For those with dimmable LED switches

[thinmyster]

Do you get a momentary full bright flash before the light dims down to it's preset level? If not what brand of switch do you have? I bought some eaton switches from Costco and they have this feature. Not sure I like it.

[90_Shelby]

No. Lutron.

[JC522]

No. Legrand adorne soft tap dimmers

[Crazyjoker77]

Theres a good chance that no matter what switch you change to its gonna keep happening. Its more likely caused by the actual light fixture/bulb than the switch.

Almost all dimmers that replace a switch work on the same principle of A triac alterings it firing angle to control the output voltage going to the fixture.

However there are numerous ways to design the power and electronics to a lighting device and many of which are filled with little annoyances like what your experiencing.

But to answer your OP i use leviton dimmers with lithonia LED fixtures and don't encouter any issues.

[thinmyster]

Reading the switch instruction it says: "this is a normal feature that insures all lights start properly at low dim levels"

[Crazyjoker77]

Originally posted by thinmyster
Reading the switch instruction it says: "this is a normal feature that insures all lights start properly at low dim levels"

If thats the case just return it and get pretty much any other switch. There is some truth to what their saying that a lot of times a led fixture will have a higher cut in voltage that the voltage required for it to stop emitting light completely.

Although most of the switches i encounter now that are "led compatible" will allow you to adjust the voltage of the full low position so you can set it above the cut in/out voltage which IMO is a better solution. its sometimes a a little dial, or slider switch, or sometimes its done through a specific procedure outlined in the instruction. (ie turn it on/off 3 times in succession move the slider to the lowest level you don't have issue then cycle power twice more)

[TYMSMNY]

None of mine do that... using Lutron brand.

Although on low level light, kind of see the light dimly pulsing if i look closely... normal I would think.

[snowcat]

We call it cold start. I use to inform my old clients to turn light on to full brightness and dim down with LEDs.

When you start at 2% with an LED it wil either take forever or not work, but 100 down to 2% it will work.

I am using adaptive phase dimmers from Control4 for my light loads.

Same is true with homewerks, caseta and adorne.

Dim down, not up ;)

[rx7_turbo2]

A number of years ago I was approached by one of the larger custom home builders to install a number of different LED and dimmer combos. It was a test setup, the idea being they wanted to offer an all LED lighting package for new homes. They wanted to ensure however that the package was flawless, no flickering or abnormal behaviour. A number of manufacturers were involved, LED bulbs, integrated LED potlights and a multitude of different dimmers. The end result was that you got what you pay for. The very expensive units worked very, very well. Honestly, most combinations resulted in some undesirable behaviour.

I think you're best bet is to do as crazyjoker has said, find a dimmer that allows some adjustability so you can match the cut in/out voltage of the LED's you're using. The other suggestion would be to not use different bulb manufacturers. I was using a combo of Philips and Sylvania bulbs in my kitchen and family room and noticed they really didn't perform very well when the dimmer was used. I've now put all the Sylvania bulbs in the kitchen and all the Philips bulbs in the family room and have gotten much better results.

[rage2]

All dimmers (Lurton) and all LEDs (Various brands) in my house, never heard of going full blast before dimming. Sounds like a shitty workaround.

[bookem]

Lutron Diva dimmer switches and variety of LED bulbs. I get the flash only with Ecosmart bulbs from HD.

[blownz]

This reminds me of what happened at my place a few years ago:

I have a 3 way Lutron dimmer for the light above my kitchen table. House and dimmers were about 10 years old at the time and I bought some LED bulbs from Costco to try out. Put one in to see the color and how it dimmed and was very happy as you could barely tell a difference from the incandescent bulbs. Worked perfectly from full off to full on and anywhere in between. So then I replaced the other two bulbs and this is where it got odd: They would never turn off! I played around with different combo's but as soon as there were 3 LED bulbs in the light, they would stay on very dim when turned off. :nut:

I went back to regular bulbs in that light as at the time I didn't want to buy new 3 way dimmers. Now it is two years later and maybe I should try it again. Anyone have a situation like that? I assume it was maybe just the really old dimmers. :dunno:

[rage2]

The Lutron dimmers can adjust min and max range for dimming. Figure out which dimmer it is, find the manual to reset it.

The dimming power curve is completely different between incandescent vs LED so you want to adjust it accordingly to get the proper dimming light curve for min vs max.

[thinmyster]

Anyone running these led luminous pots? I don't know if I should be concerned with dimmer compatibility when finding my next dimmer...

http://www.costco.ca/Luminus%c2%ae-LED-12.7-cm-to-15.24-cm-(5-to-6-in.)-Dimmable-Retrofit-Kit-%e2%80%93-2-Pack.product.100179942.html

[JC522]

Originally posted by blownz
This reminds me of what happened at my place a few years ago:

I have a 3 way Lutron dimmer for the light above my kitchen table. House and dimmers were about 10 years old at the time and I bought some LED bulbs from Costco to try out. Put one in to see the color and how it dimmed and was very happy as you could barely tell a difference from the incandescent bulbs. Worked perfectly from full off to full on and anywhere in between. So then I replaced the other two bulbs and this is where it got odd: They would never turn off! I played around with different combo's but as soon as there were 3 LED bulbs in the light, they would stay on very dim when turned off. :nut:

I went back to regular bulbs in that light as at the time I didn't want to buy new 3 way dimmers. Now it is two years later and maybe I should try it again. Anyone have a situation like that? I assume it was maybe just the really old dimmers. :dunno:

That happened to me in my bedroom couple days ago with a 6 year old lutron dimmer and 3 led bulbs in the fixture. I changed the first 2 bulbs out and everythign was fine but as soon as I took out the 3rd incandescent and put the LED bulb in, they were all glowing. I did some research and it was because my switch was illuminated and sends a small amount of current through to the bulbs and using the bulb fixture as the neutral (from my understanding of what I read). I upgraded my switch to one with a place for a neutral wire into the switch itself and never had any problems. It was either that or just use 2 LEDs and 1 incandescent in the fixture