Odd dimmer/LED problem

[toplessHO]

Bought some new Dimmable LEDs at costco
the 6 pack of B30s and the replacement type with trim that the pigtail screws into the standard medium base.

First attempt was the B30s (2 on this circuit).
Worked fine,full brightness,dimmed down,shut off.
I ran them about 30 minutes and came back to one being off,the other flickering.
I turned dimmer off and back on and got nothing.
I waited a couple minutes and tried again.... They worked fine for a while and did the same thing again,one off and the other flickering. This was all without touching the dimmer which was still at full brightness.
So I yank out the lamps and replace with the ones that were both LED and trim for high hats.Dimmer was off and when I put the first one in and tested,it never shut off completely(the other LEDs did shut off).
So I said screw it and put the old incandescent back in the other fixture and the LED one went out.I tried the dimmer with one of each(incandescent and LED) and it worked fine.I finally gave up and pulled the LED and put the old lamp back in.I see that the dimmer is rated for both so wondering if its a common problem.
Whats worry some is the dimmer having minuscule power on, even when its commanded off. Im guessing when the incandescent load is introduced it drags the voltage down enough to shut the LED off.

 

[dogdog]

Might be a problem with your Dimmer...

 

[yeldogt]

You have to have a compatible dimmer with LED .. the vast majority of the old ones don't work .... it's that simple.

Thankfully -- LED dimmers are cheap ... $30. Go on the Lutron site -- they have lists of dimers and tested bulbs

 

[CJ7VFR]

Since you said the LED BR30 bulbs didn't seem to work, even without touching the dimmer switch, try to put the new LED bulbs into another light fixture that does not dim, like a lamp or something.

See if the new BR30 bulbs work properly, and don't behave like they did when they were in the light fixtures controlled by the old dimmer switch.

If the LED's work fine in a non-dimming light fixture, then you will know the bulbs are good and your old dimmer is the problem. If the bulbs act funny, then it might be the bulbs.

But if the dimmer switch is over 10 years old, I think yeldogt is right. You need a more modern dimmer that is made to control LED's.

Jim

 

[toplessHO]

Since you said the LED BR30 bulbs didn't seem to work, even without touching the dimmer switch, try to put the new LED bulbs into another light fixture that does not dim, like a lamp or something.

See if the new BR30 bulbs work properly, and don't behave like they did when they were in the light fixtures controlled by the old dimmer switch.

If the LED's work fine in a non-dimming light fixture, then you will know the bulbs are good and your old dimmer is the problem. If the bulbs act funny, then it might be the bulbs.

But if the dimmer switch is over 10 years old, I think yeldogt is right. You need a more modern dimmer that is made to control LED's.

Jim

yep had already done that
LEDs work fine in a non dimmer circuit.

never said they didnt work,said after 30 minutes or so they would flake.

Dimmer is the Lutron Maestro +,which isnt a cheap one.
Never had any problems with incandescent s on it.

the most disturbing thing is the one type of LED never shutting down,until it was paired with an incandescent.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

link to dimmer?

 

[CJ7VFR]

yep had already done that
LEDs work fine in a non dimmer circuit....

Dimmer is the Lutron Maestro +,which isnt a cheap one.
Never had any problems with incandescent s on it.....

How old is the Lutron dimmer? Is it more than 5 years old?

The fact that it did not work properly with both the LED BR30 bulbs and the screw in trim kit with the built in bulbs makes it appear that the dimmer is the issue.

Do you have any other dimmable LED bulbs around the house in any other light fixtures? If you do, and they are working properly, maybe take those bulbs out and put them into the fixtures controlled by the problem dimmer and see if they work there.

Jim

 

[toplessHO]

I have no other dimmer circuits that I can test lamps in.
Im giving up on this dimmer,it works fine with incandescents
and now that the rest of house is converted to LEDs I have plenty of incandescent spares :^),that is until the energy police go from house to house checking for LEDs and dripping faucets.

 

[toplessHO]

link to dimmer?

Lutron website must be broke
it wont let you open the page for that dimmer

 

[wyliesdiesels]

well my best guess is the dimmer is not rated for LEDs....

 

[cybrdyke]

Your lamps and dimmer are not compatible. We still see it from time to time where a dimmable LED bulb and an LED compatible dimmer just dont like each other and wont play nice.
As for the bulbs not turning all the way off, that's just another symptom of the same thing. When you add in an incandescent bulb, you added resistance to the circuit which calmed the dimmer down.
It used to happen all the time. It's gotten much better over the last few years.
CD

 

[toplessHO]

well my best guess is the dimmer is not rated for LEDs....

look up Lutron maestro LED plus

 

[markhm]

Do you have a neutral to the dimmer? That is often necessary for complete turning off.

 

[toplessHO]

Do you have a neutral to the dimmer? That is often necessary for complete turning off.

good question,I need to look,its in someone elses house and I didnt install.

good thing is I know theres a neutral in the box as its got a receptacle next to it.

 

[markhm]

Yes, check that the neutral is properly connected. Dimmers use it as the path to bleed off the LEDs and shut them down.

 

[cybrdyke]

look up Lutron maestro LED plus

That helps. And it changes things a little.
Those dont require a neutral at the switch, although it's likely better if it's there.
There's an adjusting lever on the switch to trim out the bottom end. Play with that to see if you can reach a level that stabilizes the light.
Also, you can change the phase characteristics of the switch from forward to reverse by a series of button pushes. The lamps you've installed may need to be run differently by the dimmer, so you should definitely try to play with this.
Good luck,
CD

 

[DenisG]

By their spec sheet, that dimmer has to have at least 40W (minimum) to work reliably with incandescent bulbs:
https://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/369613a.pdf
They have a compatibility tool for checking what LED bulbs work with their dimmers:
https://www.lutron.com/en-US/Pages/LEDCompatibilityTool/Compatibility.aspx