Trying to create a "Clip" type power solution to power dimmer switch

[srwhitlock7]

Hello all and Thank you for any recommendations to start!

I am trying to figure out how to power up Dimmer Switches without the need to physically connect lead wires for every switch time after time. I am wanting to be able to program multiples of these to Smart Home systems in upwards of 100 per day. In my head I have a thought of something this I think would work but cannot get the end result. I think that by running 18 guage wire into a box and be able to "liven" a clip type design will allow me to be able to press in the dimmer switch where the screws are clipped in. This in theory should be able to power the switch, allow me to be able to perform the programming and then pull the switch back out and be able to do this multiple times.

I have the SnapPower faceplates in my house that utilize a similar method where the faceplate clips onto the outlet and is able to power the lights on the faceplate. I want to create something like this, but backwards. Where the clips will be live with a switch to power on and off but will be able to power any receptacle that is pushed into the gang box when the power is live.

Sorry if I talked in circles there, but hopefully I can get a few ideas from you to try and figure out something.

Thank you again,

Shayne

 

[Jraef]

This is something that a manufacturer would have to take up with an “NRTL” (Nationally Recognized Testing Lab), basically a safety testing agency such as UL. It’s not a “roll your own” type of situation. So figure a few hundred thousand to develop and test a product, then bring it to market, stock it, distribute it and provide support and warranties. Good luck with that…

And the 18ga is a non-starter. 14ga minimum, likely 12ga now for many modern installs where people use 20A circuits even though they aren’t needed for lighting.

 

[winnie]

I think the OP is looking for one-off device for some sort of production facility, eg. a company that is programming these switches for clients. Not a product intended for the mass market.

I presume we are discussing something with proper safety interlocks, eg. a box with a lid and power removed when the lid is open. The device would be inserted into a cavity, the lid closed, power applied, and the switch programmed. Power is removed, lid is opened, and the device gets removed.

This sounds similar to the sort of test heads that this company makes: https://www.testhead.com/products/pod-nest-fixtures/

-Jonathan

 

[hbiss]

Yes, test fixtures are what they are called. I envision what you would need is something like a battery holder with spring clips that contact the screws when you put the dimmer into it. Something like this would be custom designed around the dimmer. At the company I worked for many years ago that made automated test systems, we made our own test fixtures, for simple resistors and capacitors all the way to weird relays used by railroads, in our machine shop. There has to be companies that will make test fixtures up for you if you give them a design or just tell them what you want to do.

-Hal

 

[Jraef]

Ah… I get it now. I was being a little thick… and I even built bed-of-nails test stands for a company that made PC boards going into phones back in the 70s! Sheesh… sometimes the thinking cap fails me.