With momentary switching we use a lighting contactor to control multiple lighting circuits. The contactor operation is controlled by the time clock and the override switches.
yeah, but if he doesn't know if it's a latching contactor or not,
that will change how things get wired.
most of the contactors i see around here are NOT latching.
this way, the contractor can save money, and the contactor
will buzz all day..... added bonus.
bypass timers in energy saving land are limited to two hours.
those normally are wind up wall timers across the coil of an non
latching contactor, in parallell with a maintained contact on
the time clock. pretty straightforward.
and, to be stark and ugly about it, many of the sparkies around
here would have a hard time figuring out that you need a latch,
and an unlatch pulse. they can't even figure out two wire control.
last night, i was by LAX doing a lighting certification. nLight system.
a state licensed electrician put in a $900 gateway, to control three
lights in the back of store. gateway was not programmed, nor hooked
to the lights. it just sat there and glowed. for those not familiar with
the nLight system, a gateway is capable of controlling several thousand
devices, with daylighting, scenes, demand response, yada, yada.
it's the equivalent of a lutron quantum system. to use it to control
three lights in a storeroom is absurd. like powering a prius with a saturn 5.
the three lights, and two ceiling mounted occupancy sensors were
hooked together with cat 5, but the guy didn't use a power supply,
so none of it worked. no device power. the lights were on, but nobody
was home.
and there was no wall switch, for local control.
i will have to make a return visit at another time, to complete the
certification. additional charges will apply.
and i had to explain to the general contractor what "incandescently stupid"
means. it's when a person is so dumb they glow softly in the dark.
this electrician was about 15 watts of stupid.
