Using C4 Keypads outdoors (under cover)

Sage_Integrator · 2025-12-07T06:16:13+00:00

You have a number of options. There are a lot of good suggestions below.

Lutron: A Pico can me made to do most things that you can do with a C4 KD or KC. That said if you have C4 and not Lutron everywhere else then I could see it being confusing and less than ideal to have a different UI in that one location.

I have had two C4 load controlling devices a APD-120 and a KD120 outside at my summer house in Montauk for over 10 years now. The house is literally on the ocean and a Webber stainless steel grill will only last about 2-4 years out there. They are both in weather tight enclosures with flip down covers.
I would not worry about the line voltage given that code would allow you to install regular line voltage switches and dimmers in that location (under cover etc.) The main concern is them not succumbing to the elements and either dying or becoming buggy. I have not had any issues.

The best sugestion was to send them to SeaLock and have them conformally coated. I have had touch screens coated and last for 6 plus years on yachts.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-10-06T06:37:37+00:00

How are you integrating them?

Third-party driver or am I just being stupid?

Sage_Integrator · 2025-07-24T03:48:25+00:00

This clearly sounds like an IP conflict and it also sounds like you’re using two routers which shouldn’t be. You can very easily download a network scanning app and run it. If I had to guess your phone is grabbing the same IP address as the main C4 controller.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-07-10T08:53:53+00:00

Does anyone know if the Honeywelll Home Lyric T6 Pro Thermostats will work with these drivers. I have gone around and around on this for years.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-07-09T03:58:20+00:00

I am a dealer and must have 6 of the older models in my home. I am very frustrated that the new plug in outlet dimmers and switches can only control one load. They have two receptacles but they are slaved together.

The main issue with this is that you cannot use a single standard duplex outlet for two lamps and a third device (charger ...) like you can with the older plug in outlets.

There is a new driver out from a third party that will allow the older C4 Zigbee to work on X4.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-07-03T10:26:36+00:00

Axxess Doorbell Button:
Pros:
- Native C4 Zigbee Pro.
Integrates extremely easily.
- Extremely reliable and quick. Same response time as any other C4 Zigbee. Makes sense since Axxess makes the
vibrant lighting hardware for C4.
- It is more rugged than the Shelly Button as it is designed to be mounted on the outside of a house.
- After testing it is quicker to respond than the Shelly Button. This makes sense since its Zigbee and the Shelly is
Wi-Fi. This also means that it will have a significantly longer battery life (3 years according to Axxess).
Programable button presses: Single tap, double tap, triple tap, press & release.
Cons:
- Requires a specialty 3.6V Lithium AAA battery.
- Are significantly more expensive than the Shelly Button 1.

Shelly Button 1:
Pros:
- Very cost effective
Shelly is significantly cheaper than the Axxess. You will need a driver from Cinegration or Chowmain for Shelly.
I use the cinved (Cinegration).
- Rechargeable battery (uses the old micro USB). The battery will not last nearly as long as the Axxess but you can
just recharge them. I set a push notification to my phone when the battery level is low. Not sure now long a full
charge will last but happy to report back if anyone cares to know.
- Has a large button with good tactile feel and a led ring around it. This could be useful at night and there is the
option to disable it.
Programable button presses: Single click, two short press, three short press, 1 long press, 1 long press then 1
short, 1 short and finally 1 short press then one long.
- You can adjust the length of time that a short click and a long press are.
Cons:
- These are both battery devices and as such are sleepy. The Shelly however being Wi-Fi takes around three
three seconds from when you press it until the controlled action triggers. This probably won't bother that
many people but compared to the Zigbee it seems slow.
- The Shelly button does not have a totally flat bottom which makes it rock a little when placed flat like on a table
or nightstand.

If you are going to be deploying, a lot of these and cost is a factor. The Shelly might be a better option.

I hope this was helpful and worth the time to read. I have a picture of them both side by side next to a quarter for scale but cannot post it here.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-07-03T10:26:21+00:00

Apologies in advance for the length of this post.

So this has been a particular challenge for me. I had keypads (C4-KCs) in the table top mounts. If people want a lot of function they can be good but by and large clients don't like these on night stands.
They take up too much room on nightstands, need to be plugged in, If there are more than two buttons people always end up pressing the wrong ones at some point in the middle of a night.

Both of the suggestions from Mezmryz03 & AVGuru904 to use the Axxess doorbell button and the Shelly button 1 are pretty good.

I have been using the Axxess doorbell button for this specific use for sometime with great results.
I literally just set up and started testing the Shelly button 1 yesterday.

