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Subject Topic: 2476 Dimmers with non-dimming things? Post ReplyPost New Topic
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GadgetGuy
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Posted: October 23 2015 at 20:13 | IP Logged Quote GadgetGuy

I am always short of inventory between SwitchLink dimming and relay switches. Plus I am growing to hate the 1600 watt capacity of the pure (non-dimming) switches whose wires are so stiff and bulky they can hardly be stuffed into a electrical box.

Is there any reason the 2476D class of Insteon dimming wall switches can't be used with non-dimming LEDs and CFL bulbs if the switch is always used at 100% on with a faston Ramp rate (eg 31)?

The only issue I see is if a person didn't tap the switch but pressed the paddle for a few seconds, causing the switch to incrementally change rather than fast on/off.

Is there a way to lock out a switch from dimming functionality with PH or SmartHome SW?

Being able to use the smallest switch and only having to stock one type (as all of my lighting loads are LED and typically less than a total of 40 watts) would be a huge benefit.
   [:-)}

Edited by GadgetGuy - October 23 2015 at 20:13


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dhoward
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Posted: October 25 2015 at 14:58 | IP Logged Quote dhoward

Ken,

If its just LED's and CFL's I think you'd be ok. In my
test setup Ive even got WIFI LED bulbs and an Insteon
dimmable LED currently tied to a dimmer switch.
Definitely wouldnt be advisable to use either of these
devices at anything but full brightness (which I
don't) and so far so good until they get their
permanent home.

Not sure if I would run a fan on the dimmable though.

No way that Im aware of to lockout an Insteon dimmable
so it behaves like a relay. They one suggestion I can
make is to assign the device a non-dimmable Insteon
type or duplicate the existing type and then uncheck
the "Dimmable" option. This will at least remove the
percent settings from the Device Status screen. Then
you'd just have to be sure that you only send full
brightness commands or create any links at only full
brightness.

One other thing you may be able to do is also create
triggers that detect the light being dimmed or not at
full brightness and then send a command from PowerHome
to make it full bright. That way if someone did
accidently dim it at the switch, it wouldnt stay that
way for long.

Hope this helps,

Dave.
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GadgetGuy
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Posted: January 05 2016 at 09:11 | IP Logged Quote GadgetGuy

dhoward wrote:
The one suggestion I can
make is to assign the device a non-dimmable Insteon
type or duplicate the existing type and then uncheck
the "Dimmable" option.
Dave.


Good idea, that generates several questions...
1. Is there an easy way to Duplicate a Device in the
Type Tab?
2. What parameter and value represents a "non-
dimmable" type? I assume it is "DvcCat" or "SubCat"
but not sure, and associated parameter values are
unknown.


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dhoward
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Posted: January 22 2016 at 15:04 | IP Logged Quote dhoward

Ken,

No way to automatically duplicate a Type entry in the
Types tab of Insteon Explorer. However, if you go to
PowerHome Explorer and navigate to
PowerHome|Devices|Insteon|Types, you can right-click
and select "Duplicate".

Couple of ways that "dimmable" is controlled/checked
within PowerHome. First, make sure that the "Dimmable"
column is unchecked for non-dimmable devices. Second,
the Devcat is also used. A Devcat of 1 means a
dimmable device and a Devcat of 2 indicates a non-
dimmable device.

Keep in mind that these changes won't actually stop
you from sending a raw insteon command at a level
other than full on or full off. It should set the
Device Status screen though from showing percentage
values and will only display options of On and Off.

Dave.
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