There are 2 ways of dealing with IR and Grafik Eyes. 1. Use the GRX-IR and use the mux link to control the unit. 2. dremmil out the front of the Grafik Eye and dremmel off the plasic cover of the emitter. Drop the emtter into the Grafik Eye. Doing this will violate code by the way as no emitter wire is rated to be inside a high voltage box.

DavidCasemore is entirely correct with respect to the low voltage execption to NEC. Low voltage can exist in the same box as high voltage if the purpose of that low voltage wire is to control some integral connection on the high voltage device. An emitter is not an example of this as it is not integral to the high voltage device. A mux link connectioin is integral. One more irony is that at training for Lutron they made mention that a 600v tray cable would not meet code but a 300v cable would. I foget then reason. Obviously, low voltage calbles need to be present at a blower for the thermostat while there are high voltage cables that actually control the blower's motor and transformer. The low voltage connections are integral to controlling the device and are allowed.

Alan

I've had luck using the lutron spacer dimmers with a cracked open emitter placed on the side of the clear casing. When tried on the back it was very sporatic.
Ive done the same type scenario with grafik eyes. Good luck.

Mike

Thanks guys. I'm pretty sure that an emitter would meet NEC partly because Lutron ships such emitters, like the one I indicated. I just wonder whether their emitter will work with the Xantech system I have. I guess I'll find out? The emitter does look great, I could take some pics I guess.

FYI....coming up in March issue of CE pro.
I'm so good to you guys.
--julie

Lutron Slashes Prices on IR Lighting
Take everything you like about the Lutron Spacer, add more features, cut the price in half, and you have the Lutron Maestro IR. The Spacer, Lutron’s flagship single-room IR-enabled lighting control system, stores one scene in the system; the Maestro stores two. Spacer can only toggle dimmers on and off; Maestro has discrete on/off commands. Spacer retails for about $99 (one dimmer; one remote); Maestro sells for about $40.
Virtually any universal remote can learn the Maestro IR codes, allowing integrators to install a fairly robust single-room lighting control system for clients on a budget.
www.lutron.com

Julie, you are good to us indeed. Thanks for your heads up on this. Here's the PR about the new product: [Link: lutron.com] and the site: [Link: lutron.com]

It appears that Spacer System will not be affected by this, but I have an inquiry into Lutron to ask whether this is so. Maestro IR certainly is a lot more powerful than the original Spacer, but it seems to be like 1/2 of a Spacer System product, in that it has less scenes possible and does not offer the ability to use the 5 scene controller. I assume that they do not have clear backs and thus cannot be blasted from inside, unlike Spacer System.

Back to the topic of Lutron Spacer System emitter placement. I installed a system with the SPS-5WCR, so I was able to get the special emitters for my units. I've finished my system using a Xantech amplified connecting block, multiple locations and a master controller. Click here for a highly detailed description

Below are small images of the emitters used, but if you're at all interested, I really recommend you go to the full site, where you can see higher quality images of these products in addition to other explanations:





I found that in the configuration I installed the system that I needed an amplified block to power both emitters from one port on the block. I ran enough cable for each to have its own cable (and extras), but I figured that it was easier to just connect one first. I found that one of the emitters didn't work that was adjacent to the SPS-600M on my west wall, so I added the amplification and it worked great. The only issue I found is that through the block I cannot set the dimmers or activate the time delay off. It's not much of a problem, as I don't use it often, I could develop macros to handle a custom dim schedule, and if I really want, I can just point my remote towards the IR windows. Certainly any comments you have about my system are welcome.

Depending on the wallboxes you choose, some of the metal boxes have unused holes for locating steel stud clips or other mounts.
Place an emitter facing into the hole and secure it with a few full wraps of Super 33+ e-tape around the box. Xantech emitters are actually stronger on the dome side than on the flat side, so you may want to stick the dome in there. If you lightly open the hole with a drill bit, the inspector will let thiss fly. Be sure to mentiuon that these were existing holes.

As for the GRX, the mux link needs another Lutron receiver in the system, like the flying saucer or a keypad w/ an IR receiver in it.

Alan's recommendation is a reasonable method for adding IR, and the way we were (unoffficially) shown to do this by the Lutron rep.

Remove the case of the emitter, and pop out the little translucent circle of the GRX faceplate and place the modded emitter right over the reveiver on the unit. If you secure it w/ a piece of black tape, the tape settles right into the hole and centers the emitter where it needs to be when you snap the faceplate back on. The lead can go out and back into the wall and the cover will totally hide it after a little working. I think I filed the inner ridge down a little tiny bit to help it sit more flush. I haven't done a GRX in probably 5 years.

The little bulge of tape looks almost exactly like the window you snapped out, you have to look REALLY close to see that it's different from stock.

We would use a remote with RF base like the RTI RP-6 or the new URC MRF-300. You can crank the power to the ports that need to be extended and program those commands to not come out of the remote itself, so there will net be an interference issue.

As long as you design in good RF range, you will never have to worry about pointing the remote anywhere in particular, or a missed command from a dog, kid, spouse, etc. walking across the path of a long macro.

I cannot see how lack of RF hasn't become a deal breaker with more users at the level of the RC forum crowd.
Harmony is very popular without ANY RF option at all!!

I NEVER do a remote without RF anymore.

Do you primarily use the URC line?

If not, what do you use?

schalliol

I wouldn't recommend attempting to connect the output of the master controller to anything but it's own emitters.
The reason I say this is that I attempted to connect the supplied emitter to a standard IR connecting block but could not control the dimmer. I disected the emitter and found that it contained not one ,but four ir diodes and one current limiting resistor. But the most interseting thing was that two of the ir diodes were connecting in the opposite polarity as the other two. This either means that the emitter may be hooked-up with disregard to polarity or it is being driven by an AC source.
I've never put a scope on the emitter leads, so this has not been verified.
What I did do was to remove and reverse two of the ir diodes and remove the current limiting resistor. This then worked reliably.

This message was edited by SWillett on 05/29/05 01:18 ET.

This is a very old post, but I thought I would post this information for contributing to the body of knowledge. Here's my system I've been using for years: [Link: schalliol.com]