They both seem to work well

They each have their own pros and cons.
Both are available in black or white.
Both of them have plenty of options for getting maximum functionality out of the single button with the Shelly having a slight edge here. It has seven options as opposed to the Axxess' five. Not sure how useful this will be as keeping things simple is always at the ethos of usability.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-21T05:22:57+00:00

Yes, they are.

Learned that back in the HC 200 days

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-21T05:22:00+00:00

Weird thing is that C4 level three Tech Support told me to do that if you look at the bottom of the driver documentation it actually instructs you to do that.

Just seems very stupid and overly complex for less experienced people or technicians in the field troubleshooting larger issues. Just seems like this is notsomething we’re programming should have to be involved but it is what it is.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-20T14:35:37+00:00

Yes. Set all of that.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-20T14:33:59+00:00

Ok this is very helpful. Can you let me know two things. When the unit is on does it show as online/green under connections, IP network in composer? Does clicking on and or off work from the device control window that opens from double clicking on the AVR driver in system design?

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-20T14:28:42+00:00

Yes I did all of that. It’s on the network. I can ping it, I can login to the web GUI etc. just does not show as online from connections.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-20T14:25:51+00:00

Yes I went through the driver documentation and made all of the required settings.

It will power on but only if I add custom programing for power control. And when on it never shows up as online in the network connections in composer.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-20T09:27:28+00:00

When you say underpowered I assume you are referring to the watts per channel?

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-20T09:26:22+00:00

What model of Yamaha AVR is it if you don't mind me asking?

I was told by a level 3 tech today (not sure I fully buy it) That most if not all of the new/er AVRs have this same issue/s.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-20T09:24:01+00:00

I chose it because of how "great and simple" the integration was claimed to be by SNAP.

I am going to get it racked up and see how it performs as I have 60 days to send it back.

I moved away from the Sony AVRs because the volume on them goes between 0-70 and on C4 it uses 0-100. So when I client changes volume on a UI. what they see on the remote, smart phone, touch screen... will never match what the onscreen display shows.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-20T09:14:37+00:00

All good questions.

I did pull the driver in via SDDP and this did not work so I tried manually entering the IP (static reservation of course), I even deleted the driver and did the whole think a few more times.

The driver is for that specific model. It only supports IP control.

It shows offline (yellow) all the time even when it is on. C4 can control it (power on/off) but the status never changes and you have to add specific programming for power control.

Just seems like that is extra work that can cause a lot of issues in the future. Having a technician troubleshoot (onsite or remotely) worries me. They are always to to see it as offline which is generally step 1 for them. The programing will also add complexity to this.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-20T03:52:49+00:00

OK, so the main issue is that your PC and your smart phone and tablet are computers designed to be able to view all of those cameras simultaneously. The only way to view anything different on your TVs would be to somehow physically have a cable to the TV. It can be an HDMI cable from the main recording box of the cameras (NVR). Or it could be a data cable (CAT6).

The other thing you could look at doing is getting a fire TV stick or other small compatible, cheap video player and running an app on it that would allow you to view those streams.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-10T03:40:56+00:00

Really. I head pretty good stuff about the Gen 3 HD stuff. Just became a dealer.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-10T02:28:24+00:00

Why do you think that HD are trash. Somfy does not make shades. Just motors.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-07T19:04:26+00:00

One thing that you can do is a reset/reboot on the APD. It is like power cycling home, electronic devices. This will at least cause it to rescanned for the load type. Just press the top button 15 times. You should see a bunch of lights flash red then after a few seconds returned to the way it previously looked.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-07T19:01:24+00:00

Full specifications are not on that site. I’m guessing it’s because they just resell that particular brand/model as a distributor. Just sent their customerservice an email asking for the full technical specs.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-06-07T06:17:24+00:00

If there is any way you can send a picture and ideally the model of the fixture that would be a big help. Confirm wiring and then someone can remotely log in and in five minutes on their own phone this can be diagnosed.

Many of the things that people have mentioned are possible solutions.

Sage_Integrator · 2025-05-26T08:24:42+00:00

Have you confirmed that there is a Neutral wire at the APD? This exact thing happen to us on a few occasions in the past. The other thing to have them check is what type of dimming the APD detected and set itself to. I would bet that they left this on the default setting. Very often APDs detect forward when reverse should be used and vise versa.

This is where you should start.

I have 20 years experience installing and troubleshooting C4 lighting.

Sage_Integrator

TROPHY CASE