Rako lighting

[leep82]

Haven't contributed to the forum for a while so thought id raise a topic. Im curreny working on a new domestic project for my company. We dont normally do much domestic work but this is for the boss of a building contractor who we do quite a bit of work for. The house is four stories complete with gym, games room,six bedrooms etc, you know just your average gaff! Im well into the first fix, but a lot of the lighting is a system i haven't used before. As the title suggests its a RAKO control system. It hasnt caused me any issues as far as wiring is concerned as we are in contact with the local lighting company who have designed it. I was just wondering if anybody had used this before, and what thoughts they have on it? How easy/hard is the equipment to second fix ie:- the switches, any power supply units? Will i have any issues when it comes to testing with any of the equipment? Its somthing ive never done before so very much a learning curve for me, but would like to hear anybodys thoughts good or bad that have come across it before.

 

[Octopus]

There are Rako specialists around. If you haven't installed this kit before I would suggest you proceed with the utmost caution. As for testing, don't IR it once its installed! Does the customer want it linked to their smart phone too?

 

[plugsandsparks]

It really depends what they have specced for the switches / dimmers, wired or wireless.
Who is going to programme it ? the 240V side is the easy bit.

 

[Timelec]

Haven't contributed to the forum for a while so thought id raise a topic. Im curreny working on a new domestic project for my company. We dont normally do much domestic work but this is for the boss of a building contractor who we do quite a bit of work for. The house is four stories complete with gym, games room,six bedrooms etc, you know just your average gaff! Im well into the first fix, but a lot of the lighting is a system i haven't used before. As the title suggests its a RAKO control system. It hasnt caused me any issues as far as wiring is concerned as we are in contact with the local lighting company who have designed it. I was just wondering if anybody had used this before, and what thoughts they have on it? How easy/hard is the equipment to second fix ie:- the switches, any power supply units? Will i have any issues when it comes to testing with any of the equipment? Its somthing ive never done before so very much a learning curve for me, but would like to hear anybodys thoughts good or bad that have come across it before.

It should be quite simple really. I have used rako before and had no problem. (I quite like them). Just follow the instructions when it comes to program it. Make sure that you can access the drivers easily as you'll need to swipe the magnetic strip to assign the circuits.

 

[leep82]

Another company is doing the programming as far as im aware, were just doing all the donkey work, wiring, laying there equipment out in the plant room etc. Going of what information ive got it seems that one RAK will have several supplies on the outgoing side, and there appears to be upto 8 different RAKS. Im assuming each of these RAKS will require its own supply? It isnt a wireless system by the way .

 

[D Skelton]

I work with the stuff quite regularly but rarely install it as I think Lutron is a far superior system but I can see the appeal of Rako as it is quite cheap by comparison and in all honesty far easier to retro fit than Lutron. Having said that, if this guy's house is new-build or refurb God knows why Rako was specced? Sounds like this fella has quite a bit of money to burn so why he chose quite a relatively low end system on the scale of things is beyond me??

Certain things to be aware of:

1. Don't under any circumstances IR any connected circuits,
2. When testing you'll need to use connector blocks to link out circuits bypassing the modules,
3. Be patient with the programming, unlike other systems the programming is done at the modules rather than centrally so it can be quite time consuming on larger installs,
4. leave any in-line modules accessible, ^^^as above,
5. Make sure each channel's minimum dimming capacity is met, capacitors can be used if not
6. Make sure each channel's maximum dimming capacity is never exceeded, you'll bugger up the module if it is
7. Make sure the comms cable used follows Rako's guidelines, eg. if they say not to use cat5, don't, when it goes wrong, which it will eventually, they won't even entertain visiting the property to fault find if they know that the wrong cables have been used.

Hope this helps a little

 

[D Skelton]

Deleted

 

[leep82]

Thanks for the reply guys