Differences between FGD-212 versions

[Joaquibaro 0]

Hello there! 

I saw on Amazon US a question from a user, asking between the voltages supported for the Dimmer 2 (FGD-212) and there is a Fibaro official reply saying 120-220VDC (attached). 

After reading all the supporting documents available at

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I understood there are different versions of them, mostly because of the frequencies supported for the Z-Wave network. Even though that is true, manuals state that the module supports 100-240 V~ 50/60 Hz (attached), as if there is only one version of power support.

Unluckily if you go into the short manuals for US and European, you will find that they state "FGD-212 - 120VAC" and "FGD-212 - 220-240 V~" respectively but never mention a difference on the version of the module. What is even more confusing is that the short manual for US comes with an extra block of information in Chinese (ZH) that says "FGD-212 - 220-240 V~", in the same paper (checked with a friend in USA).

 

Could it be that the module supports 120-240 always as stated on Fibaro's answer from Amazon and we are just seeing a relabeling? Then the version is just for the different frequencies for the Z-Wave network... Anyways, does anybody know more about this? Or maybe even tried that?

Is there any way to check this by opening the module?

Thank you in advance, have a nice one!

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[petergebruers 1,265]

What are you trying to do? If you buy a US version in the US, it will work. If you buy a EU version in the EU, that one will work too. If you buy a US version in the EU or EU version in the US then neither will work.

The hardware is different, the Z-Wave module on it is different because of the Z-Wave frequency... The second thing is mains frequency, but I am not sure if the software can detect 50 vs 60 Hz, I say that because a few users have tried this on generators and FGD-212 does not seem to work if the frequency is not very close to 50 Hz, and very stable ( EU version).  So the fact that the power supplies are actually "universal" ie "100-240 V~ 50/60 Hz" does not enable you to buy modules from a different region.

 

EDIT:

 

On a side note... FGD-212 is well protected and can detect "overvoltage".

 

I don't know if the detection level depends on whether you have the US or EU version, it might be a fixed level close to the limit of what the switching element (MOSFET) can support.

 

AFAIK the US does have 120/240 V "split phase" supplies  

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 but the 240 V is used for "high power appliances" and not for lighting.

 

I cannot say there is a technical reason why US version would or would not work on 240 V 60 Hz but as you have pointed out, the "short" manuals clearly list the compatible loads and say "120VAC 60Hz"

Edited October 23, 2022 by petergebruers

[Joaquibaro 0]

@petergebruers thank you for your reply and please forgive me for my delay. 

I agree on your notes. In my case, I'm still trying to use the US version in America, but South America. These means that the frequency for z-wave network is shared (although not standarized). Regarding the voltage I could confirm with Fibaro support that the device works also on 220v.

On top of these I took my chances and installed one on 220v and hooked it to a home assistant system running ZWaveJS with Zooz ZST10 and it is working very well. I also did some tests using a Zooz ZEN34 remote controller to control this Dimmer 2 and it works.

I still need to test using direct association or different automations strategies to see if I can improve latency when holding any of the remote keys to increase/decrease the brightness of the dimmer.

 

Hope this information helps others as well.

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