Here's a good question concerning Leviton Cat. No. VPI06-1LX. The description on this type of item says it's "Single Pole OR 3-way." So what does this actually mean? How does this work?
Put simply, these newer "digital" dimmers function differently than electro-mechanical dimmers. If a dimmer is a single pole, it is fed like normal, and then you use either one of the traveler wires and cap off the remaining one. In a 3-way setup, you would use 1 dimmer and a remote (like VP00R-1LX). You could also add an additional remote and that would give you a 4-way setup.
Here's an example. Say you have 2 switches in one room. That's means you need 1 dimmer and 1 remote unit. And f you were have 3 switches in the same room, you would require 1 dimmer and 2 remotes in that room.
I can see the complications in this for some customers, especially when particular rooms are so much different than others. I would strongly recommended, if you want to try and avoid ordering too many of something, just talk with OneStopBuy's Tech Support department. We really don't want you to have the hassle of returning something that can't be put to use.
Learn moreabout all the types of Leviton Dimmers that we offer.
Author: Chris B Posted Date: 5/19/2009 11:50:55 AM
You've probably noticed, with the storm and monsoon season rapidly approaching, that lightning strikes are happening a lot more often. Many of you are looking for home protection if you don't already have it. Others, too, might want to look at updating what they do already have.
Microprocessors are what will nearly always be affected once lightning strikes. In most homes these days, people are relying more and more on faster and smaller microprocessor-based equipment; there are over 50 microprocessors in an average modern home. They're embedded not only in desktop and laptop computers, but also in things like televisions, stereos, refrigerators, microwaves, security systems, and garage door openers. But faster and smaller means they're that much more sensitive to power quality problems.
In many cases, a small investment in some Leviton residential surge protection devices can help prevent these problems, safeguard all your sensitive equipment and help you to eliminate costly downtime.
Also, Leviton catalog number 51110-PTC is another type of surge protection for powerline, communication line, and telephone applications. Lightning strikes can affect even communication lines, like satellite dishes and cable TV, or even telephone lines. A lot of us just don't realize that all of these things can be rendered useless by a power surge, not merely power lines.
I can tell you that all of these devices, as varied as they are, can each be vitally important if you want to effectively protect against voltage transients and surges that can damage, degrade, or destroy critical equipment.
There's always been a concern in the electrical industry over safety and reliability of devices in high-energy environments. Just look at the injuries caused by arc faults, which can and will happen in a fraction of a second:
Deep burns and even death to workers because of clothing catching fire.*
Seriously broken bones like fractured ribs, collapsed lungs, and any other conceivable injury that would be caused by being hurled a great distance.*
These blasts are also known to hurl equipment shrapnel at ridiculously high velocities (we're talking in excess of around 700 m.p.h.).*
This is serious stuff. But as we've come to understand the dangers better over the years, companies like Cooper Bussman have also come up with great solutions. As opposed to simple circuit breakers, for example, Bussmann's Low-Peak fuses are specifically made to provide more efficient downtime reduction, improved workplace safety, and exceptionable code compliance. Two of the best Low-Peak features, in my opinion, are current-limits on the fuses (which cut down substantially on the risk of arc-flashes) and easyID fuse indication technology (which tells you in black-and-white exactly when a fuse needs replacing).
Low-Peak fuses are a smart move if you want to correct these common workplace problems. I can't stress enough how important it is to make electrical work simple and hazard-free for your personnel.
Independence, KS – May 14, 2009 -- OneStopBuy.com, Inc. today announced that they have begun offering complete access to over 6,000 Cooper Bussmann fuses. With a more than 90-year history, Cooper Bussmann remains one of the finest manufacturers of North American and European-styled fuses for the electrical, electronics and transportation industries, plus inductors and transformers for power quality in electronic applications.
As an authorized Bussmann distributor, OneStopBuy offers Toll-Free and Live Chat access to qualified technical and customer support assistants who can answer any questions you have about fuse products. OneStopBuy also provides fast, economical shipping as well as expedited shipping options.
ABOUT ONESTOPBUY.COM, INC.
OneStopBuy.com is a fast growing online electrical distributor who provides all consumers with unrestricted access to the entire product offering of the manufacturers they represent.
Currently OneStopBuy.com represents:
Cooper Bussmann - Complete access to the finest offering of Electrical and Electronic fuses
Leviton Manufacturing – offering 10,000 wiring devices and telecommunications products
HD-Products – offering the innovative flat screen TV installation solution “PowerBridge”
Omni Cable – access to over 3,000 different types of wire and cable, many by the foot
All of these manufacturers’ product lines are organized under OneStopBuy’s On-Line Catalog which is both intuitive and easy to use.OneStopBuy.com focuses on providing their customers simple selection of products, unparalleled technical support, and efficient handling of orders at competitive prices.
