Dimmer hang

[Jon_W]

I have a 600W SWL connected to my under cabinet LV lights (electronic Xmfr's) and after 10-15 minutes (random) the SWL locks up and the lights go to full on. I have to do a power-fail reset to get the SWL to respond again. It is quite warm, so I'm wondering if this is either 1) too much load the standard SWL; 2) a defective SWL...? Thoughts anyone?

 

Jon

[SteveL]

Jon_W

 

A good rule of thumb is to only use relay switches in electronic ballasts.

Though the way the switch is acting it might be bad.

 

steveL

[Mark Sanctuary]

That has to be a bad switch because those under cabinet lights don't exceed the load of the switch.

 

That rule of thumb is good but might be expanded to; Use relay devices only for ballasts, motors, and non lighting appliances (ie. coffee maker).

[Jon_W]

Ok, I will try replacing it. I have a 1000W SWL (2476DH) that I will put in, just in case it is the size of the load (there are 3 circuits on it).

 

But using a Relay switch instead of a dimmer..? That surprises me. When I spoke with someone at Smarthome, they said the SWL's supported all types of incandecent lamps.. including LV with xfmr's. Sounds like that may not be the case?

 

I do not want to have to switch my under-cabinet lights on full, so if this doesn't work, I will have to go back to a manual dimmer.. not a good solution.

[Mark Sanctuary]

The relays do support any type of load but if you have a type that is dimmable you should have a dimmer just in case you want to dim it. Another way to think about the rule of thumb is; if it can dim use a dimmer, if it can’t dim use a relay.

[Mark Sanctuary]

And I don't count the low voltage ballasts as an issue, they dim just fine. I have two dimmers on the low voltage under cabinet halogen lighting and they work great.

[Jon_W]

Ok, an update...

I repaced the 600W SWL with the 1000W version and it nolonger hangs after it has been on for awhile.. but I still get (guessing here) a lot of noise on the power line anytime the dimmer is above 0%. The symptom is that the other SWL & KPL in the same box (3 gang) work intermittently. I even get comm errors at the ISY when I try to Restore any of the controllers in the box. In fact, it seems worse now with the 1000W SWL

 

I'm guessing it is because of the electronic LV ballasts used (under cabinet lights)- any suggestion to resolve this?

 

Is there a filter I might be able to place between the controller and the load?

 

Thanks,

[yardman 49]

Jon_W

 

A good rule of thumb is to only use relay switches in electronic ballasts.

Though the way the switch is acting it might be bad.

 

steveL

 

Hello Jon:

 

 

SteveL (Smarthome Installer) already gave you the correct answer: only use relays, (not dimmers), with LV lights using electronic ballasts (transformers).

 

You stated that you do have electronic transformers, so his warning would apply to your situation.

 

As far as I know, you should only use dimmer switches with conventional (wound) transformers. Electronic transformers could damage electronic dimmers.

 

I redid my kitchen this spring, and did some research on this. I decided to go with the Smarthome Togglelinc relay, and have had no problems. As my undercounter LV lights have two postion switches on them, I just leave them set to whatever level I prefer, and then turn them on and off via the Togglelinc relay.

 

I also put Leviton Noise Blocks inside the LV lighting housings. That keeps the electronic ballast noise off my system quite nicely.

 

Best wishes,