> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://wiki.inels.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://wiki.inels.com/inels-bus/inels-design-manager-idm3/idm3-dali-manager-reference.md).

# DALI

*Part 3 — Reference.*

**Managers** ribbon tab → **Dali manager**

***

## 21.1 Two ways to do DALI — pick the right one first

DALI is a lighting bus in its own right. iNELS3 reaches it **two different ways**, and they are not interchangeable. Choosing the wrong one wastes a day on site.

|                         | **CU3-09M**                                | **RC3-610M/DALI**                              |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------- |
| What it is              | A central unit with a built-in DALI master | A room controller with DALI outputs            |
| Addressing the ballasts | **In iDM3, using the Dali manager**        | **Externally, with a DALI commissioning tool** |
| Ballast parameters      | Read and written from the Dali manager     | Set externally, before you touch iDM3          |
| What you do in iDM3     | Commission the whole bus                   | Type in the address each ballast already has   |
| Covered in              | §21.2 – §21.6                              | **§21.7**                                      |

**The Dali manager works only with a CU3-09M.** It is the only central unit with a DALI master, and the manager talks to that master. If the site has any other CU, the Dali manager is not the route — and the DALI addressing has to happen outside iDM3 entirely.

> **Establish which hardware is on site before you quote the job.** "We'll do the DALI in iDM3" is only true on a CU3-09M. With an RC3-610M/DALI you need a DALI commissioning tool and someone who knows how to use it — a different skill and a different day's work.

> **The CU3-09M's DALI bus needs its own power supply.** DALI is not powered by the iNELS BUS. Budget for a DALI bus power supply or the ballasts will not respond at all.

DALI addresses run **0x00 to 0x3F** (0 to 63) — 64 ballasts per bus.

***

## 21.2 CU3-09M — getting to the Dali manager

1. **Project** ribbon tab → **Device manager**.
2. Select the **central unit** → **New slave** → **`Internal-DALI-Master`** → **OK**. This is the CU3-09M's own DALI bus. It has no parameters of its own.
3. Close the Device manager and **save**.
4. **Managers** ribbon tab → **Dali manager**.
5. Select the DALI master — double-click it, or highlight it and click **✓ OK**.

You are now talking to the DALI bus live, so **the central unit must be connected** ([Chapter 23](/inels-bus/inels-design-manager-idm3/connecting-and-uploading-to-the-central-unit.md)). The Dali manager reads from and writes to real ballasts; it is not an offline editor.

***

## 21.3 The toolbar

| Button             | What it does                                                                     |
| ------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Master**         | Switch between ballasts and masters (e.g. DALI sensors such as DLS3-1 or DMD3-1) |
| **Add new**        | Address only **new** ballasts, leaving existing addresses alone                  |
| **Search**         | Read the current ballast addresses from the bus                                  |
| **New DALI**       | **Delete all addresses and reassign from scratch**                               |
| **Change address** | Apply the address you typed to the selected ballast                              |
| **Delete address** | Remove a duplicate address                                                       |
| **TEST**           | Blink the output 0 % → 100 % for one second                                      |
| **MIN**            | Set the output to its configured minimum                                         |
| **MAX**            | Set it to its configured maximum                                                 |
| **OFF**            | Switch it off                                                                    |
| **Read params**    | Load the ballast's current parameters, groups and state                          |
| **Write params**   | Apply your changes to the ballast                                                |

While working, the buttons show progress states — **Changing address**, **Deleting address**, **Reading params**, **Writing params**.

**TEST**, **MIN**, **MAX** and **OFF** all work on a single ballast, a ballast group, or every ballast on the DALI bus.

> **Use "New DALI" only on a first commissioning.** It deletes every address and reassigns them **in random order**. On an already-configured system that means every ballast in the building swaps identity with another, and every wire you have drawn now controls the wrong light. To add ballasts to a working system, use **Add new**.

***

## 21.4 Addressing

New ballasts ship **without addresses**, so a **Search** on a fresh installation shows nothing on the left — that is expected, not a fault.