Author: george Posted Date: 4/12/2009 10:22:24 AMi have a switch with 4 wires, black, white, green and blue. in my wall i have black white and green, what do i do with the blue wire
A lot of customers call our technical support people in need of a 20 Amp GFCI. They're told by the electrician or Inspector that they must install 20 Amp devices in their kitchen.
So is this necessary?
The only difference between a 20 Amp and 15 Amp GFCI is the external face of the device, which limits the plug that can be inserted into the device. This keeps one from plugging a device that draws more than 15 Amps into a 15 Amp circuit. Leviton's 15 Amp GFCIs, though, are actually rated for 20 Amp feed-thru. This allows you to install these devices on a 20 Amp circuit using 12 gauge wire, allowing protection by a 20 Amp breaker/fuse, and letting the GFCI protect all other receptacles that are downline from it in the kitchen.
The Leviton 15 Amp GFCI with 20 Amp Feed-through rating is a less expensive solution for homeowners who simply need quality circuit protection. There's just no need for most people to be opting for a 20 Amp.
Leviton recently jumped on board with EnOcean, a company out of Germany that's innovated a battery-free occupancy sensor technology. Greenbang's blog has a great post, actually, on what EnOcean is all about and why the technology has attracted so much outside investment.
Now, Leviton carries a new line called Wireless Sensing. It's already being heralded as a high-performance, commercial-grade product that cuts down on energy consumption, installation time, and expense.
Like most other Leviton sensors, these turn lighting on automatically when a space is occupied and turn them off when it isn't. The best part, though, is that there are absolutely no wires or batteries needed. Talk about cutting down on installation time - just replace existing wall switches with a wireless receiver switch and then add the matching occupancy sensor. It's really that simple!
You can read more about the Wireless Sensing Solution or buy products from OneStopBuy here. We have all these devices on sale right now at a special introductory price.
Better Worker Productivity? Use Lighting Controls!
Author: Chris B Posted Date: 3/18/2009 3:11:13 PM
Leviton's Centura Fluorescent Dimming line is one of the more flexible modern lighting systems on the market today. I believe that it's perfect for offices, where lots of normal hinderances to productivity (i.e. eye fatigue, discomfort, and stress) can be helped.
Centura employs something called "daylight harvesting" or "daylighting," which has been growing in popularity recently because it uses natural sunlight to its advantage. Centura is able to measure free natural daylight and figure out how it should use controlled fluorescent lighting in relation to that. Then, Centura automatically dims or brightens the lighting so that only artificial light which is needed is used.
The most office-friendly part about Centura's system is its wall-mounted and hand-held remote controls. Each employee can actually control lighting within his or her own workstation. Centura gives workers the optimum light for every situation and, in the process, provides limitless adavances in productivity.
According to research, using these light sources can reduce office-wide energy consumption by as much as 60%. It should be noted that Centura is also compatible with 10 different Leviton occupancy sensor models.
I'd recommend the following links further information and/or purchasing:
Out of all the safety changes in the 2008 National Electric Code, one sticks out as enormously important. Article 406.11 requires tamper-resistant receptacles to be installed in all new constructions (as specified in section 210.52). Now, in all seriousness, I would argue that these are a wise choice for even older homes. Tamper-resistant receptacles are simply must-haves for any home that has curious children. The devices contain a shutter mechanism which, in most cases, will prevent anything other than two-prong plugs from touching an outlet's contacts.
OneStopBuy has been offering Leviton's line of Tamper-Resistant receptacles since last year. They run the entire gamut, with everything from single to standard duplex, combo, Decora, GFCI, outdoor and tamper-resistant Acenti duplex and Acenti GFCI devices, which will both be coming out in a short time. Three grades of receptacle - residential, commercial, and hospital - are covered.
Here's a video by NEMA that explains some of the background of these receptacles:
As I've discussed in a previous entry or two, PowerBridge Solution is an incredibly cost-effective way to install wall mounted HDTVs, Flat Screen Plasma, Flat Panel LCD, and Projectors. PowerBridge alone tackles a huge aesthetic concern - TV power cords hanging down in front of the wall.
But this probably isn't the only "appearance" problem you want to solve. There's an additional way to make your home theater finally look like a home theater.
Leviton Acenti devices, especially Onyx colored, can create a great ambient atmosphere that'll enhance any room. They have Soft Fade ON/OFF controls and a soothing indigo blue light on switches themselves. By placing your TV screen in front of dimmer-controlled lighting, you can actually lessen eye strain because of the additional light source. Your theater room will also be substantially more inviting, more luxurious, and will set the mood for any shows or movies you decide to watch.
