Home Automation Domotica Forum Europe, Bwired Forum

I see that the Fibaro Home Center is coming at the end of this month for 500€ . Does anyone have any specs on this controller and why is it so expensive?

Are the mentioned parameters also adjustable in Vera (sorry for the noob question!) or is this only possible in HS?
TNX!

Maison et Domotique has a review up of the micro modules:
http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... -fibaro%2F

It looks like we also have some bad News

I've encountered two problems.

1. Fibaro dimmers in on/off mode (parameter 10=0) will not work with every brand of saving lamp. I spend a lot of time finding out why one lamp blinked rapidly even in off mode. Replaced the dimmer but at the end found out that an other brand of lamp worked fine (same power level). This could maybe be solved with the optional fibaro bypass but I don't have one so cannot test.

2. If you try to modify parameters within homeseer you can really screw up the fibaro device. If you go to configure , select parameter 12 then it will show the value 99 which is correct. If you then select parameter 10 in the same window it will modify parameter 10 to the value of 99 without pressing the set button !!! You can avoid this by modifying one parameter, go back to status, select other device and configure option. Then go back to the original device, select configure and modify the other parameter. Never change multiple parameter in the same window !

Did some more testing. Using the neutral wire doesn't help. Untill now all Philips CFL lights fail. Replaced them with an other brand and now they work fine .....

I suspect the issue with the flickering is caused by a small current passing through the lamp to power the module. Obviously you don't get this with a simple on/off switch. I have even seen this issue with some CFL's that are designed to be dimmed. The only CFL lamps I have found that work with my Home Easy dimmers (trailing edge type) are Varlight but they are only available in a "normal light bulb" shape at 20 watts and they are also quite large so don't fit in some light fittings.

I was thinking that if the module could be installed at the ceiling (lamp) location and not the switch location, then standard UK wiring would mean that the neutral wire would be available and a relay module could be used instead of a dimmer for CFL's.

I have done some testing with the Varlight lamps and various dimmers and established for myself that electricity consumption is not linear with the dimmed value on CFL's like it is with incandescent lamps. For a 20 watt lamp, at 100% dim it does indeed use 20-21 watts, but at 50% is uses 16-17 watts and at 20% dim it uses 9-10 watts. With the lamp off and the circuit powered up, there is still a 0.6 watt usage whichappears to be used by the dimmer module.

With this in mind, I am happy to just have on/off control of my CFL or LED lamps.

Has anyone established the standby power consumption of the various Fibaro modules?

Paul..

Sooty wrote:I suspect the issue with the flickering is caused by a small current passing through the lamp to power the module.

Wouldnt the issue be solved then when using the neutral wire? (Which acc. Henk_J didnt do the trick....)

Yes you'r correct. If this would be caused by the leak current, connecting the neutral wire would solve this. Just to be sure I've tried another new dimmer but the results are the same. Only hope now is to try the bypass option. I have ordered some cheap fibaro bypass look-a-like's at the conrad webshop and will test these as they arrive. If this doesn't solve the issue I will have no other choice then to return all my dimmers to the supplier and use switches.
Also very strange that the fibaro website still doesn't offer options for support. It says coming soon....but to be honest I think it's better to have this in place before you start selling new products....

They will probably not support the cheap bypass things you bought;)
Isnt it possible to send them a mail (some sales guy or something should be possible to answer your question...)
Maybe TANE has an idea?

I finally decided to have a play with Z-wave and today I received my first batch of Z-Wave devices including a Fibaro dimmer and a 2 x 1.5kW relay insert. This weekend I will do some testing with various CFL's and LED's. I also ordered a dimmer bypass, so I will test that as well.

I'm not that bothered about dimming lights. Simple on/off is good enough for me for the main lights, so I think the way I will go is to install relay modules at the light fitting. In my house I have the neutral wire at the ceiling light fitting and the swtich wire runs from the ceiling to the wall switch, so I can still use the wall switch for controlling the module. The Fibaro modules are very small so I would not have a problem fitting it in.

I avoided Z-wave until now, because I wanted to be sure that it was here to stay before investing a large amount of money replacing all my devices. It does seem to be the way to go for retrofit, so I have taken the plunge. I am looking forward to having status feedback at last, even if I do have to poll some devices to get it

Paul..

I ordered a FGS211 as well as part of a testing packaga.
However I seem to run in some trouble concerning the installation, bear with me as I'm not an electrician.

I got a 2-wire system where I don't have a neutral wire(which shouldn't be needed). I followed the manual as best I could, but somehow it doesn't work.

I connected the 'hot'wire to L and made a bridge to IN as suggested by the manual.
This way the insert is powered and can be connected to the rest of the network. Connecting the switch seems to be harder, the drawing suggests it's connected to S1 and L(or IN because of the wirebridge)
So far so good, the switch operates the insert and the insert should operate the light, this however isn't the case. I measured the O as being high but I can't cannect to that without a wirebridge.

So my question is, do I really need 2 wirebridges? Or doesn 1 suffice, either L > IN or N > O? I hope someone can show me a picture as I'm hesitant to get my fingers or equipment burned while testing.


For Reference the leads are:
|S1|S2|O|IN|L|N|

Bridge between N and O and connect this to the black wire of the lamp. Hot wire to N and switch to Sx and S1 only.

Doesn't work
Made a test set-up and it seems this switch can't be used as a 2-wire switch? Every example in the manual describes three connections: L and N for Live and Neutral(?) and O for Output.
The thing is, it won't switch without N connected and with N connected I cannot get to the lamp.

Building a test set so I can reproduce what's in the manual reveils that I need at least 3 wires going to the lamp :/
The dimmer in this series seems to be able to connected the way I want, unfortunately I don't have(need or want) a dimmable lamp.

I'm stumped as I understood several people used in the same situation as me.

The switch needs a 3-wire system. However, the dimmer needs only 2 wires and you can reprogram it to work as a switch.