Wiring garage lights to roller door control

[EFLImpudence]

I will be having 4 x 65W LED strip lights on 2 two-way switches, fed by an FCU off the same radial the roller control unit is powered by.

Are you thinking that the radial referred to is that from the FCU? That was not my interpretation.

My interpretation was that the radial referred to was the supply to the garage and I thought it 'better' that they (door and lights) should be fed by the same circuit, fuse and isolation point as they were going to be interconnected.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

TBH I had not considered the FCU at all, but I don't see how it makes any difference.

And you've done it again, and I really don't know which one of us is failing to get our POV across.

I thought it 'better' that they (door and lights) should be fed by the same circuit, fuse and isolation point as they were going to be interconnected.

They can't not be on the same circuit, as the lights would be supplied by the door control. That control doesn't have no-volt contacts for switching something else, it outputs 230V.

There could be 2 separate circuits, one for the lights and one for the door, but as soon as you connect the light output terminals to the lights you've got lights on two MCBs in parallel, so if that was what you were envisaging as worse than the 'better' option I think you should have been a bit more forceful than saying "Same circuit would be better"

Something like "They absolutely must be on the same circuit - under no circumstances must you connect the light output terminals of the controller to lights which are on a different circuit to the door".




[REQUEST TO ALL]Can we please avoid introducing the subject of an FCU creating a new circuit.[/REQUEST]

 

[ban-all-sheds]

An alternative I wondered about, again don't know if it's possible, but what if I fed only live from the roller to the strip lights, but fed both live and neutral to it's built in courtesy bulb. If the neutral on the roller is switched, would that mean courtesy bulb would only light up if the door was powering the lights? At least I would know it was active.

Wouldn't work. You're assuming that the door controller switches the N - it might not, in which case you still wouldn't be able to tell what had turned the lights on.

OR - if it does switch the N, then when it was off the lights would have no N, and so wouldn't work when you used the wall switches, as they are not DP.

I still think the best solution, overall, might come from thinking about why you really want this, and whether a separate light from the door control might be the way to go.

 

[333rocky333]

Do you really want the main lights glaring out each time the door opens, usually its just a courtesy light to, if needed, get to the main switch, do whatever, switch main switch off and leave with the courtesy light.
Glaring lights let passing undesirables see what you have in the garage and any close neighbours may not like it.
My neighbour has an led light on all night and it drives me mad.

 

[ChrisZx]

Sorry had a busy weekend. Do I need it? Well no I'm sure the earth would still turn if I didn't do it! The built in courtesy light is basically an oven lamp and doesn't get very far in a 30m2 garage. The main use case here is me backing my pride and joy into the garage. But it will be very much a working garage if you see what I mean so I want a good view of what I'm doing in case there's something been left in the way, including me finding my way back to the door. I'll be honest, can't really see why someone wouldn't want it! Yes I could use some other floodlight or something to do it but that seems like a bodge when I've already got lights installed.

I'm more used to car wiring so a relay seems like a good solution to me. Guess it would be something like this http://www.cef.co.uk/catalogue/prod...-changeover-miniature-plug-in-relay-with-base (maybe not exactly, haven't looked in huge detail yet) in something like this https://www.theengineer.co.uk/suppl...n-junction-box-enclosures-with-35mm-din-rail/ . I doubt the cost will be too much, and I'm wiring from scratch in conduit so not too much extra effort. Sort of seems like a no-brainer to me.

Thanks for all the replies, really helpful

 

[ban-all-sheds]

One man's "bodge" is another man's KISS solution.

Simply having more and/or brighter lights worked by the door control would be easier, and I would have thought they'd provide enough light for you to find your way around and get to a switch.

Separate light(s) would also mean you wouldn't have the problem of not knowing if the lights were on courtesy of the door, or because they were on via the wall switches.

If you do go with your idea you don't need a C/O relay.

 

[SimonH2]

If you do go with your idea you don't need a C/O relay.

Except that with a C/O relay, he can have some lights (or indicators) that just work on the switches - so making it easy to know whether the switches are on or off.
Though 4 pole is a bit overkill, something like this might be more suitable - though I see that's 2 pole brother is the same price.

 

[ChrisZx]

Yea I'm thinking neon indicator between L2 and neutral on each switch using a grid system thing, seems like the neatest solution to me

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Except that with a C/O relay, he can have some lights (or indicators) that just work on the switches - so making it easy to know whether the switches are on or off.

And if he had separate regular switched lights and "courtesy" light he'd need no relay and he'd know which ones were on or off without having to look at any switches or indicators.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

How about a Plan C.

It wouldn't drive all of the lights, in fact not even one of them, but an ELV fan transformer with timed overrun could be triggered by the door control (and by a normal switch in parallel if required). I'm pretty sure that as they are meant to power motors they aren't going to output an unfriendly waveform - probably proper 50Hz AC, and would be fine for 12V AC LEDs. 35W would be a useful amount, and some (my Manrose does) have an indicator, so you can tell if it's on overrun or not. Might usefully extend the 3 minutes "courtesy" time too.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

BTW - am I the only one thinking that 260W of LED lighting is a heck of a lot?

 

[ChrisZx]

BTW - am I the only one thinking that 260W of LED lighting is a heck of a lot?

Light output is the recommended amount for detailed work over that area. So quite a lot yes but I don't think unreasonable

 

[JohnW2]

Light output is the recommended amount for detailed work over that area. So quite a lot yes but I don't think unreasonable

If you are talking about 4 x 4ft single tube fittings, 2 x 4ft double tube fittings (i.e. again 4 tubes), then I don't think that is at all unreasonable for a garage where work is going to be done. However, when you say "65W LED strip lights", do you actually mean that, or do you mean '65W equivalent' - since 4' LED tubes are more likely to be 30W, 36W or something like that?

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

ISTR discussion about the dreadfully low (relatively) luminous efficiency of LED tubes.

 

[ChrisZx]

If you are talking about 4 x 4ft single tube fittings, 2 x 4ft double tube fittings (i.e. again 4 tubes), then I don't think that is at all unreasonable for a garage where work is going to be done. However, when you say "65W LED strip lights", do you actually mean that, or do you mean '65W equivalent' - since 4' LED tubes are more likely to be 30W, 36W or something like that?

Kind Regards, John

These are what I've got https://www.toolstation.com/shop/Lighting/d220/Batten+Fittings/sd3342/LED+Batten+Fitting/p54130 6ft 65W 7800lm each, garage is 30m2 so 1040lux. From what I've read, recommended for "detailed mechanical workshops" or "normal drawing work", one step above "mechanical workshop" that I'm sure would have been fine as well