================================================================= Evaluation of some Lightolier Compose dimmers and switches copyright Bill Fernandez, 28-Apr-2002, all rights reserved ================================================================= OVERALL OPINION The Compose dimmers and switches are mechanically and electrically identical to the SwitchLincs (the differences are so minor as to be ignorable). The only real difference is the "logical" differences provided by the programming of their various microcontrollers. Therefore the Compose rockers feel just as sloppy/mushy as do the SwitchLincs, and one would think that if any the reliability problems reported for the SwitchLincs are caused by the mechanical or electrical design (rather than the programming logic) then the Compose switches should suffer from the same problems. The lights on the switches are a bit confusing. The lights on the dimmers are OK at conveying status info, but I still think it's odd that the "nightlight" goes OFF when the unit goes ON. As with the Leviton and SwitchLinc 2-ways, there's no way for a slave to display the current status (on/off, dim level) of its master unit. So for slaves that are out of sight of the controlled load you just have to guess. Fortunately the Compose dimmers always turn on to their preset dim level, which is consistent across time, rather than what Leviton does which is to turn back on to whatever random dim level they were at the last time they were on. I think I like the way SwitchLinc handles scenes better. With the Compose units, you have to send commands to each X10 address involved in the scene, first to "put yourself in scene X mode" then to "turn on". If all the lights in a given scene are in the same room, and all use CP dimmers as Lightolier intends, then they will all be on the same X10 address and will all go on/off in unison with only these two commands (which is good). On the other hand if you want devices at several X10 addresses to be involved in a scene (e.g. "I'm going to bed, turn off all the lights that people have left on throughout the house", or "It's midnight and I hear someone outside; turn on all the various outside lights") then you have to send your scene commands to each X10 address in turn, which you could just as well do with standard X10 commands in many cases (although in other cases you can take advantage of the ability to program each device with a different preset dim level and fade rate for each scene). But with the SwitchLincs you can just program a device to listen on up to 64 X10 addresses (in addition to its base address) and turn on/off to/from a specified preset dim level. This means that every SwitchLink device you have can be a member of any or all scenes (although you can have "only" 64 scenes per house). The 2-way ("CI") dimmers/switches do transmit X10 signals when they go ON or OFF so that a controller can keep track of their on/off status, but they do not transmit when a user manually dims them up or down, and there's no way for a controller to learn a unit's dim level by interrogating the dimmer. In contrast, the SwitchLinc dimmers transmit X10 command both when you manually turn them on/off, and after you manually change the dim level. Also, a controller can interrogate their dim level at any time. These features give a controller all the info it needs to keep it's unit-status database up-to-date with the current status of all the devices it manages. The only glitch is that the SwitchLincs have a logical bug in that they transmit the old/previous dim level rather than the current/new dim level. The workaround is for the controller to interrogate the dim level twice, and the second response gives the correct level. If it wasn't for this bug, the preset dim commands that the SwitchLinc's send after you manually change their dim levels would allow you to use a second dimmer at a remote location as a slave: set it to the same X10 address and I think it's LED display would show the status of the load-controlling master unit. UNITS EVALUATED Lightolier Compose model CI600VAPLC. This is a 600W, dimmer with 2-way X10. Lightolier Compose model CI1000NDPLC. This is a 1,000W, switch (non-dimmer) with 2-way X10. Lightolier Compose model CP1000NDPLC. This is a 1,000W, switch (non-dimmer) with receive-only X10. Lightolier Compose model CPR3. This is a slave that can add remote (hardwired) control for one of the above dimmers or switches. SOME ELECTRO-MECHANICAL COMPARISONS () All the Compose dimmers and switches are both electrically and mechanically identical except: o There's one place in which the 600W dimmer uses a toroidal inductor and extra capacitor, whereas the 1000W switches use a wire that feeds through a ferrite bead in place of the toroidal inductor and has no extra capacitor. o The aluminum mounting plate for the 1000W switches has break off "wings" that provide extra heat dissapation capactiy. o The Triac that drives the load may have a higher rating than the one used in the 600W unit (but I didn't disassemble the units far enough to check this supposition). o And here's the big one: then number on the paper label affixed to the top of the microcontroller is different for each unit. The obvious guess is that the programming in each microcontroller is where the real difference lies: where 1-way vs 2-way, dimmable vs non-dimmable, etc. are determined. () The Slave uses an entirely different circuit board than the