qmotions are nice blinds really, and insanely easy to integrate with C4. We have had some motor failures on them however, and while it's not been a major hassle as such to get replacements, it HAS been slow to arrive if you will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anon2828 Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Have Qmotion. No hub. As mentioned they are ZigBee end points, not repeaters, so be sure you have good ZigBee signal where they are going or put a C4 Dimmer nearby which acts as a ZigBee repeater. Pleased with functionality thus far. Have fallen off ZigBee a few times but pretty easy to get them back on network with a pull sequence of the hem bar. Being able to control the shade through hem bar control is a big advantage. A few of my shades make some strange noise which I haven’t gotten to the bottom of yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted May 7, 2019 Author Share Posted May 7, 2019 18 hours ago, Cyknight said: You'll see more complaints on HD because it's used more. -HD BRIDGES have just proven soooooo unreliable in the past. Their blinds as such generally work, it's the bridge that has been the failure point. We have steered away from them -The newer driver by Cinegration is excellent however. We hAVE used it on a few occasions. Problem is, no driver will fix random blinds dropping off of the bridge (or randomly joining groups on the bridge, even across (bridge defined) rooms which shouldn't even be possible...) If we can't reasonably stay away from the current gen bridge, we'd not be completely unwilling to try (with clear caveats towards the client!) with this driver and the current bridge - I've heard it's much better (the bridge I mean). -Qmotion is direct over ZigBee into Control4. OLDER models used a bridge, so you may have seen something about one because of that. -Qmotions are nice blinds really, and insanely easy to integrate with C4. We have had some motor failures on them however, and while it's not been a major hassle as such to get replacements, it HAS been slow to arrive if you will. 17 hours ago, anon2828 said: Have Qmotion. No hub. As mentioned they are ZigBee end points, not repeaters, so be sure you have good ZigBee signal where they are going or put a C4 Dimmer nearby which acts as a ZigBee repeater. Pleased with functionality thus far. Have fallen off ZigBee a few times but pretty easy to get them back on network with a pull sequence of the hem bar. Being able to control the shade through hem bar control is a big advantage. A few of my shades make some strange noise which I haven’t gotten to the bottom of yet. Hi thx for your feedback. So in theory Qmotion is the better choice for Control4 integration however HD would also work good but might come with some internal FW issues. Since Qmotion does not need a Hub I would prefer it as I don't wont yet another RFnetwork and Hub -ZigBee: 2x Hue, 1x Heatmiser and Control4 - kinda gets annoying at some point. Thing is just that currently I can only get quotes for HD. Qmotion seems kinda hard to get an answer from the german retailer if they integrate into C4 the same way as in they do in the US or if the have a different FW over here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 Just got word from the Qmotion distributor that Qmotion is not available with a ZigBee motor in my region - yikes...so HD it will be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryflyy Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 I just used Hunter Douglass PowerView hub, with the Cinegration driver. It was frustrating to say the least. The driver would cause the controller to lock up and disconnect from director sometimes it was random, other times it would happen when I refreshed navigators. Sometimes it would reconnect, other times I would have to power cycle the controller. If i removed the cinegration driver, no issues. I would steer far far from hunter douglass and the hub. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 I just used Hunter Douglass PowerView hub, with the Cinegration driver. It was frustrating to say the least. The driver would cause the controller to lock up and disconnect from director sometimes it was random, other times it would happen when I refreshed navigators. Sometimes it would reconnect, other times I would have to power cycle the controller. If i removed the cinegration driver, no issues. I would steer far far from hunter douglass and the hub. And that was the new version released 2018?Have u reported your issues to DC/Cinegration? (There seem to be 2 drivers, 2017 starting earlier and one starting in 2018 for v2 hubs) Sounds really disappointing but HD is the only indoor, battery driven blinds motor I can buy that " work" with Control4 in Germany. Comfy would be an alternative, but all drivers are thw old RTS protocol and not the new OO homecontrol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 12 minutes ago, blub said: And that was the new version released 2018? Have u reported your issues to DC/Cinegration? (There seem to be 2 drivers, 2017 starting earlier and one starting in 2018 for v2 hubs) Sounds really disappointing but HD is the only indoor, battery driven blinds motor I can buy that " work" with Control4 in Germany. Comfy would be an alternative, but all drivers are thw old RTS protocol and not the new OO homecontrol somfy mylink not available in Germany? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 somfy mylink not available in Germany?It is. But isn't that just an IP adapter for RTS? