Thorfun

this was the main reason I wanted to go for less of a bespoke system and decided on Loxone. if I were to get hit by a bus on my way to Screwfix (seems to be the only place I go these days) then SWMBO could find a local Loxone installer to maintain the system rather than trying to figure out home assistant or some other open source freebie system.

I made a miscalculation on the number of terminal blocks and it looks like I can fit all the 230V TBs in the top din rail. should please @Dan F and @Rob99. 😉 also leaves a bit of room for basement expansion on terminal blocks and enough room for an 8 channel whitewing mains dimmer on the 2nd rail if required. I might not even need to get a cabinet extension. 🤞

now you tell me! I should've listened to @Pocster. 🤣

Can you post it here? I really enjoy seeing what @ETC comes up with.

I honestly don't know. sorry! I guess I probably should've asked the voltage of the led strip. I presumed it is 24V but I guess it could be 12V. 🤷‍♂️

if you've ever read any of my threads then you'll know that I don't know much about electrics and lighting! but I have learnt quite a bit along the way. 🤣 it's my understanding that it's only the LED strip length for the driver but you'll have voltage drop over the entire length of cable and strip. although according to the figures I put in to https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Technical/Charts/VoltageDrop.html?ad_position=&source=adwords&ad_id=385479007812&placement=&kw=calculate cable size&network=g&matchtype=b&ad_type=&product_id=&product_partition_id=&campaign=ROAS_Cable&version=finalurl_v3 that's only a 1.5% voltage drop for the entire length cable so that should be fine. it says you should use 1mm cable. hopefully someone else who knows what they're talking about will be along soon. 🙂

I have spare 2-way and 3-way terminal blocks so I could use multiple of those for each blind? if the 'blind' TBs won't fit

I realise that my panel layout doesn't show the correct number of 230V terminal blocks. I've expanded it to fill the correct number of DUs now.

thanks. an isolator sounds like a good idea. will double check with my electrician before I buy anything though! I have 76 x 230V terminal blocks and 11 x 8-way blocks. all of which add up to 28 DUs in the din rail. that leaves me 2 x DUs which will just about fit my 8 x blind terminal blocks. so the top rail is full before I even consider the basement terminal block requirements! so I moved the blind terminal blocks to the second din rail so I have room for expansion on the top rail for the basement. my blind cables are 4-core flex so I'm hoping it'll be ok to route them to the 2nd din rail. I'd be more concerned about routing the 24V cables as they're 1.5mm T&E so not very flexible at all. the only way to get more TBs fitted to din rail 1 would be if I can 'stack' them somehow but as @Rob99 says I don't have a deep cabinet so might not be possible. is there any other way of cramming more TBs in?

thank you. that's good to know. i look forward to being able to have a play with Loxone config. once i've got it all configured and have reduced the max power and lived with it all for a while i can then make use of the adjacent channels if i need them.

I'm so excited. I think I've finalised the layout (pending comments from the knowledgable folk on here of course as I'm always open to constructive feedback) of my panel. I know it looks backwards with the mains on the left and 24V on the right but that's the way my cables come down the wall from above and so is the logical layout for me, otherwise I will need to cross all the cables over which is just wrong! anyway, thank you to everyone for their assistance up to now. it's been invaluable. and sorry for all the questions. sometimes I feel that I'm a burden but, as always, this forum delivers. a couple of decisions I've made after I've thought about all the different opinions from discussions from here: 1. a single cable from the CU to multiple individual RCBOs in the cabinet (pending approval from my electrician of course). I know I'm going to have to work on the cabinet in the future to change things and move things around when I add the extensions for the basement lighting so I figure a single 'OFF' switch to isolate the cabinet is sensible for those occasions. 2. making use of SSR relays (thank you so much @joth for putting up with all my noddy-ness on this subject!) to switch my blinds utilising the Whitewing 24V 48 channel DMX dimmer. I just now need to decide whether to use the blocks like @joth does or to use the slim ones that look like normal terminal blocks. pricing is similar and so I will mull it over some more. 3. Audio server moved to the network/data rack as per @Dan F's awesome suggestion. 🙂 any further comments on the layout above is very welcome.

thank you! I thought it would be ok but wanted to double check.

