Can anyone direct me to a l e d trim/lamp assembly that is instant on, and reliably dimmable? Seems that many work well with a conventional switch but once you dim them(even using mfgr recommended dimmers) they take longer to come on. I am finding that in conjunction with 3 and 4 way set ups the trims take longer to come on. I don't mean a very long wait time, but long enough for customers to question the difference between the switch and the dimmer. I've used commercial electric, feit, and Phillips with all the same results. Using dimmers listed with each product and having poor results. Thanks
Led lamp/ trim combination
- Thread starter nizak
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hbendillo
Senior Member
- Location
- South carolina
Did you use a dimmer switch that the lamp manufacturer claims is compatible with their lamp or go to the dimmer switch manufacturer to see a list of lamps compatible with their dimmer switch? This is indeed a problematic situation but I would do the latter rather than the former.
jaylectricity
Senior Member
- Location
- Massachusetts
- Occupation
- licensed journeyman electrician
I don't understand people's fascination with the half-second delay. These are probably the same people that were concerned their cell phone had no dial tone.
PetrosA
Senior Member
- Location
- Lancaster, Pennsylvania
There are delays built into the LED lamps and into the CFL/LED dimmers. Together, it can certainly add up. I don't think there's anything that you CAN say to customers, other than "Sorry Charlie, it is what it is."
Electric-Light
Senior Member
All LED lamps have a ballast. The ballast can be a miniature disposable type built into the lamp like a CFL or an externally mounted brick. Buzzing, compatibility, unstable dimming and all the dimming related complaints are due to interaction between the LED BALLAST and the dimmer. You may find one revision of trims quiet and another revision noisy.
It's a trial and error process as of now.
In-line dimming (where there is only two wires going into the fixture) has always been a challenge for non-incandescent lamps and while they hoped to make the built-in ballast in LED lamps work smoothly with the incandescent dimmers already in the walls, it has been a failure so its now a common expectation that LEDs require a dimmer specifically designed for LED ballast loads.
In-line dimmable fluorescent systems like Advance Mark X have been around for quite some years, but it was already an expectation from day one that it requires a purpose specific dimmer, so ballast/dimmer compatibility was never an issue.
It's a trial and error process as of now.
In-line dimming (where there is only two wires going into the fixture) has always been a challenge for non-incandescent lamps and while they hoped to make the built-in ballast in LED lamps work smoothly with the incandescent dimmers already in the walls, it has been a failure so its now a common expectation that LEDs require a dimmer specifically designed for LED ballast loads.
In-line dimmable fluorescent systems like Advance Mark X have been around for quite some years, but it was already an expectation from day one that it requires a purpose specific dimmer, so ballast/dimmer compatibility was never an issue.
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