10 Point DALI Check List – Do This First And Save Time

So you’ve run all the Mains and the DALI bus wiring to all the DALI fitting on a DALI Line.

What should your check list be before you start the commissioning process?

Here is a 10 point DALI check list that will make every DALI installation faster and more reliable.

1. Confirm that there are no more than 64 DALI Control Gear on the DALI Line. A good limit is 55 or less DALI Control Gear on a Line to allow for future additions or changes.
2. Check and updated ‘as built/wired’ diagrams covering any changes/modifications to the original planned schedule etc. Clearly mark which DALI Control Gear is on which DALI Line.
3. Ensure the mains wiring to each DALI Luminaire is correctly connected. Pull gently on wiring to make sure it is properly screwed down or inserted into push terminals.
4. Check that 240 V ac is present at each DALI Luminaire.
5. Ensure that the DALI wiring to each DALI Luminaire is correctly connected. As for mains wiring – pull gently to make sure the wiring is actually screwed down or connected.
6. Ensure that DALI power supply for the DALI Line is connected to Mains and to the DALI Line. Measure the DALI Line voltage. Nominal is 18 V dc, but anything from 16 V dc to 20 V dc is normal. Note the reading .
7. Check that the DALI Line voltage is present at the DALI terminals at each Luminaire.
8. Check that the DALI Line voltage at the furthest point(s) of the DALI Line from the DALI power supply is within 2 V dc of the voltage measured at the DALI power supply. If the voltage is dropped more than 2 V, this indicates that the limit of 300m wire length has been exceeded or that there is a poor connection somewhere on the DALI Line.
9. Ensure that any Ethernet / Interface / Controller devices are correctly wired and interconnected to Mains, to the DALI Lines and to the building LAN as appropriate.
10. Connect a RAPIX Addressing USB/DALI red box to each DALI Line in turn – push the ‘flash all’ button on the red box and check that all the DALI fittings on that Line are flashing. In the case of DALI Emergency lights, check that the red/green test status LED’s and/or the main emergency light is flashing on/off.

Once you have gone through the 10 Point DALI Check List and ticked all the boxes, the commissioning process will be straight-forward and efficient:

No more annoying and time consuming delays due to incorrect or missing wiring and connections!