Questions regarding KC868-A8

[SJones]

Hi, being new to relay boards I have a few questions I need cleared up.

1. I am running a fully 12V lithium battery system with an inverter for 240v devices. Can I mix and match relay output voltages (12v and 240v)? See image.



2. I watched this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xptAHlOLV-w. In the comments you stated the A4 board can only run one digital led strip. Can this A8 run two digital strips, one from S3 and another from S4?

3. If I buy two of these, can they run independantly (different yaml files), or do I have to connect them to avoid conflicts?

4. I have limited space to install this. What are the dimensions of this board with the case attached,

5. Can I buy the case on its own rather than in the bundle offered?

6. You have probably listed it elsewhere, but can you give me some examples of what can go in the analogue inputs.

Thanks.

[admin]

1. it's OK, every relay is independent.
2. you can use A8 S1,S2 with WS2812 RGB LED strip, not use S3,S4, S3 and S4 only use for ON/OFF signal.such as binary sensor.
3. you can set ethernet by DHCP, so that every board will have different ip address, not conflicts. even if you add many boards work at the same time.
4. now there are two type case of A8:
a. plastic shell
b. aluminium cover with plastic bottom. (this is thin size)
5. you can buy above two type of shell independently.
6. about analog input arduino demo source code: https://www.kincony.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=1606

[SJones]

Great!

Do you have a link for the aluminium cover, as I can only find the plastic case online?

Thanks.

[admin]

here is plastic shell for A8:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3256803348158602.html

here is our new A8S v2 board, we have designed aluminium shell:
   

[engmohades]

This is really great. The cooling feature is excellent, and the option to manually set the switches from the outside is fantastic. I hope all products are like this, and I also hope that the external dimensions are standardized, similar to electrical circuit breakers inside panels in terms of depth.

[admin]

yes, we will improve in furture with other models.

[SJones]

The A8S has some great features and looks great, but the KC868-A8 meets my needs because of the number of digital inputs.

Can you tell me the power consumption of the KC868-A8 unit (not including any devices attached to it)?

Also, as the two units will be hard wired to a fuse box then to a 12V battery, is a 2A fuse sufficient for protection?

Thanks.

[admin]

A8 MAX current <1A.
2A fuse is enough.

[SJones]

Okay. That would be a maximum of 24A per day, per board. 48A in total. Too much drain on 3 x 100a lithium batteries (240a usable), with other power requirements. Unfortunately, I can only use one A8 board.

I only need another 4 relays. I thought about it, and I have another question.

Can I add the following 4 Channel I2C Electromagnetic Relay Module (has a pcf8574 module) to the IIC (I2C) slot.



I am guessing the yaml file would be something like the following:

# Example configuration entry
pcf8574:
  - id: "pcf8574_hub_out_1" # for output channel 1-8
    address: 0x24

  - id: "pcf8574_hub_in_1" # for input channel 9-16
    address: 0x22

  - id: "pcf8574_extend_1" # for output channel 17-20
    address: 0x{number here}


# Extend outputs
switch:
  - platform: gpio
    name: "name1"
    pin:
      pcf8574: pcf8574_extend_1
      number: 0
      mode: OUTPUT
      inverted: true

  - platform: gpio
    name: "name2"
    pin:
      pcf8574: pcf8574_extend_1
      number: 1
      mode: OUTPUT
      inverted: true

  - platform: gpio
    name: "name3"
    pin:
      pcf8574: pcf8574_extend_1
      number: 2
      mode: OUTPUT
      inverted: true

  - platform: gpio
    name: "name4"
    pin:
      pcf8574: pcf8574_extend_1
      number: 3
      mode: OUTPUT
      inverted: true

I am completely new to this and I do not know, or want to use, Andrino; only Home Assistant.

Thanks.

p.s. Maybe you can make your own add-on boards in the future

[admin]

yes, you can add extend i2c relay module. just extend cable can't too long , <50cm is better. so that i2c bus will not stable.
another is NOT use exist i2c device address, because A8 board already have used 2pcs of PCF8574 chip, you can set by your new board's jumper (RED part).