I have several exterior roll shutters installed, two of which use “dumb” 4-wire AC motors, and two which use “dumb” 2-wire DC motors. I would like to add Z-Wave control to the AC and DC motors. I also want to run the Z-Wave controllers in conjunction with wall switches.
I am looking at the Fibaro Roller Shutter 2 (FGRN-222) for the AC motors and either the DC1-ZW or DBMZ for the DC motors.
The Fibaro unit appears to provide a native connection for a wall switch, and I like the compact size of the unit, so I think that I will be good on the planning for the AC motors.
But, it looks like neither the DC1-ZW or DBMZ make provision for a wall switch. I know that it has been suggested that a SPDT wall switch might be connected to the contacts for the UP and Down buttons (on the side of the DC1-ZW or DBMZ) by soldering directly to the PCB. I have not seen inside the case of the DC1-ZW or DBMZ, so I do not know how feasible this might be, given the type of contacts, physical layout, access, strain relief, etc.
I had earlier contemplated just running a simple DPDT rocker wall switch wired as a manual H-bridge in parallel with the DC Z-Wave controller, but in theory that could place voltage over the output contacts of the controller and act like a backfeed and potentially damage the controller. I suspect that the both DC controllers have proper isolation circuitry, but you never know.
Does anyone know of any dealers or retail sources that sell the Fibaro Roller Shutter 2 or the DC1-ZW or DBMZ? I have been informed by Fibaro USA that they will be releasing US prcing and taking US pre-orders in a couple of weeks. I have also found the DC1-ZW on Amazon for $110.00.
Also, does anyone have a preference for either of the two DC controllers, DC1-ZW or DBMZ? It seems that the DC1-ZW might be slightly smaller but not enough to really matter. The input and output contacts are located in different places on the two units, but I can make either work. Are there functional differences? Does anyone know of any other DC controllers? I have found the TZ08U by TKB Control System and the PAN08-2 by Philio Technology, but both of these appear to be AC controllers.
Lastly, does anyone have any thoughts or recommendations on using the DC controllers in conjunction with a wall switch?
Thanks for any information.