Can an RCBO span Loxone relays? and can a Loxone relay be powered by 2 x RCBOs? or is it best to configure 1 x RCBO for 1 x Loxone relay extension?

I've done it!!! I've managed to configure the blinds and the lights without needing to buy relay no. 4. although, I have had to not connect up some lights on day 1 and those few can wait until the basement gets done and I have to buy new relays/dimmers for those lights. I created a spreadsheet showing the layout of the WW dimmer with the relevant current for each channel to ensure I don't exceed the maximum and I am left with 17 usable channels which I will buy some SSRs at the suggestion of @joth and save myself a small fortune on new relays. here's my WW DMX Dimmer layout for your information if you're interested. it's a shame I can't get everything purchased now as it'll probably involve a bit of rewiring once it comes to doing the basement and the circuits I'm not connecting now but I really don't have the money to spend at the moment so needs must. anyway, I can now finalise the design and layout and terminal block connection plans and finally get cracking building the <expletive deleted> thing!! 🤣

yeah, I was thinking this. but can you tell me if I can configure the max output for the channel during Loxone setup before power is sent to the LED strip? i.e. I set the limit and then enable it and the power flows? although, if you see the above answer from Mike my concerns have been alleviated anyway! 🙂

he said it should be fine but recommended not using adjacent channels and to ensure I don't exceed the max for the bank, i.e. 12A across the bank.

perfect. thank you. so i was planning on using 2 x 6.2m strips but attached to a single T&E cable. you can see the single 1.5mm T&E cable in the back left corner so i have just the one cable from the cabinet to the led strip so if i understand you correctly i'm unable to do what you suggest? there's no chance of running another cable now either. 😢

I have another issue that I need help solving. we have an LED strip in the ceiling around our island the total length of that LED strip will be 12.4m. the led strips I'm looking at that will give decent relatively un-spotty light (i.e. 120leds/m)are 7.36W/m. so, by my calculations that is a total of 88.32W which equates to 3.68A at 24V. the Whitewing 24V DMX dimmer only allows 2A per channel so this led strip is too much for that dmx dimmer. is this a case of having to buy something like this to run circuits that breach the 2A limit? I'm aware that I can dim the strip to reduce the power and, therefore, current but I am working on the assumption that someone in the future might forget about the current limit and set it to full whack. any other solutions?

qq. if an RGBW led strip has a power usage of 12W/m, does that mean that each 'colour' uses 3W/m? so a 5m run of that strip will use 60W in total with each colour using 15W which means each channel will be 0.625A? trying to ensure I don't exceed the maximum current per bank of connectors.

morning all. hope you had a lovely Christmas. I have a question about the integration and control of RGBW led strips using the DMX extension and a DMX controller (specifically the WhiteWing one). how do you set the colour of the led strip? is there a nice gui integration with Loxone in the same way their own RGBW dimmers have? just had a horrible thought that the wife and kids are going to start having to move sliders to get values from 0 - 255 for each colour to find what they want! would be great if there was a nice gui like this

Welcome. You’ll find plenty of folk on here who are knowledgeable in this area but I would also advise engaging with a local planning consultant before making any big decisions. best of luck and let us know how you get on.

Yep and it goes off-topic quite often! 😂

that's what we did there was some discussion about it as @Pocster found removing them a pain in tight confines but @Nickfromwales said that it was all ok and so I just went ahead and did it! here's that discussion

thanks. you too!

I agree! and I asked Mike from Whitewing if he made a relay due to the cost of the Loxone ones but he just pointed me to the DMX relays or to use power relays connected to his dimmers which is what @joth is suggesting. and I understand that it's a great solution but I just can't figure out how to wire them up. I do get lost on electrics sometimes until I've done it all once and then the pieces just fall in to place and I realise how simple it is once I know how. 🤦‍♂️