You may know by now that OneStopBuy has taken on another line in addition to Leviton and HD-Products, a supplier called Omni Cable. We're excited about our new distributorship for Omni, and hope that it'll provide you with even more direct and concise access to products.
I wanted to start covering some of the more popular wire and cable items that we now sell. One of these, of course, is Coaxial Cable.
I've found a trio of quality videos from YouTube on how to crimp a BNC Jack on the end of a RG59 Coax Cable. There are a lot of good applications for this, especially for Security/Surveillance Cameras and Closed-circuit television.
If these are useful for anyone, tell me how your project turns out!
We Now Offer Electrical Wire and Cable By the Foot
Author: Chris B Posted Date: 12/23/2008 3:57:24 PM
OneStopBuy.com, Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of Omni Cable, a supplier with broad selections of wire and cable, to the list of product lines available on our website.
OneStopBuy.com now provides our customers total access to the entire Omni Cable product catalog. Since Omni Cable Corporation's founding in 1977, they have become a leading supplier of electrical, electronic and other specialty cables to electrical wholesalers. With over $30 million in Omni's inventory, OneStopBuy's aim is to make every purchase an outstanding one with tremendous selection, competitive prices, same day shipping, and their Price Match Guarantee.
"We are excited to add wire and cable to our product offering as a next step to strengthen our relationships with our Commercial, Industrial and OEM customer base," says Tim Daugherty, President of OneStopBuy.com. "Omni Cable gives us the ability to offer a large variety of cable and wire types - many by the foot - efficiently and competitively to both current and future customers."
As with our other manufacturer lines, OneStopBuy offers Toll-Free and Live Chat access to qualified technical and customer support assistants who can answer any questions you have about wire and cable products. OneStopBuy also provides fast, economical shipping as well as expedited shipping options.
Author: Chris B Posted Date: 12/22/2008 5:06:20 PM
Let's say that you have a Leviton media center enclosure box (#47605-140) in your house, and just need a way to set up cable, phone, TV, and/or internet lines. As an example, I'll use a house with 4 phones and 5 televisions where all wiring is coming out of the walls and is installation-ready.
The best module for this would be Leviton Cat. No. 47606-BNP, which fits snugly inside an enclosure box like the one I mentioned above. This is your basic home networking module that can handle up to six 4-line telephone connections and can also route video to 6 locations. The only other things you should need, of course, are all of the connectors for your wires. Normally a phone/cable company will supply these.
What's great about all of the Leviton Integrated Networks products is they offer a centralized system for dealing with all sorts of audio/video signals in a home. You can read more info on LIN residential solutions here.
Author: Chris B Posted Date: 12/22/2008 1:59:16 PM
Driveways, just like stairways, are one of the trickier places that you might want to install an occupancy sensor. There was a particular customer recently who wanted to place a hard-wired, 110 Volt Motion Detector in their driveway. They needed to mount it in the middle of a two-car garage, where there were a variety of lights along the garage. It was meant to only detect a car pulling into the driveway, so to make things slightly more difficult, the sensor needed to not be activated by street traffic.
So what did our support team end up recommending?
The best Leviton device for this application is definitely a Leviton PS200-10W. It is a 200 degree sensor, and you can actually adjust sensitivity in the product so it won't be falsely triggered by normal traffic.
Author: Chris B Posted Date: 11/12/2008 8:19:02 AM
With some confusion over the meaning of "self grounding" receptacles, I just wanted to clarify it a little. Some customers might think this means they don't need any ground wire connected to the receptacle, but actually, that's not correct.
Self Grounding just means that if the receptacle is installed in a metal box that is grounded through the conduit, then the strap will provide a ground to the device. We would still recommend that you always use a regular ground wire too.
Here are some examples of the types of self-grounding receptacles we offer:
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The OneStopBuy blog is entirely focused on the manufacturers we carry, their product lines, and our company. OneStopBuy is an authorized distributor of Leviton, Cooper Bussmann Fuses, Omni Wire and Cable, and HDTV PowerBridge products. We want to hear from you, our customers!
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Two of the best Low-Peak features, in my opinion, are current-limits on the fuses (which cut down substantially on the risk of arc-flashes) and easyID fuse indication technology (which tells you in black-and-white exactly when a fuse needs replacing).
The most office-friendly part about Centura's system is its wall-mounted and hand-held remote controls. Each employee can actually control lighting within his or her own workstation. Centura gives workers the optimum light for every situation and, in the process, provides limitless adavances in productivity. 
