Working with dry contacts

[brantlmcdonald]

At the end of this year I’ll be buying or building a new house.

 

Wife has let it be known she absolutely hates “smart switches.” Currently using Legrand Radiant devices linked to HomeKit; she doesn’t like the push button type of switch that all smart switches are. She wants latching type on/off; something that “clicks.”

 

Anyway, I’m an electrical contractor. My plan moving into a new home was to use a combination of Legrand WiFi Adorne and Legrand Vantage Adorne keypads integrated into Control4, but that’s now out of the question. I’m intent on using Adorne devices (again, I’m an EC, I buy a lot of Legrand), so I’m looking at either the Control4 DCIM4 module or using the Vantage equivalent. My question is on programming ....

 

Scenario is living room & kitchen area. Let’s say there are 6 separate lighting loads here, and we set it up where closing the contact on the DCIM4 turns all of them on to a preset scene. Now let’s say somewhere in the room there is an actual scene controller, and we use that to make a scene change. If she hits the wall switch again to open the contacts on the DCIM4, can it then turn all of those loads off if the scene has been altered?

 

Basically it needs to always be able to turn all lights on and the back off when selected. Because more than likely what’s going to happen is I’ll use all of the vantage panelized lighting products so I can use Adorne scene controllers, but I want Control4 handling all the scenes. Will be using 0-10v dimmable fixtures and some tunable white. I’m not against using Control4 panelized lighting, but I will be using the vantage Adorne keypads and I felt like keeping all of the lighting controls within the vantage system is probably a better setup than mix & match controls and modules between brands.

 

I’m not a vantage dealer, but I can get the parts I need. I have a local Control4 dealer I partner with which is the main reason for wanting to go Control4; to have someone local. I haven’t discussed this with him yet but asking here to get a wider feedback audience.

 

 

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[lippavisual]

I personally wouldn't suggest using Legrand "anything smart".  If your building new, go with a panelized system and use wireless C4 configurable keypads.  The keypads have a great tactile feel and can be engraved for easier use.

[brantlmcdonald]

I’ve installed the configurable keypads, and while I like them, they actuate the same as the Legrand switches I have now. And also they don’t match the Adorne style.

I’ve sent this question to a vantage dealer as well to see if their din-mounted dry contacts will accomplish this.

I talked to the Control4 dealer I work with today and he’s unsure how it would work. I told him I may just order a few pieces for testing and go from there.


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[Crustyloafer]

Rako Lighting Controls will do exactly what you want. 

https://rakocontrols.com/rci4l/

These will sit inside a backbox and connect to up to 4 2-way latching switches, you can then program them to do whatever you want whether it be natively controlling a Rako wireless relay/dimmer for the light or integrated with Control4 to offer other functionality.
 

These are specifically designed so that owner of older houses with traditional light switches etc in keeping with the style and decor of the home can keep them in place but still offer some smart home lighting controls and integration with a third party control system.

Rako integrated very nicely with Control4, I have installed dozens of Rako lighting systems and integrated them with C4 so if you have any further questions then please ask away.

[brantlmcdonald]

Thanks for that.... I checked the datasheet on some of their products and they're rated for 200-260v 50/60z; I'm working w/ 120v 60hz.  

But, what you linked looks identical to the Control4 DCIM4 product. Have you done any programming with the Rako product within control4?

 

 

I've been reading quite a bit and I'm pretty certain it'll do mostly what I want. What I'm thinking through now though is a scenario where the user would turn lighting on with the toggle switch connected to the dry contact, but then turn the loads off within the Control4 app; how would you then go about having the loads come back on without first having to cycle the switch "off"?

 

 

I've found online where someone has detailed how to convert the Legrand adorne switches I want to use into a momentary contact switch so that switch position is irrelevant to the user; If lights are off, depress the switch to turn on. If they're on, depress the switch so the load turns off. Is it possible to program the following scenario....

 

 

1) Depress momentary contact switch to toggle on 'Load 1'. Depress the switch again and it turns 'Load 1' off.

 

 

2) Assume 'Load 1' is now on, and use the Control4 app/touchscreen to turn 'Load 1' off.

 

 

3) Depress momentary contact switch again, but Control4 would need to understand that 'Load 1' is already off, so the user is now trying to turn 'Load 1' back on.




The goal here is to have the toggle switch to be able to turn lights off/on, and use the Vantage keypad to control dimming and/or scenes. The Vantage system is only being used for their keypads, all of the programming would be done in Control4.

 

 

Thanks for the help.

 

Attached is a CAD mockup of what the wall station would look like.

 

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[Crustyloafer]

All of what you describe in 1-3 are easily achievable. The Control4 system would be constantly aware of the current on/off status of the light load so if you programmed the system to just toggle the light load every time the momentary contact was closed it would always change to the opposite state it was currently in regardless of which method was last used the control the light load. 

[brantlmcdonald]

That’s great to know, thank you so much


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