The typical first commissioning:

1. **New DALI** — assigns addresses to everything.
2. **Search** — read back what was assigned.
3. Work through the ballasts using **TEST** to identify which light is which physically.
4. Select a ballast, click its address field, type the last digits of the address you want, and click **Change address**.
5. **Search** again to confirm.

The address field shows **DALI 0x00** style hexadecimal, editable by clicking it with the left mouse button. Valid range **0x00–0x3F**.

> **Duplicate addresses are flagged with a red exclamation mark** in the list on the left. The Dali manager will not *write* a duplicate, but one can arrive from an existing installation. Clear it with **Delete address**, then reassign.

***

## 21.5 Ballast parameters

Select a ballast to see its **Parameters**, **Groups**, **Scenes** and **Status**.

### Parameters

| Field                 | Meaning                                              |
| --------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **Act. level**        | Current output level                                 |
| **Power on level**    | Level adopted when power is applied                  |
| **System fail level** | Level adopted when the DALI bus fails                |
| **Min** / **Max**     | Configured dimming limits                            |
| **Phys. min**         | The ballast's physical minimum — a hardware property |
| **Fade time**         | Time for a commanded level change                    |
| **Fade rate**         | Rate of continuous dimming                           |

**System fail level** is worth setting deliberately: it decides whether a room goes dark or goes to full when the DALI bus drops.

### Status

| Indicator              | Meaning                                |
| ---------------------- | -------------------------------------- |
| **Status of ballast**  | Overall state                          |
| **Lamp failure**       | The lamp has failed                    |
| **Lamp arc. power ON** | The lamp is lit                        |
| **Limit error**        | A commanded level fell outside Min/Max |
| **Fade ready**         | A fade has completed                   |
| **Reset state**        | The ballast is in its reset state      |
| **Miss short addr.**   | The ballast has no short address       |
| **Power failure**      | Power was lost                         |

**Lamp failure** is the useful one on a live site — it tells you which fitting has failed without walking the building.

### Groups and Scenes

DALI has its **own** group and scene concept, held in the ballasts themselves — separate from iNELS3 groups.

| Use                        | When                                                                              |
| -------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **DALI groups and scenes** | Everything is DALI, and you want the ballasts to respond together on the DALI bus |
| **iNELS3 groups**          | The group mixes DALI with relays or other iNELS outputs                           |

Assignments are written to the ballast with **Write params**, then verified with **Read params**.

***

## 21.6 RC3-610M/DALI — externally addressed

Everything above needs a CU3-09M. The **RC3-610M/DALI** works differently, and the difference is fundamental: **iDM3 does not address these ballasts and does not configure them.**

The RC3-610M/DALI is a room controller with relay outputs, inputs, temperature sensors **and 16 DALI output channels**. The Dali manager cannot see them — there is no DALI master for it to talk to. So the commissioning happens outside iDM3, and iDM3 is only told the result.

### The order of work

```
   1. Address and configure the ballasts       ← OUTSIDE iDM3
      with a DALI commissioning tool              (a DALI master/programmer)
                    │
                    ▼
   2. Write down which address went to which fixture
                    │
                    ▼
   3. In iDM3: add the RC3-610M/DALI unit      ← Device manager
      and type each DALI address in
                    │
                    ▼
   4. Wire the DALI outputs like any dimmer    ← analog functions
```

**Step 1 is not an iDM3 task at all.** You need a DALI commissioning tool — a handheld programmer or a PC interface with DALI software — to give each ballast a short address (0–63) and set its levels and fade times. If that has not been done, there is nothing for iDM3 to point at.

> **Get the addressing done before you arrive to program.** On an RC3-610M site, the DALI work and the iNELS work are two separate jobs. If the electrician has not addressed the ballasts, you cannot proceed — and no amount of iDM3 configuration will help.

