C2E616102_MB_C1 Schneider Cuadro H Twofold Metal Plate KNX Switch Interface Matte Black Bus-Fed 13mA Unit

The C2E616102_MB_C1 is the metal two-gang keypad of the Cuadro H range in matt black. The metal faceplate is the reason this variant exists rather than the plastic version at a similar price. In this family, the article number encodes the surface: 01 plastic, 02 metal, 03 glass. The metal variant is specified where the plate has to feel solid under the finger and where the wall is expected to be looked at rather than passed.

It is a bus device end to end, supplied from the KNX line at 21 to 30 V DC and drawing roughly 13 mA at 24 V, with an integrated coupling unit, a KNX connector with red and black cores, and no mains terminal at all. The plate measures 86 by 86 millimetres and is 29 millimetres deep. It is fixed with a metal retaining ring that must not be tightened beyond 6 kgf.cm.

The metal face is not a cosmetic detail for the sensing function. Proximity detection works on microwave technology, and the sensitivity of the device is explicitly linked to the panel material. This is why the material has to be declared in ETS and why two sensitivity levels — default and high — are offered. Fit a metal plate and leave the software set for plastic, and the plate will either wake too eagerly or not at all; the fault will look like a hardware problem when it is a parameter.

The other metal-specific point is less obvious: the device must be installed to SELV wiring rules. When it sits in a combination with 230 V accessories, the separation of the bus wiring from the mains wiring is a site responsibility, not something the plate provides. Keep the shield and the stability wire insulated, insulate the white and yellow cores, and terminate only red to plus and black to minus.

Matt black metal is chosen where the interior is deliberately dark or where the hardware is meant to read as part of the joinery. Hotel suites use it on dark timber or lacquered walls, often paired with black ironmongery and a dark socket range, and the two-gang plate covers the entrance lighting and the bedside circuit from one position. Executive offices and boardrooms apply it where the wall finish is a dark veneer and a white plate would be the only bright object in the room. High-end residential projects use it in studies and media rooms where the lighting is dimmed for most of the evening and the plate should disappear, and premium retail uses it on display walls where the fittings are black.