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raee_gw

Xpost w/ lighting: problems with dimmer switch

Has anyone experienced difficulties with using a dimmer switch for your ceiling LED lights?

I put in 5 of the Sylvania retrofit LEDs, 13 watts each, all wired to one switch. With an ordinary toggle wall switch, no problems, come on immediately and every time.

But I switched that out to a Lutron "Toggler for LED" dimmer switch. At first there was just an annoying delay in the lights coming on, then as time went on it was less and less reliable until it would work only about 5% of the time -- or less. Today we tried a different unit, thinking the 1st was defective: no difference. Put a standard switch back in, and again, works perfectly.

Any idea what is the problem? Is there any dimmer that I can use? (I had picked the "Toggler" version just because I like that look best -- I hate the look of other dimmer switches)

Comments (9)

  • GauchoGordo1993
    10 years ago

    Are the lights themselves dimmable?

    My LED recessed lights work fine with Lutron dimmers. They did buzz a little with the standard dimmer, so I replaced with an expensive low voltage, which resolved the buzzing. No issues like you describe though.

    Here is a link that might be useful: low voltage dimmer on amazon

  • raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yes, they are supposed to be dimmable.

    interesting that your Lutron Low Voltage is supposed to be for incandescent/halogen, not LED. I thought an LED switch was needed.

    I noticed from that listing that Lutron has 24 hour tech assistance. I am going to call! Thanks, GauchoGordo

  • kirkhall
    10 years ago

    I had trouble with the Lutron dimmer with my LEDs. My electrician troubleshooted for an hour or so, re-read, and re-read the paper (that they never read).

    Anyway, he said he was going to a conference and would ask.

    Came back to say, (despite it saying differently on the boxes) that the Lutron dimmer (master) can only be used with the companion dimmer (this is on a 3 way switch).

    I re-read, and now see you are only dealing with 1 switch total (whereas, mine have 2, so the switches have to talk to each other). So, not really the same.

    But, I suspect that something is just a little off still with Lutron LED switches.

    ALSO, I had read, in trying to troubleshoot ours, that there has to be a certain amount of electrical draw for them to work well. And, finally, a final consideration, check to see that the switch isn't on some sort of weird programming. On my lutron switches, there is a little piece that can be removed, then you push something and hold it for some amount of time, to reprogram it... Do your directions indicate that is at all a possibility?

  • GauchoGordo1993
    10 years ago

    Dimmers on 3way circuits must be on the line-side switch. It won't work right if installed on the other switch by itself or in addition to the line-side.

    raee,
    Is it possible that it's not grounded properly?

  • raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Well, I think that I may have a solution actually. I started by calling Lutron (who couldn't help), then on their website noticed that they had lists of lights that various switches work with. And my lights weren't on the list for this switch. So I started searching the Sylvania site and found that they recommend for this light:

    Dimming
    The SYLVANIA ULTRA Light Disk is dimmable to 20% with standard 120V electronic low voltage dimmers (recommended), incandescent or magnetic low voltage dimmers. In some cases, standard incandescent dimmers require a minimum load of typically >40 watts on the circuit for full range dimming performance (four LED modules). For dimming with digital (smart) multi-location dimmers or
    when dimming fewer than four LED modules, electronic low-voltage (ELV) dimmers are required (some ELV dimmers need a neutral connection in the wallbox).

    So, I am going to buy a standard dimmer and see how that works.

  • raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    GauchoGordo, it is certainly possible that the ground is inadequate. This is a 1941 house, and most of the wiring that I have seen (as in replacing 2 prong plugs) is old 2 wire cable. I haven't looked into this outlet box, so I don't know if there is anything to ground to other than the box itself.

  • cowboy249
    10 years ago

    Have you come up with a solution to this problem? I have bought and installed 7 of these light's in two different rooms. They said dimmable so I assumed they would work with any dimmer that said LED. Wrong. I also bought Lutron Skylark dimmer. major problems. work wonderful with no dimmer but in one room they need to be on a dimmer. Also want to say that I have only 2 lights on a Lutron dimmer and those work fine. It's just the dimmers that have 7 lights that don't work

  • raee_gw zone 5b-6a Ohio
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Yes cowboy249, replacing the Lutron "Toggler for LED" dimmer with an ordinary Lutron "Toggler" dimmer did the trick. Works perfectly, every time, lights come on immediately and the dimming function works too.

    Mind, I only have one switch for all the lights. If you have 2 switches for the 7 lights, you might need a different (3way) switch. I don't know anything about using those.

  • Nattygirl6
    10 years ago

    I have 4 LED recessed lights in my hall way and I am using a 3 way switch on it.

    I bought the Lutron Maestro CFL Dimmer kit. Worked great. You can even program it to any desired dimming range. Here's a link.

    http://www.amazon.com/Lutron-MACL-153M-RHW-WH-Maestro-150-Watt-Multi-Location/dp/B008X3CH70/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1398445003&sr=8-9&keywords=lutron+maestro+3+way