bistro low voltage lights on C4

[WisC4]

I recently added a set of bistro hanging lights to my outdoor low voltage lighting.  The lights are tied to two separate transformers and connected to their own timers for front or backyard.  The bistro set is connected essentially to a cut off switch/kill switch so that when the timer turns the circuit on the bistros can be on/off as needed.  I'd like to connect the bistro set to to C4 - is this a z2io or low voltage switch or something else that would allow me to do this?  the bistros are wired to a single gang electrical box that houses the kill switch and then splices into the low voltage line running through the yard.  The electrical box is affixed to my grill station where i do have line voltage power outlets available.  Please suggest away!

[OceanDad]

I have a set of low voltage outdoor bistro lights switched via a Z2IO that’s housed inside an outdoor transformer cabinet.  Works well, but just be aware that the relays (there’s two of them) inside the Z2IO are only rated at 1A@24v.  That means you need to be using LED bistro lamps for sure. 

I use the Chowmain Relay to Lamp driver to make the lights visible under Lighting in the navigator etc.  With this driver you bind the driver to Relay 1 or 2 as required. You could use an experience button if you want an icon on a touchscreen as an alternative. 

[WisC4]

8 hours ago, OceanDad said:

I have a set of low voltage outdoor bistro lights switched via a Z2IO that’s housed inside an outdoor transformer cabinet.  Works well, but just be aware that the relays (there’s two of them) inside the Z2IO are only rated at 1A@24v.  That means you need to be using LED bistro lamps for sure. 

I use the Chowmain Relay to Lamp driver to make the lights visible under Lighting in the navigator etc.  With this driver you bind the driver to Relay 1 or 2 as required. You could use an experience button if you want an icon on a touchscreen as an alternative. 

The bistro set is LED, but it's not on it's own transformer.  How would I connect a Z2io to the bistro set "kill switch" so they operate independently of the rest of the low voltage circuit?  The switch is connected to a grill enclosure that also has line voltage outlets, so I can house a z2io inside there, the question is how to connect the z2io to the bistro set...

[OceanDad]

What's the voltage rating of these lights ?  Are they 110v or are they 12v.  AC or DC ?

If they are 12v DC, you could use a cheap outdoor rated LED driver.  Something like this :

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MZP9247/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07MZP9247&pd_rd_w=GY3eC&pf_rd_p=45a72588-80f7-4414-9851-786f6c16d42b&pd_rd_wg=v6yvz&pf_rd_r=HGQTP7XVAR9PCFP2V5SN&pd_rd_r=3f00dd11-d279-475b-8418-79f530b6784b&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExV0lDVFc3MzFGNVNBJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzcxMzU0MUlENTk4OVVRSDdQWiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODk3ODI0TVJCUEpOVzNIUTJQJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

[WisC4]

1 hour ago, OceanDad said:

What's the voltage rating of these lights ?  Are they 110v or are they 12v.  AC or DC ?

If they are 12v DC, you could use a cheap outdoor rated LED driver.  Something like this :

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MZP9247/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07MZP9247&pd_rd_w=GY3eC&pf_rd_p=45a72588-80f7-4414-9851-786f6c16d42b&pd_rd_wg=v6yvz&pf_rd_r=HGQTP7XVAR9PCFP2V5SN&pd_rd_r=3f00dd11-d279-475b-8418-79f530b6784b&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExV0lDVFc3MzFGNVNBJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMzcxMzU0MUlENTk4OVVRSDdQWiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODk3ODI0TVJCUEpOVzNIUTJQJndpZGdldE5hbWU9c3BfZGV0YWlsJmFjdGlvbj1jbGlja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ==

Does this mean I need pull the lv bistro set off the existing low voltage line running underground?  The bistro string is tied into a circuit of 25 other lv landscape lights.  The bistro set however has a cut-off switch in the line so I can separately turn off the bistros when I'm not outside since i don't want them on with the rest of the lights on their sundown- sunrise schedule.  I'm hoping there's a way to tie into the cut-off switch with a z2io or replace the cut off toggle switch with a c4 lv switch.  Any idea if either scenario will work?

[OceanDad]

Ok - that’s easy then.  Just take the lines from the bistro cut off switch and put them into the Z2IO relay connections instead.

[WisC4]

Would replacing the cut-off switch with a Control4 low voltage wireless 0-10v work as well?  Then i'm just swapping out the switches.  The 0-10v might need it's own power supply?  In which case I'd still have to wire it through my grill station to line power, so I suppose it's the same as plugging in a z210 then to line power, and connecting relays to bistro wires.  

[OceanDad]

correct - the 0-10v switch needs line power.  Personally I would use the Z2IO - you get two relays, a temperature sensor, and it can act as a zigbee repeater.  It can be powered by 12v if your transformer is able to supply power continuously (eg not just during sundown-sunrise).  Otherwise plug it in to line voltage power via the 5v adapter.

[atxled]

One easy solution is to use this $20 12v dimmer driver with 60 watts https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0741VVD6K/

it has a control line that hosts 64 of those dimmer drivers on one bus that can run hundreds of ft without any particular care for shielding etc.  Then - that control line ( called DALI ) connects to C4 using this hub  https://atxled.wiki.zoho.com/public/Control4-Integration.html

So you have low voltage outdoors, a low voltage addressable control line, and a wired C4 connection for stability.      There are a LOT of drivers that work with that same (old) low cost lighting standard and the hub pulls those into the C4 world.   24 volt and 48 volt DC drivers exist too.