Clipsal C-Bus

masteroftherealm

Howdy,
As some of you may have read after a messup with some dimmers from the US we have decided to go with a C-Bus Lighting System in the house hat we are building at the moment. However its in the west of Ireland, and I am having problems finding a sparky who has experience with the Clipsal system.
Are there any here who have done C-Bus installs, and

1. Roughly how much over the base cost of wiring the house should we be expecting for a sparky to do the Clipsal install with us providing all the Clipsal gear.

2. If we have the sparky wire everything except the Clipsal equipment and install that myself (I am a certified network engineer and its a simple system) would I run into problems with Building Reg's not being a sparky myself.

Rough house is 2 stories 1400sq ft, 16 dimming channels, 8 relay channels + PC Interface Module that I will be programming myself.

Can talk in PM if prices are involved.

Cheers
Jay

Stoner

are the cable you are talking about control cables only?

I dont know this particular system, but I'm aware of many other types. Do all the lighting circuits go back to a central controller with control LV cabling out to each switch?

Or is it local dimming with some kind of 10Vdc control loop?

Does they system have HF dimming units in any of the fittings?

Most of the systems have a fairly simple wiring config, it can be the programming that confuses a sparks and make them hike their prices. If they wired it could you program it? if so explaining this to them would take the worry out if it. Most sparks will look at this and wonder "will my heart be broken calling out to this guy over and over again for little problems"

Just as a suggestion if you said.

1) there are 25 control cable points to be inculded in your price, the cable will be free issue, but contractor to label each end.

2) there will be 25 LV terminations to make, I can assist, but the system is well documented.

3) I will assist with the programming, I have studied all the documentatin and understand it fully.


this approach would take the worry sting out of this job for an average sparks IMO. I would not suggest that you wire it, these things are best carried out by the one contractor, so if possible this is the approach I'd take.

masteroftherealm

Yep all circuits are wired back to a central controller board then LV (Cat5e) goes out to touchpads in each room/area for control, no local dimming circuits.

Programming can all be done by myself no problem system is very well documented on both the wiring side for the sparky and he programming for myself. Also there are local overrides for the sparky to check his circuits without having any programming on the devices so he can come in do his stuff then I can take my time adding functionality through programming.

Thanks for the advice on how to approach a sparky with the project. And I was erring on the side of not wiring it myself anyway so I will go with your advice on that.

Would it be nessesary for the sparky to do the LV Control Point terminations as I will be doing many LV terminations myself throughout the house, or would it be better to have the sparky have control over the lighting terminations entierly including the LV ones.


Some quick info if your interested:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-Bus_(protocol)
http://www.cbus-shop.com/

The price -v- performance is excellent highly polished and reliable and is comparable to Lutron systems but at a much lower price. Used in some high end commercial installs (sydney opera house, MCFC Stadium etc)

Stoner

It would be great if the control centers had a function where the power could be tested to all the lights, i.e power all the lights on. Technically it would be best if the sparks did the terminations.
Can the system by default set each switch up as on/off ? if so you could confirm that it was all working in basic mode.

It would not be a good idea IMO if the sparks just wired the power and walked away from the installation without having an input in confirming that the lights switch on and off and are properly tested.

But like you said, I think that getting it working in its most basic mode is the way to go, then you add in all the fancy stuff. An electrician should be able to address this and if he/she knows you'll do the terms "with them" it should be fine. The important thing for me would be that there is a signed off tested and commissioned working lighting system.

Best of luck with it, looks nice. I hope you have a good spot for the controllers they can be bigger, hotter and more unsightly then the original plan sometimes.

masteroftherealm

The central wiring panels have all on/off and per circuit on/off buttons.
An the control panels automatically set themselves up as on off switches withou any programming so the electrician will be able to confirm everything is working before they sign off. Anything after that is my own fault in programming:P and can be software reset to defaults.

The controllers and comsumer panel are going into a dedicated wiring room with servers etc for the AV and home networking.

Mylow

Did you take a look at KNX? Pretty easy install, only downside is cost of ETS program. Clipsal was also installed at New Wembley Stadium, KNX is used at Heathrow Terminal 5.

If you ran KNX you could also control home heating, its pretty versatile. You can pick up KNX equipment on ebay.de
Advantage of KNX is that your not stuck with one manufacturer and there protocol. Though the Clipsal equipment is excellent.