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnpublic Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Bali. That is all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 Bali. That is all.Seems to be NA only Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 1 hour ago, blub said: 1 hour ago, eggzlot said: somfy mylink not available in Germany? It is. But isn't that just an IP adapter for RTS? Yes but there are c4 drivers for mylink. So you get 2 way control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 Just checked. Mylink is not available in my country - what a PITA.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terminaldisclaimer Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Hunter Douglas sucks. Worse decision I ever made. I have the platinum blinds, which are particularly bad. I would go Lutron. They are expensive, but I guess you get what you pay for. If I had to do it all over again, that's what I would do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 46 minutes ago, terminaldisclaimer said: Hunter Douglas sucks. Worse decision I ever made. I have the platinum blinds, which are particularly bad. I would go Lutron. They are expensive, but I guess you get what you pay for. If I had to do it all over again, that's what I would do. I'll check Lutron. But the brand itself is not well knows so I doubt they sell the battery powered shade motors here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eggzlot Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 2 hours ago, blub said: Just checked. Mylink is not available in my country - what a PITA.... I believe there is a free C4 driver for Somfy RTS, it is just 1 way not 2 way: https://drivers.control4.com/solr/drivers/browse?&q=&fq=manufacturer:"Somfy" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdougray Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 4 hours ago, eggzlot said: somfy mylink not available in Germany? Correct but can get the rts transmitter. Works great https://controlissblinds.co.uk/somfy-rs485-rts-transmitter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 13 minutes ago, eggzlot said: I believe there is a free C4 driver for Somfy RTS, it is just 1 way not 2 way: https://drivers.control4.com/solr/drivers/browse?&q=&fq=manufacturer:"Somfy" 14 minutes ago, tdougray said: Correct but can get the rts transmitter. Works great https://controlissblinds.co.uk/somfy-rs485-rts-transmitter Yes RTS is an option. But I am very reluctant to install 10+ year old 1-way RF tech.. At least for my area of living the project seems to be a lot more complicated than I anticipated. I'll wait for the quote for HD. If it is good and I can re-use parts of my shade which are manual HD versions from 2009 I will buy some to fit 1 or 2 rooms to see how they work. If the price is through the roof I'll wait a couple months to see where things go, maybe ZigBee 3.0 finally takes off..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdougray Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, blub said: Yes RTS is an option. But I am very reluctant to install 10+ year old 1-way RF tech.. I get your point but I dont think blinds are an overly complicated bit of tech tbh. I just requires a signal to either go up or down. If you combine with Domosapiens driver you can do a lot more. We shouldn't right off something if it works just because its old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterwilson Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 I have HD installed and it works beautifully. Any other option was significantly more expensive and HD window treatments are very high quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 1 minute ago, tdougray said: We shouldn't right off something if it works just because its old. Yes this is true. Currently it comes down to: HD and Somfy. I will need to wait for the quote on HD and see if I can re-use the window treatments which are still looking like new. I also gotta check if I could re-use anything when buying somfy. One disadvantage of the Somfy motors is that the batteries are in an external housing which go next to the motor. I just saw it when going through the manual. The HD motors have the batteries internal if I am not mistaken, I gotta check that again. This however could be a tight or maybe impossible to fit as my blinds are "recessed upwards" so there is little to no extra space for another housing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 8 minutes ago, chesterwilson said: I have HD installed and it works beautifully. Any other option was significantly more expensive and HD window treatments are very high quality. k, thx finally it works for somebody - Are you using the PowerView blinds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdougray Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, blub said: One disadvantage of the Somfy motors is that the batteries are in an external housing which go next to the motor Your correct but the wand they sit in is really small. Only just bigger in diameter than the AA batteries that sit inside it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blub Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 True. But that's how much space I have and with the clips it's a really tight fit and if the motors need a larger diameter it won't fit at all - pic is attached I hope Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdougray Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Yeah that does look tight!If it helps:- Dimensions: Single wand length: 432mm Single wand diameter: 21mm Lead length: 254mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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