switches and dimmers, and a different plastic frame around the rocker, one that doesn't have a clear plastic strip along the side for LEDs to shine through. Other than that, it uses the same aluminum mounting frame and plastic rear housing, etc. as the switches and dimmers. COMPOSE VS SWITCHLINK ELECTRO-MECHANICAL COMPARISONS () Comparing the Compose vs SwitchLinc 600W, 2-way dimmers they are with two exceptions absolutely identical except for a few exceptions listed below. But the plastic parts, metal mounting frame, even the version number of the printed circuit boards are identical. The exceptions are: o The Compose uses a red "power on" LED whereas the SwitchLinc used a green one. o Three or four of the surface mount resistors seem to have different values. (I bought the SwitchLinc a year ago, so this might just reflect a design-tuning production change made to both brands since then.) o And here is where I believe the only difference of significance is: The paper labels affixed to the tops of the microcontroller chips have different numbers printed on them. In other words, it is my belief that there is NO electrical or mechanical difference between the Compose vs SwitchLinc dimmers and that the ONLY real difference is in the programming of the microcontrollers. COMPOSE VS LEVITON ELECTRO-MECHANICAL COMPARISONS () This is not comprehensive, but I just wanted to point out that with the new Leviton 2-ways (HCM06-1TW) the rocker and plastic frame snap off the front of the aluminum mounting plate, so it's very easy to change rocker and frame colors. But with the Compose/SwitchLinc design you have to do a fair amount of disassembly to change face color. Thus for the Leviton it's a field-installable change, whereas with the Compose/SwitchLinc you're stuck with the color it arrives with. () One other difference of interest is that the Compose/SwithLinc units have the "power on"/"nightlight" LED in the frame at the top of the rocker, whereas the Leviton has it at the bottom. Personally I think the top is the better choice, because at night I can walk up to the unit and just feel around a few inches below the light and easily find the rocker, whereas if the LED is on the bottom my hand will obscure the LED as it approaches the rocker making me lose my "homing beacon" just when I need it most. LOOK AND FEEL These comment apply to ALL units: () The aluminum mounting plate is thick and gives good support the the rest of the unit. () The rectangular, plastic housing in the back is a rectangular solid of the same width as the Leviton 2-ways (HCM06-1TW), is almost an eight of an inch deeper, but at the top edge has a shallower segment from which two of the wires protrude. In any case these take up a lot of space and I'm going to have to replace some of the junction boxes in my house with deeper ones to accomodate these units. These comments apply to the SLAVE units: () The rocker is a little springy (it's mounted on springs) making it feel a bit mushy, but it makes an audible click when pressed. The rocker fits loosly in it's frame. The lateral and rotational play is not bad, but between the mechanical play and the springiness it lacks the solid feel and positive snap of a good mechanical switch. () The slave unit does NOT have a vertical LED bar. so except for the little "nightlight" LED at the top it looks like a normal mechanical Decora-style switch. These comments apply to the DIMMERS and SWITCHES: () The rockers have the same springy feel as the slaves, plus a lot of lateral and rotational looseness, making them feel mushier and even less certain than the slaves. () The new Composes suffer from the same problem as my older SwitchLincs in that you get a more solid feel if you press the top-right or bottom-left corners of the rocker, and a far less solid feel if you press the top-left or bottom-right corners (this is because the actual pushbuttons underneath are not centered under the rocker). The overall effect is like walking across the deck of a pitching ship: you never know whether your foot will come down solidly or if the deck will fall away with the next step. () Several of the SwitchLincs I bought a year ago have been defective in that if you pressed in the top-left or bottom-right corners of the rocker you'd hear a click but the electrical pushbutton underneath did not recognize the press. It appears that this MAY have been fixed with the new Composes, but it's really too early for me to say for sure. () Both the dimmers and switches have a clear plastic bar in the frame along the left edge of the rocker. This is where 8 LEDs can show the dim level of the unit. I like having this solid bar, and having eight LEDs better than the Leviton HCM06-1TW that has only 6 LEDs, each with it's own little clear spot in the plastic frame. However I wish there were even more than 8 LEDs because (a) if the controlled lights are in view you can see a lot of dimming going on between LED changes, and (b) if the controlled lights are NOT in view then you can't really tell from the LEDs what the true dim level is. Still, eight LEDs is better than six. () Dimmers and switches both have a small, rectangular "set" button in the middle of the right edge of the frame around the rocker. This is pressed with the edge of a fingernail or a pointed object. It's used for manually programming the unit. OPERATING A COMPOSE SWITCH (non-dimming) This operates the same as the SwitchLinc switch with two