Troubleshooting CFMini Relay

[Toron Archibald]

Hi again,

I've finally gotten around to getting my Lan Bridge and CF Mini connected to my computer.
I've got the two devices powered by the 24V adapter attached to the Lan Bridge.
Got System Commander, and updated firmware to the latest..

However, I've run into an issue. I've got a device I want to turn on/off with the CF Mini Relay, but it's not doing it when I toggle the state in System Commander.
I can hear the relay clicking in the CF Mini.. So it "sounds" like it's working.

I tried connecting a volt meter to the relay port. Testing resistance, I can see it is closing the circuit (resistance goes from infinite to 0.2 when I toggle)
However, when I try to measure voltage across the closed circuit, it measures 0.0V.

So, this seems like why my device isn't working.. But I'm not sure why it's not delivering any power. It's supposed to be delivering 30VDC, right? Am I missing a configuration step maybe?

For reference, I tried this with all 4 of the Relay ports, they all report resistance as I'd expect, but none deliver power.

Thanks,
Toron

[Jarrod Bell]

Relays are simply opening and closing a circuit. There is no power supplied from the relay.
Basically whatever you feed into the first pin goes out the second pin when its closed.

So you need to provide the voltage from a power pack, etc.
Basically it should be placed inline of the incoming power wire for the device you want to turn on/off.

30VDC 1A is simply the rating of the relay, ie. the max voltage and amperage it can withstand.

Regards,

Jarrod Bell
CommandFusion
www.commandfusion.com

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[Toron Archibald]

Oh, ok.. Bad assumption on my part..

I guess what I'm wondering then is: What's the difference between a Relay port, and an I/O port in External Relay Mode?
Both require power on the line.. I know it's called "external relay mode", but I presume you could put 24V of power to whatever, doesn't "have" to be an external relay does it?

So.. Is the only difference (aside from taking a little more power, 30VDC, instead of 24VDC) that the Relay port will latch and maintain state even without power?
I'm assuming the I/O port won't maintain its state.

Thanks,
Toron

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[Jarrod Bell]

The I/O ports certainly aren't latching, there is in fact no physical contact closure.

A relay has physical continuity and is electronically isolated from the CF Mini. It's voltage and amperage rating and latching capability is defined by the relay characteristics.
Whereas an IO port in external relay output mode has no electrical isolation from the CF Mini - so if you overload the power, the whole CF Mini will die, not just a relay output.

Both require an external power supply if being used to drive a load, but the relay isn't just for driving a load, it's for opening/closing a circuit - just like a switch on your wall.
The IO port cannot be used as a switch where continuity is required.

Regards,

Jarrod Bell
CommandFusion
www.commandfusion.com

[Toron Archibald]

Hi Jarrod,

I understand! I'll keep all that in mind as I start using this for more applications. Definitely a good idea to keep electrical isolation for the electronics.

In this case, I am using an external relay anyways, so I wired it to the I/O port with an adaptor inline and it all works great now!

Thanks for all your help!

I think you guys have developed a pretty cool set of products. I'm a little perplexed why it's not significantly more well known (in North America at least).

In researching all the various home automation systems recommended to me I was consistently frustrated by the limitations of most of the big names in automation tech. Most of them very specifically geared to lights, temperature control, media centers, and maybe door locks. If you want to go beyond that, they become very limiting as they didn't design their hardware or software with that sort of flexibility in mind.

On the flip side, I was also recommended several commercial/industrial systems, which are super flexible, but both extremely pricey and huge amounts of custom programming work.

The Command Fusion modules and software seem to fit exactly in between the two. Precisely what I was looking for. I'm very happy with what I've got so far and how it all works, and looking forward to doing everything else for our house.

So, also thanks for designing and building something awesome!

Cheers,

Toron