Relabelling your C-Bus DLT and eDLT switches when a room or use changes

One of the best things about C-Bus DLT and eDLT switches is that the writing on the buttons isn’t engraved into the plastic — it’s shown on a little electronic display behind the plate. That means when a room changes use, when “Study” becomes “Nursery”, or when you’ve finally admitted the “Spare” button never did anything useful, the wording can be changed in software without us swapping a single plate. Nine times out of ten when a customer rings us about wrong labels, it’s a five-minute job once we’re connected to the network.

This article walks through what DLT and eDLT actually are, why relabelling is a configuration change we make in C-Bus Toolkit (rather than something you tap through on the wall), and how to get your list ready so the visit is quick and your documentation stays accurate afterwards.

What DLT and eDLT switches actually are

DLT stands for Dynamic Labelling Technology. Instead of fixed engraved keys, the switch shows the button text on a backlit display. The labels are stored as part of the switch’s configuration, so we can rename a key, change which icon shows next to it, and tidy up the layout entirely in software.

The newer eDLT switches take the same idea further. As the diagram above shows, each key sits alongside its on-screen label. The eDLT adds:

• Colour displays rather than monochrome, so labels and icons are easier to read at a glance
• Multi-language labels, handy in households where not everyone reads English first
• On-screen system info — things like time, temperature or status feedback can appear on the display
• Control of up to 16 devices from the one switch, across multiple pages of buttons

Both sit on the same pink C-Bus cable as the rest of your network and talk to your relays and dimmers over the Lighting application. If you’re newer to all this, our C-Bus getting started guide explains how the pieces fit together.

Why relabelling is done by us, not from the wall

This is the part that surprises people. You can’t walk up to a DLT or eDLT and type a new label into a menu on the switch. The displayed text is part of the switch’s configuration, which lives in the C-Bus Toolkit project for your home. To change it, we connect to your network through a network interface (a PCI, CNI or USB interface), edit the label in the project, and push the updated configuration down to that switch.

That sounds like more work than it is. Once we’re on the network, renaming a key takes seconds, and we can do a whole house worth of relabelling in a single visit. The reason it’s deliberately not editable from the wall is to protect your setup — you don’t want labels (or worse, what a button controls) getting changed by accident.

For a Melbourne customer that means either we come out, or for some networks we can connect remotely if a Wiser controller or suitable interface is in place. Our C-Bus programming overview covers how Toolkit changes get made and saved.

Relabelling vs re-pointing a button — two different jobs

This trips a lot of people up, so it’s worth being crystal clear. There are two separate things you might want when a room changes:

• Relabelling — changing only the words (and icon) shown on a key. The button still controls exactly the same load it always did. This is purely cosmetic from the network’s point of view.
• Re-pointing — changing which load a key actually switches, by assigning it to a different Group Address. This is real programming work and changes behaviour.

Imagine a study becoming a nursery. If the lights and fan in that room are staying put and you just want the buttons to read “Nursery Light” and “Nursery Fan”, that’s relabelling. But if you want a button that used to run the study downlights to now control a new dimmable circuit for soft nursery lighting, that’s re-pointing — and the dimmer or relay change behind it is licensed electrical work.

How the relabelling actually happens

Here’s the sequence we follow when we relabel DLT or eDLT switches for a customer. You don’t have to do these steps yourself — but knowing the flow helps you prepare and check the result.

1. Confirm the change list. We sit down with your old-vs-new label list (more on that below) and confirm exactly which key on which switch needs what new wording.
2. Connect to the network. We plug a network interface into the C-Bus network and open your saved Toolkit project so we’re editing the real, current configuration.
3. Locate the switch and key. In Toolkit we find the specific DLT/eDLT unit and the individual key being relabelled.
4. Edit the label text and icon. We change the displayed wording, pick a matching icon if appropriate, and on eDLT set the colour or language if you want that adjusted too.
5. Transfer to the switch. The updated configuration is sent down to the unit. The display refreshes and the new label appears on the wall.
6. Test and save. We press the key to confirm it still controls the right load, then save the updated project file so your documentation matches reality.

That last step matters more than it looks. The Toolkit project is your home’s source of truth. If labels get changed but the saved file doesn’t, the next person who works on the system is reading out-of-date documentation — and that’s how little inconsistencies creep in over the years.

Getting your label list ready before we visit

The single best thing you can do to make a relabelling visit fast is to walk around with your phone and write down a clear old-versus-new list. We love it when a customer hands us this — it removes all the guesswork.

• Note the room or location of each switch (“hallway near kitchen”, “main bedroom left of bed”).
• For each key, write the current label exactly as it reads now.
• Next to it, write the new label you want.
• Flag any key where you actually want it to do something different, not just read differently — that’s the re-pointing job we discussed, so we plan for it.
• Keep new labels short. There’s limited space on the display, so “Nursery Light” beats “Light for the new nursery room”.

When a label has gone blank or shows the wrong thing

Occasionally a customer rings because a DLT or eDLT label has gone blank, garbled, or is showing something that doesn’t match the button. That’s usually not a relabelling request — it points to a configuration or power issue on that specific switch rather than something you’ve done wrong.

Common causes we check:

• Power or network burden problems on that part of the network, so the switch isn’t getting clean power or a steady clock signal.
• A configuration that didn’t transfer cleanly the last time the switch was programmed, leaving the display out of step.
• A loose or marginal C-Bus connection at the switch behind the plate.

If you’re seeing a blank or wrong display, don’t pull the plate off yourself — start by reading our C-Bus troubleshooting guide, and if it persists, get in touch and we’ll diagnose it properly. For background on the technology straight from the manufacturer, Clipsal’s own resources at clipsal.com are a good reference.

The short version

DLT and eDLT switches show their labels on a screen, so renaming a button is a software change we make in C-Bus Toolkit and push to the switch — quick, tidy, and no new plates needed. Relabelling changes only the words; if you want a button to control something different, that’s separate programming and, where new loads or wiring are involved, licensed electrical work our team takes care of. Bring a clear old-vs-new list, let us update the saved project at the same time, and your switches and your documentation stay in step.

If your rooms have changed use and your buttons no longer make sense, we’re happy to sort it. Drop us a line via our contact page and we’ll get your Melbourne C-Bus switches reading right again. — Adam and the DUKE team.