exceptions: () Whether you tap or press and hold the bottom-rocker the nightlight comes on immediately. () This will take a moment to explain: as you will soon read, when a dimmer is off it leaves one of the LEDs in the clear bar along the left on dimly to show the dim level that the dimmer will go to when it's turned on. Well the (non-dimming) switch does this too, except that the only level you can ever turn on to is full on, so the only LED that can ever be on is the topmost one. So the effect is that when you turn a switch on and off the nightlight turns OFF when the load is ON (and conversely is ON when the load is OFF) and the topmost LED brightens and dims slightly (in bright ambient light I doubt you'd notice the change. So this is really confusing; it's counter-intuitive that this bright red LED will go OFF to show that the load is ON. This makes no sense at all. And having the LED on the left be on all the time (albeit at different brightness levels) is also confusing because if its' always on it tells you nothing about the state of the switch. The Switchlinc is better in that it uses green LEDs for both the nightlight AND the the brightness bar and only one is on at a time (although it's still weird that the LED on top turns OFF when the switch turns ON). MANUALLY TURNING ON A COMPOSE DIMMER () When you walk up to a Compose dimmer that's OFF, the nightlight is ON AND one of the LEDs along the left is on at half brightness to show the preset-dim level. () If you tap the top-rocker, the load dims up to its preset level (more about this later), the LEDs along the left light in sequence starting at the bottom until the dimmer reaches its preset level and stop at the LED that previously was on at half brightness, and the nightlight blinks several times (which shows that its transmitting an X10 ON signal) then goes off. If you tap it a second time the dimmer dims up to full, but the nightlight stays off (and no X10 signal is sent). () If you press and hold the top-rocker, the load dims up until you release (which may be at any level), the LEDs along the left light in sequence from bottom to top, and the nightlight blinks several times (to show it's transmitting an X10 ON signal). If when you release the dim level is above or below the preset dim level then two LEDs along the left will be on: the bright one shows the current level, while the dim one shows the preset level (although I doubt you'd be able to clearly see the difference in bright ambient light). If you then tap the top-rocker, and if the current dim level is BELOW the preset dim level, then the dimmer will dim up TO the preset dim level. If you tap the top-rocker and the current level is at or above the preset dim level then it will dim all the way up to full, leaving the topmost LED on at full brightness and the preset-dim LED on a half brightness. These further taps do not cause the nightlight to blink because no X10 signal is sent. To recap, one scenario is: press/hold/release to turn the dimmer on and dim it up to a low level. Then tap to make it dim up to the preset dim level. Then tap again to make it dim up to full. The nightlight blinks (and an X10 ON signal is sent) only when you first turn it on. MANUALLY DIMMING UP AND DOWN A COMPOSE DIMMER The Compose dimmer works the same way as the SwitchLinc dimmer except: () The nightlight blinks a few times when it turns on or off (but not as it dims up or down in between) to show that it's transmitting an X10 signal. () If you hold the bottom-rocker, when you get to minimum dim it pauses for one second before going the next step to full off. () Whether the dimmer is off or on, there's always at least one LED along the left thats' lit to show the preset dim level. So (a) if the dimmer is on and at the preset dim level you'll only see one bright LED on along the left, (b) if the dimmer's on and at a different level you'll see two LEDs on (one bright and one dim), and (c) if the dimmer's off you'll see one dim LED lit. MANUALLY TURNING OFF A COMPOSE DIMMER () To turn the dimmer full off, tap (do not hold) the bottom rocker. () Or you can HOLD the bottom rocker down, then when it gets to it's minimum dim level KEEP HOLDING it down, and after a one second pause the dimmer will snap off. () In either case, once the dimmer is off the nightlight will blink a couple of times (to show it's sending an X10 OFF signal). X10 TRANSMISSIONS STIMULATED BY MANUAL CONTROL OF COMPOSE DIMMERS () Only CI dimmers/switches transmit. The CI devices are meant to be used when there is only one controlled load in a given "room". When there are multiple controlled loads in a given room the idea is to use one CP (1-way) dimmer/switch to control each load, plus one CP keypad (2-way) to act as the spokesperson/manager of the whole room, and you set them all to the same X10 address to make them act as a group. () When a CI dimmer or switch makes a transition from OFF to ON or vice versa it transmits an X10 command, but it never transmits anything when you are dimming up or down, therefore a remote controller is only informed when the unit goes on or off but not when its level has been changed. When in the Compose operational mode, it transmits "preset dim level 17" when it turns ON, and "preset dim level 16" when it turns OFF. When in the X10 compatible mode, it transmits X10 ON when it turns ON and X10 OFF when it turns OFF. PRESET DIM The Compose dimmers use the "preset dim" paradigm rather