smokegrub Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 I have decided to add a few more KPLs but when I saw the reviews for the 2334-232 and, especially their longevity, I became concerned. One could have substituted PLM for KPL in the reviews. What's the deal? Link to comment
Teken Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 I have decided to add a few more KPLs but when I saw the reviews for the 2334-232 and, especially their longevity, I became concerned. One could have substituted PLM for KPL in the reviews. What's the deal? I have several generations of KPL from dimmers to relays and none of them have ever failed. I had received a used KPL in a bulk auction many years ago and the load portion did not operate. That KPL was simply re-purposed for status alert duties. Without knowing all of the intimate details of the environment, load, electrical health. Its hard to say what has caused some of the negative feed back with respect to the KPL's. I don't know if the reviews are all pertaining to the relay vs dimmer units. But I can safely tell you that after living in twelve different states America has some of the crappiest power I have ever had to endure. It doesn't take away from the fact earlier KPL / Switch Lincs in themselves had terrible PSU with in either. Just that many places in the United States have extremely dirty power. This doesn't even address the surge loads with in peoples houses which often times causes more long term damages to ones electronics. I've been a long time (fanatic) in monitoring, measuring, and capturing power related issues from work and at home. Its fair to say with out this critical data point lots of this is pure guessing on most peoples part. That's my $0.00000000000000001 Link to comment
smokegrub Posted March 17, 2015 Author Share Posted March 17, 2015 Thanks, Teken. I tend to agree with your assessment. My KPLs are all doing fine but then again, they are not very old. Link to comment
Teken Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 Thanks, Teken. I tend to agree with your assessment. My KPLs are all doing fine but then again, they are not very old.To your original question are the newer KPL's worse than years past? I would have to gather the hardware has advanced and gotten better in a few areas. I do have to temper that reply with the fact Smartlabs has removed and deprecated a few features or options once available to the general public. Along with the fact the KPL Relay continues to make that annoying buzz! Outside of those two issues my expectation is any new KPL should serve their master for many years to come. Knock on wood! Ideals are peaceful - History is violent Link to comment
bipto Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 4 KPL's, 2+ years, no issues... Link to comment
lilyoyo1 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 What I have found is that many people use devices incorrectly and then blame the device when it fails. For example, many people will use a device outside but blame the manufacturer when it fails. Or will use Insteon side by side without de-rating. The big thing now is LED's. They will have switches controlling a group of LED's without taking into account in-rush then when the switch blows (or continues to blow) insteon sucks and not their installation. I have used many keypads. I upgrade alot also and I have never had a single issue. One last thing- no one wants to troubleshoot. I've seen on other forums (including here) where the device gets first blame until troubleshooting steps are taken and the issue is fixed. Link to comment
Teken Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 What I have found is that many people use devices incorrectly and then blame the device when it fails. For example, many people will use a device outside but blame the manufacturer when it fails. Or will use Insteon side by side without de-rating. The big thing now is LED's. They will have switches controlling a group of LED's without taking into account in-rush then when the switch blows (or continues to blow) insteon sucks and not their installation. I have used many keypads. I upgrade alot also and I have never had a single issue. One last thing- no one wants to troubleshoot. I've seen on other forums (including here) where the device gets first blame until troubleshooting steps are taken and the issue is fixed. Agreed install and load in use is important to know and follow. Lots of folks are still under the impression all LEDs are dimmable they are not. One of the worst habits I have seen are those who insist upon using the wire nut / marrette to secure the wire bundle! No . . . You must use linesman pliers and secure the bundle then screw on the marrette! Once screwed on pull and yank on it to ensure its properly seated and secured. Link to comment
BamBamF16 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Can someone please explain de-rating? Link to comment
Teken Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Can someone please explain de-rating? Standard derating Derating is the reduction of the maximum capacity (or "load") a dimmer can reliably handle when its side-sections (or "fins") are removed. Dimmers build a lot of heat, so if your going to use more than a single gang box (switch box), you must use a smaller load on the circuit than for which the switch is rated. For example, you have 2 dimmer switches in a 2 gang box. The switches are rated for 750 watts when installed in an individual box, but because of the heat buildup, you may need to derate each switch to 600 watts if installing 2 switches in 1 (2 gang) box. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.