ISE 2012: Top 10 Intriguing Products
Super Bowl: The Ultimate Home Theater System
Inside Former New York Giant Amani Toomer's Home Theater
Neat-O: Wired for Prime Time Makeover
Print
Email
Comments (0)
Share
Installation Lessons Learned From Lutron Tech Support
Editor error and bad luck are corrected by lighting company's tech support team.
I'm currently working on a review of Lutron's AuroRA system and, until Tuesday, I had my doubts that it would install properly.
But with some help from the company's tech support staff, my outlook is much brighter (if you'll excuse the pun).
About halfway through installation, I ran into a series of problems, which culminated with a breaker in my home tripping. I reset the breaker, but it still didn't work -- and now two other rooms wouldn't work right!
Lutron's tech support staff reviewed my installation process, and determined it needed to see the boxes to find the problem. Lutron's Chris Sobolewski and Matthew Carey of Signature Lighting, a Billerica, Mass.-based Lutron installer, found that I hadn't connected a fourth wiring needed because of the circuit's two switches.
They also figured out that the short in the one dimmer in another room was the result of a bare ground wire that had likely come in contact with the hot leg of the circuit while in the box.
This, they said, wasn't my fault because it is somewhat common to see electricians strip back the insulation on the wire too much, which leaves the circuit more susceptible to shorts.
After correcting the errors, Carey installed and tested the entire system in about 70 minutes. He also offered a few pointers to ensure a safe and reliable system installs.
Tape the switches to eliminate the problem of ground and hot legs arcing out.
Make sure the ground is completely pushed into the back of the box while the power is off.
When you are installing the wires, hook the connections in a clockwise manner so they are working in tandem with the tightening of the screws. This helps to facilitate the installation, Carey says, and is a common mistake that even licensed electricians make.
Here are a couple of things I learned in the process:
Respect electrical. Just because you've worked with electrical in the past be sure of what you are doing.
Whenever possible, take the training offered by companies like Lutron. In hindsight, I wish I had taken the training before installing the system, which is a practice I've done with other products.
I thought that because I've done electrical work in my home that it wouldn't be a big deal, but it was more difficult than I imagined. With that said, however, a trained installer like Carey zipped through the install.
Both Carey and Sobolewki said one of the nice things about the AuroRA system is that because it's so easy to install for a trained professional, it lends itself to production building, retrofits and just about everything else.
I timed the installation and that's exactly what I saw.
But with some help from the company's tech support staff, my outlook is much brighter (if you'll excuse the pun).
About halfway through installation, I ran into a series of problems, which culminated with a breaker in my home tripping. I reset the breaker, but it still didn't work -- and now two other rooms wouldn't work right!
Lutron's tech support staff reviewed my installation process, and determined it needed to see the boxes to find the problem. Lutron's Chris Sobolewski and Matthew Carey of Signature Lighting, a Billerica, Mass.-based Lutron installer, found that I hadn't connected a fourth wiring needed because of the circuit's two switches.
They also figured out that the short in the one dimmer in another room was the result of a bare ground wire that had likely come in contact with the hot leg of the circuit while in the box.
This, they said, wasn't my fault because it is somewhat common to see electricians strip back the insulation on the wire too much, which leaves the circuit more susceptible to shorts.
5 Tips for Safe and Reliable System Installations
After correcting the errors, Carey installed and tested the entire system in about 70 minutes. He also offered a few pointers to ensure a safe and reliable system installs.
Tape the switches to eliminate the problem of ground and hot legs arcing out.
Make sure the ground is completely pushed into the back of the box while the power is off.
When you are installing the wires, hook the connections in a clockwise manner so they are working in tandem with the tightening of the screws. This helps to facilitate the installation, Carey says, and is a common mistake that even licensed electricians make.
Here are a couple of things I learned in the process:
Respect electrical. Just because you've worked with electrical in the past be sure of what you are doing.
Whenever possible, take the training offered by companies like Lutron. In hindsight, I wish I had taken the training before installing the system, which is a practice I've done with other products.
I thought that because I've done electrical work in my home that it wouldn't be a big deal, but it was more difficult than I imagined. With that said, however, a trained installer like Carey zipped through the install.
Both Carey and Sobolewki said one of the nice things about the AuroRA system is that because it's so easy to install for a trained professional, it lends itself to production building, retrofits and just about everything else.
I timed the installation and that's exactly what I saw.
Subscribe to the CE Pro Newsletter
About the Author
Robert Archer, Senior Editor, CE Pro
Bob is an audio enthusiast who has written about consumer electronics for various publications within Massachusetts before joining the staff of CE Pro in 2000. Bob is THX Level I certified, and he's also taken classes from the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) and Home Acoustics Alliance (HAA). In addition, he's studied guitar and music theory at Sarrin Music Studios in Wakefield, Mass.
Post a comment