Dimmers

[bikeindy]

Installed a 1000W lutron dimmer for a customer. nine 65W lamps, didn't remove any heat sink tabs, customer is complaining the dimmer is hot not warm. I have had good results with lutron in the past, any suggestions?

 

[Fulthrotl]

Installed a 1000W lutron dimmer for a customer. nine 65W lamps, didn't remove any heat sink tabs, customer is complaining the dimmer is hot not warm. I have had good results with lutron in the past, any suggestions?

that's a fair connected load... it's gonna get pretty hot at low light
levels. hot enough to give an owie with the wallplate off....

since decora discontinued their line of asbestos wallplates, perhaps
a set of oven mitts? (after the check clears, of course)

 

[bikeindy]

that's a fair connected load... it's gonna get pretty hot at low light
levels. hot enough to give an owie with the wallplate off....

since decora discontinued their line of asbestos wallplates, perhaps
a set of oven mitts? (after the check clears, of course)

Thanks for not answering my question.

 

[SEO]

Thats a common complaint that we get as well. What I do is instruct my guys to inform the owner that the dimmer will get hot. Some people have a different sense of hot. Have you checked it? Maybe the dimmer is at fault or maybe it's ok. If you have a way to check the temp do that and check with lutron and see if it's in the norm for the dimmer and load. Most of the older 1000w dimmers had external fins for cooling.

 

[480sparky]

Last time I had a customer complain about 'hot' dimmers, I pulled out the IR thermometer and the best I could get is 111? F. He said he was a afraid of starting a fire.

I told him "It gets over 120 every summer in Phoenix, but I don't hear of all the houses there spontaneously burning down."

"Hot" is a relative term. Yes, dimmers get warm, and most people aren't used to that, so they naturally over-react.

 

[dezwitinc]

We have all had this problem I am sure.
A while back, I talked to Lutron tech assistance and they told me that 135 degrees was perfectly acceptable.

 

[Besoeker]

We have all had this problem I am sure.
A while back, I talked to Lutron tech assistance and they told me that 135 degrees was perfectly acceptable.

Exactly. How hot is hot.

 

[ceb58]

Installed a 1000W lutron dimmer for a customer. nine 65W lamps, didn't remove any heat sink tabs, customer is complaining the dimmer is hot not warm. I have had good results with lutron in the past, any suggestions?

I had the same complaint only to find the customer had replaced the 65's with 150w. Said the 65's were not bright enough.

 

[fisherelectric]

Keep the instructions to show the customer. They indicate that heat is normal with a dimmer.

 

[Kdog76]

Just had one a while back - a chandelier light w/ about 10 60 watt candelabra bulbs. Same thing - HO overreacted about the dimmer getting hot. I explained that is a normal condition of running a dimmer...
Weird thing was later on they noticed the whole fixture was flickering a bunch - intermittently. I checked all connections, and to confirm my thoughts that it was a dimmer issue - I swapped it out with a single pole toggle switch. Haven't heard back from them. I told them if that stopped it, then we would need a different dimmer. This was a 1000 watt Lutron dimmer. First time I had one flicker (at least that's what I was told).

 

[LarryFine]

How hot is hot.

How Long is a Chinese name.


(It's not the same when you write it out. )

 

[kbsparky]

Was the wall plate plastic or metal?

I've found that using a good solid metal wall plate helps to dissipate the heat better. Plastic wall plates tend to have hot "screws" and this can be an issue with the owners.

 

[alfiesauce]

Was the wall plate plastic or metal?

I've found that using a good solid metal wall plate helps to dissipate the heat better. Plastic wall plates tend to have hot "screws" and this can be an issue with the owners.

and those metal plates look oh so pretty with the rest of the house being in plastic...

 

[kbsparky]

I usually have to special order Mulberry metal wall plates in the same style and color as the plastic ones in that particular house. :wink:

Unless you look closely, you can't tell the difference from casual observation. :grin: