Switchable privacy glass

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eds

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Anyone with any experience with this? Clients are looking to install some in their residence and i am trying to get a jump on it. IIRC power supply is 65vac with a operating current of 1 amp, flying leads from the electrodes in the glass, or film, with the option to extend up to 100' by soldering on 20 gauge conductor. With the output from the power supply at 65v is this still possible to be a class 2 or class 3 system?
 
eds said:
Anyone with any experience with this? Clients are looking to install some in their residence and i am trying to get a jump on it. IIRC power supply is 65vac with a operating current of 1 amp, flying leads from the electrodes in the glass, or film, with the option to extend up to 100' by soldering on 20 gauge conductor. With the output from the power supply at 65v is this still possible to be a class 2 or class 3 system?
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I've used Switchglass-brand films before.

http://www.switchglass.com/

Those films are 120VAC powered. They use copper mesh electrodes that you have to solder your leads to, and then insulate. We insulated the splices with 3-4 layers of clear vinyl self-adhesive graphics film. The edges of the glass panels were then bedded in silicone in the frame. 20ga leads ran up and out of the frame through 3/8" Greenfield. I transitioned to 14ga in the j-box in the ceiling. Since the glass/film was being installed in a public area, that circuit got a GFCI breaker in the panel to protect people from shock, and a 2A fast-acting fuse upstream to protect the 20awg conductors in the window frame. I believe we grounded the window frame too if memory serves.

Soldering the electrodes can be tricky. It's easy to apply too much heat and melt the film. Use rosin-core solder, extra electronics-grade flux as needed, and a good temp-controlled iron. Clean up excess flux with a clean rag and denatured alcohol.

The films I used were definitely considered Class I wiring. Too high a voltage for power limited. I doubt your 65V supply would be any different.


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