than the "resume dim" which Leviton uses. With Leviton, when you turn a dimmer on it will dim up to the last level it was at just before being turned off. But with the Compose dimmers you "preset" them to turn on to a particular dim level, and thereafter they will always turn on to that preset level. To set the preset-dim level manually, dim the dimmer to the level you want then press the SET button (the small button set into the middle of the right edge of the plastic rim around the rocker). You can change the preset-dim level at any time. COMPOSE SCENES Compose dimmers and switches can be placed into one of two operational modes: "Compose mode" or "X10 Compatible mode". The ONLY difference between these modes is how the unit responds when it recieves X10 preset dim commands. All other commands (ON, OFF, Status Request, Hail Request, etc.) yield identical responses in both modes. In X10 compatible mode (which does not support scenes), sending a level-0 preset dim command tells a dimmer to dim down and turn off, or a switch to simply turn off. Sending a level-1 to level-31 preset dim command tells a dimmer to dim up to a given brightness with 1 being dimmest and 31 being brightest, or a switch to simply turn on. However in Compose mode dimmers and switches respond differently. First (for dimmers), each dimmer has a default preset dim level and a default fade rate (both of which you can set). In addition you can program individual fade rates and preset dims for scenes as desired. Second, you tell each device which scene it's currently in by sending it preset dim commands with the following levels: 2 --> put yourself into scene A mode 3 --> put yourself into scene B mode 4 --> put yourself into scene C mode 5 --> put yourself into scene D mode 6 --> put yourself into scene E mode 7 --> put yourself into scene F mode 8 --> put yourself into scene G mode 9 --> put yourself into scene H mode 10 --> put yourself into scene I mode 11 --> put yourself into scene J mode 12 --> put yourself into scene K mode 13 --> put yourself into scene L mode Third, you turn a unit on or off (in its current scene) by sending it preset dim commands with the following levels: 0 --> turn yourself off 1 --> turn yourself on These commands will cause the dimmer to dim up/down to/from the preset dim level, and at the fade rate, for the scene the dimmer thinks it's currently in. Fourth, if you wish you can fade a dimmer up or down from its current level by sending it preset dim commands with the following levels: 14 --> start fading up 15 --> start fading down : 30 --> stop fading Now each preset dim command has to be sent to a single X10 address, so how do you get multiple units to be part of a scene? Here's where the difference between CP (1-way) and CI (1-way) dimmers comes in. The idea is that you put a bunch of CP (1-way) units in a room (or common area), set them all to the same X10 address, and add a CP keypad that performs 2-way duty for that group of devices. Now you can send a preset dim command to a single X10 address, and all the devices at that address can be controlled in unison. On the other hand, CI devices are intended for use where you only need to control one load, hence it has both load control AND 2-way functionality in a single unit and no additional (group) controller is needed, so at the X10 address of a CI unit there's only 1 device in each "scene". DETERMINING THE STATUS OF A COMPOSE DIMMER In both operational modes a compose 2-way dimmer will respond to an X10 Status Request command by transmitting a Status ON or Status OFF response. However in the Compose operational mode you can get a little more information. If you send a preset dim command with level-31 to the address of a 2-way device in Compose mode, it will respond by transmitting a preset dim command with one of the following levels: 16 --> I am ON 17 --> I am OFF 18 --> I am in scene A mode 19 --> I am in scene B mode 20 --> I am in scene C mode 21 --> I am in scene D mode 22 --> I am in scene E mode 23 --> I am in scene F mode 24 --> I am in scene G mode 25 --> I am in scene H mode 26 --> I am in scene I mode 27 --> I am in scene J mode 28 --> I am in scene K mode 29 --> I am in scene L mode However, there appears to be no way to find out what its current dim level is. NIGHTLIGHT INDICATES X10 TRAFFIC The nightlight blinks a few times whenever the device "see" an X10 command, regardless of the address. So for example you can make a controller repetitively transmit any X10 command to a dummy address, and walk around the house and insure that all your devices have blinking nightlights (thus demonstrating that they're all "seeing" commands from the controller). RESPONSE TO X10 COMMANDS SENT TO DIMMER (using XTension 3.8.2) Aside from the preset dim and status request commands as described above, the Compose dimmers/switches respond as follows: All Lights On --> Fade up to full brightness. All Lights OFF --> Fade down to off. All Units Off --> Fade down to off. Hail Request --> A 2-way device will send a Hail Acknowledge DIM/BRIGHT --> A dimmer will dim up/down from/to full off/on; but it only does so in seven steps for the full range! (why not 31?) Extended codes/data --> ignored BASIC INSTALLATION () These units are big, bulky, rectangular solids. They takes up a lot of depth and has no space to speak of alongside. So use the deepest junction box you can find because all the wires in the box are going to have to be