### Step 2 — Record the addresses

Whoever addresses the ballasts must hand over a list:

| DALI address | Fixture     | Room        |
| ------------ | ----------- | ----------- |
| 0            | Downlight 1 | Living room |
| 1            | Downlight 2 | Living room |
| 2            | Pendant     | Kitchen     |

Without this you are guessing, and the only way to recover it is to walk the building switching addresses on and off one at a time.

### Step 3 — Add the unit in iDM3

1. **Project** → **Device manager**.
2. Select the bus master under the CU → **New unit** → **`RC3-610M-DALI`** → **OK**.
3. Set the unit's **Address** and **Description** as for any other unit ([Chapter 16](/inels-bus/inels-design-manager-idm3/idm3-device-manager-reference.md)).

The unit carries **48 device slots** in total — its relays, inputs, temperature sensors and the 16 DALI output channels.

### Step 4 — Enter each DALI address

Expand the unit, select a **DALI output** device, and set its parameters:

| Parameter                 | What to enter                                                         |
| ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **DALI address.**         | The short address that fixture already has, from your list            |
| **Use default state:**    | Whether the output falls back to a set level if communication is lost |
| **Default output state:** | The level it falls back to, when the above is enabled                 |

Repeat for each of the 16 channels you are using, and describe each one — `Living room downlight 1` — so the names mean something later.

> **This is the whole of DALI configuration in iDM3 for an RC3-610M.** There is no search, no addressing, no parameter read/write, no test button. You are telling iDM3 which address to send commands to, nothing more.

> **Set "Use default state" on anything that matters.** If the DALI link drops, an output with no default simply holds its last value. On escape routes or a reception area, define what it should do instead.

### Step 5 — Wire it

From here it is ordinary dimming. Each DALI output is an **analog** consumer, so everything from [Tutorial 3](/inels-bus/inels-design-manager-idm3/tutorial-dimming-with-analog-functions.md) applies unchanged — `ANALOG_SET_LEVEL_50`, `ANALOG_LEVEL_UP` with `ANALOG_STOP_LEVEL_CHANGE` on `Long up`, ramps, groups.

Put the DALI outputs in an **Analog group** ([Tutorial 4](/inels-bus/inels-design-manager-idm3/tutorial-groups-and-scenes.md)) and one button dims the whole room.

### If a light does not respond

| Check                                  |                                                           |
| -------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| Was the ballast ever addressed?        | It needs a short address from a commissioning tool        |
| Does **DALI address.** match the list? | The commonest error — a transposed digit                  |
| Two fixtures respond together          | Duplicate addresses — re-address externally               |
| Nothing on the whole channel           | DALI bus power supply, or the wiring to that channel      |
| Wrong fixture responds                 | The handover list is wrong — re-verify address by address |

Note that **none of these are fixable in iDM3** except a mistyped address. The rest are DALI-side problems needing the commissioning tool.

***

## 21.7 Practical advice

**Both routes:**

|                                   |                                                                      |
| --------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Address before you program**    | Wires point at addresses; changing them afterwards breaks everything |
| **Record the final address list** | You will need it the next time somebody changes a fitting            |
| **Provide DALI bus power**        | DALI is not powered from the iNELS BUS                               |

**CU3-09M only:**

|                                           |                                                                 |
| ----------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Use TEST to map lights to addresses**   | Guessing from a drawing is how installations end up mislabelled |
| **Never run New DALI on a live system**   | It reshuffles every address                                     |
| **Always Read params after Write params** | It is the only confirmation you get                             |

**RC3-610M/DALI only:**

|                                                          |                                                                  |
| -------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Confirm the ballasts are addressed before your visit** | Nothing can be done in iDM3 until they are                       |
| **Get the address list in writing**                      | Recovering it means walking the building fixture by fixture      |
| **Set a default output state**                           | An unaddressed fallback holds the last value when the link drops |

***

**Next:** [Chapter 22 — Central unit configuration](/inels-bus/inels-design-manager-idm3/idm3-central-unit-configuration.md).