jammed into whatever space is left behind them. () For dimmers and switches: connect the green wire to ground, grey wire to neutral, black wire to supply line, and red wire to the driven load. There is a yellow traveller wire to connect to n-way slave units. () For slave units, connect the black wire to the supply line, the grey wire to neutral, and the yellow wire to a "traveller" wire that connects back to the dimmer or switch for which it is acting as a slave. You can have as many slaves as desired for each dimmer or switch. The only purpose of the grey wire (which connects to neutral) is to turn on the nightlight. Since the nightlight never blinks or turns on/off to show the status of the master (the dimmer or switch for which it's a slave) there's no real need to connect it (unless of course you realy do want a "night" light.) GANGED INSTALLATION () The aluminum mounting flange on the 1000W units has break-off wings on both sides which makes them too wide to be mounted directy adjacent to another device (even a narrow, mechanical light switch). () The manual makes no mention of how much to derate the 1000W units if you break off some of the wings to mount them adjacent to other devices, or how much to derate the 600W units if you mount them adjacent to other units. One the other hand, the Switchlinc manuals say to derate switches and dimmers 200W for each adjacent unit. N-WAY INSTALLATIONS Each dimmer and switch a yellow traveller wire for hard-wired connection to slave units. You can attach as many slave units as desired to each dimmer or switch. All the slaves connected to a particular dimmer or switch will be able to turn that unit on/off or dim it up/down just as if you were using the rocker on the master. To connect them, there must be one wire that connects the yellow wire of the master to the yellow wires of all its slaves, and each slave must have it's black wire connected to a supply line. Optionally the grey wire of a slave may be attached to power neutral, but all this does is turns on the slave's nightlight. Note that slaves do not have a bar of LEDs along the left of the rocker, and the nightlight never blinks to indicate status or X10 reception. Thus there's no indication at the slave as to whether the master is on or off, or what level it's at if it's a dimmer. PROGRAMMING THE DEVICES In this report I don't cover how to set the X10 address, preset dim levels, fade rates and operational modes. () It seems that the Compose dimmers have a global fade rate (you get to program one of 12 available rates) that applies to all scenes by default, but in addition individual scenes (as desired) can override this default by having their own fade rates. ELECTRICAL PERFORMANCE () Triac-based dimmers work by switching ON power to the load earlier (for higher brightness) or later (for lower brighness) in each half-cycle of the powerline sinewave. According to my oscilloscope investigation, these units turn on no earlier than 25% and no later than 75% into each half-cycle. This means that the load light is fed power for at least 25% of each half-cycle (can't get any dimmer than that) and for at most 75% of each half-cycle (can't get any brighter than that). Now most of the power is contained in the middle 50% of each half-cycle where the voltage is greatest, so this may not be a big deal. () Whenever the triac switches on it introduces spikes into the powerline. The location of the spike varies within each half-cycle depending on the dim level of the dimmer. On the line side, these spikes have a peak-to-peak amplitude of 1.5 to 2 volts. On the load side, these spikes have a peak-to-peak amplitude of 30 to 40 volts. In all cases these spikes are only about 40 microseconds long, and look like classic sinusoidal ringing; there are several sinewave cycles at about 180 KHz (?) with the first cycle being of maximum amplitude, and each successive cylce being of significantly decreased amplitude. () Note that with multiple dimmers as multiple dim levels you will have these 2V p-p spikes occuring multiple time positions within each half-cycle (your powerline will become "littered" with little spikes). Fortunately they don't occur during the X10 transmission window on a typical 1-phase, 2-line home power system. POWER DISCONNECT SWITCH Switch and dimmer units have the ability to mechanically disconnect the units from the supply line. This is accomplished by pressing down hard on the bottom rocker until is snaps into a new position. In this position the top edge of the rocker becomes more fully exposed to partially reveal a label that says "System Off" (although you can only see part of the label so you really have to peer in the crack to be able to read it). I find this more attractive and easier to use then Leviton's method in the HCM06-1TW of having a clear plastic tab in the bottom of the frame thay you have to pull out, but since there's no visual sign of this feature you have to "know" that it's there. Also, I remember once one of my pre-teen kids hit the bottom of the rocker a bit to hard (perhaps angry at having to stop watching TV and go to bed...?) and accidentally activated this feature. This is bad because to the non-technical members of the family this is abberant behavior and thus the assumption is that "I broke it...!?" and also because it is part of the sequence that resets the programming you've set up in the unit. ================== end of report =================