Leviton slide dimmer

[rydan]

So my girl has a chandelier in the dining room . She is using the CFL helix bulbs . (5) at 14w each. 70 watts total. The slide dimmer is a universal LED, CFL, Incandescent, and halogen . As well can be wired for a 3 way . Easy peasy. 2 reds, 1 marked for a 3 way, 1 for the hot and a black wire for the SL , plus a ground .. Hooked it up without the 3 way red wire ( dont need it ) and it was humming and didnt want to dim. For the helix bulbs its rated for 150 watts ,, well over what we have (70) ??????

 

[Sierrasparky]

So my girl has a chandelier in the dining room . She is using the CFL helix bulbs . (5) at 14w each. 70 watts total. The slide dimmer is a universal LED, CFL, Incandescent, and halogen . As well can be wired for a 3 way . Easy peasy. 2 reds, 1 marked for a 3 way, 1 for the hot and a black wire for the SL , plus a ground .. Hooked it up without the 3 way red wire ( dont need it ) and it was humming and didnt want to dim. For the helix bulbs its rated for 150 watts ,, well over what we have (70) ... WTF ??????

Bulbs are not dimmable?

 

[curt swartz]

Bulbs are not dimmable?

I agree. Most CFL's are not dimmable and even the ones that are don't do it very well. Change lamps to Dimmable LED's or incandescent.

 

[gadfly56]

I agree. Most CFL's are not dimmable and even the ones that are don't do it very well. Change lamps to Dimmable LED's or incandescent.

Adding one (1) incandescent may also let you dim the CFL's, even if they are not listed as dimmable. It will look kinda ugly, but will work.

 

[macmikeman]

Some of the Leviton dimmers have a switch located behind the front panel of the switch. It unhooks from the body of the switch by prying on the bottom of the panel with a jewelers screwdriver. The switch is default set to LED. For CFL you slide it to the right . And there are instructions to adjust the level of dimming as well inside the box the dimmer sells in. The model I'm talking about has captive screw terminals not pigtails for the load wires though so maybe you have the older model. In that case swap out the CFL for a LED or an incandescent. The dimmable LED's only dim to 20% most times unless they are electronic low voltage, in which case you need an entirely different dimmer than the one you are using. The noise should go away.

 

[Electric-Light]

Dimming CFLs are rare, because dimming fluorescent ballasts are too expensive to use in a disposable lamp.

 

[gadfly56]

Dimming CFLs are rare, because dimming fluorescent ballasts are too expensive to use in a disposable lamp.

I went to HD's web site and searched for dimmable CFL's and got 25 hits. They're not that rare, though granted most of them you have to order.

 

[gar]

171027-1015 EDT

Dimming of various light sources is dependent on how the light source works, and the type of dimmer.

Dimming of an ordinary incandescent light source is from 0 to full brightness by any means that can adjust the energy going into the filament.

Dimming of a fluorescent bulb can be anywhere from 0 to maximum brightness, but in most cases this is not feasible because of the nature of the ballast, driver, or other means to excite the gas within the bulb.

LEDs can be dimmed from 0 to maximum brightness, but in most cases when LED chips are combined and integrated into an assembly the range or ability is limited by the associated driver.

Compared to incandescent LEDs are the nicest thing to dim. But this means you want an LED light with no built in driver. Now a simple DC current source that is adjustable provides complete dimming capability.

Comparison of light output vs voltage, and waveform type, for several bulbs are shown in my plots P9 thru P18 at http://beta-a2.com/EE-photos.html .

.

 

[rydan]

Dimming my helix bulbs

Dimming my helix bulbs

I'm still trying to figure out how to reply on this page . If this goes to my last topic I will be amazed !! ...lol For the replies to the dimming , The Leviton dimmer states it will dim cfc, flour, and led bulbs.. It has a watt rating on each ... The cfc (helix) bulbs dont have a ballast,(not in the fixture) they are just in a 28 year old fixture with a standard r30 base in the dining room. If CFC's arent rated to dim, why does Levinton make a dimmer for these types.. You all know its a bit more than regular Levinton dimmers. For the other gentleman who stated to set the dip sw. ,,, This is just a cheap slide dimmer with an o/f button on the bottom .... Dont think their are dip switches behind the face of this dimmer.

 

[GoldDigger]

I'm still trying to figure out how to reply on this page . If this goes to my last topic I will be amazed !! ...lol For the replies to the dimming , The Leviton dimmer states it will dim cfc, flour, and led bulbs.. It has a watt rating on each ... The cfc (helix) bulbs dont have a ballast,(not in the fixture) they are just in a 28 year old fixture with a standard r30 base in the dining room. If CFC's arent rated to dim, why does Levinton make a dimmer for these types.. You all know its a bit more than regular Levinton dimmers. For the other gentleman who stated to set the dip sw. ,,, This is just a cheap slide dimmer with an o/f button on the bottom .... Dont think their are dip switches behind the face of this dimmer.

The reason that Leviton makes dimmers for CFCs even though not all are dimmable is that even dimmable CFCs may not play well with the least expensive design dimmers for incandescents.

There are dimmable CFCs that the Leviton dimmers work with, they just cost more in general than non-dimmable CFCs.

The underlying tension is that there are many ways of dimming a load, with varying circuit complexity, and there are many ways of constructing a dimmable CFC or other high-efficiency lamp. But you cannot choose one without knowing what strategy is being used by the other.
Hence the (often out of date) compatibility lists.

But you can be pretty confident that a non-dimmable CFC will not work well (or even necessarily survive) use with a dimmer, and a dimmer designed solely for incandescents will not not work welll with most dimmable bulbs.

 

[gar]

171112-2357 EDT

rydan:

You need to study and learn how different things work. Then you need to run experiments with different devices and see how real devices work.

Just because a box says you can dim a CFL does not mean that a specific CFL can be dimmed.

There is no dimmable CFL that dims very well. Nor do most LED assemblies dim well. However, a basic LED dims very well with the correct driver. From 0 to full brightness with no flicker at any frequency when excited with DC.

.

.

 

[MAC702]

...If CFC's aren't rated to dim, why does Leviton make a dimmer for these types...

Because some CF's are.

You have to use both fluorescents marked as dimmable and a dimmer specifically marked for use with fluorescents.

As noted, even then, it's not the same performance you were used to with an incandescent.

 

[Electric-Light]

I'm still trying to figure out how to reply on this page . If this goes to my last topic I will be amazed !! ...lol For the replies to the dimming , The Leviton dimmer states it will dim cfc, flour, and led bulbs.. It has a watt rating on each ... The cfc (helix) bulbs dont have a ballast,(not in the fixture) they are just in a 28 year old fixture with a standard r30 base in the dining room. If CFC's arent rated to dim, why does Levinton make a dimmer for these types.. You all know its a bit more than regular Levinton dimmers. For the other gentleman who stated to set the dip sw. ,,, This is just a cheap slide dimmer with an o/f button on the bottom .... Dont think their are dip switches behind the face of this dimmer.

Screw-in CFL and LED lamps that are sold to fit into the place of incandescent lamps have a built-in ballast. A dimmer adds dimming to almost all incandescent lamps and there's the same expectation passed on but it doesn't work that way. Dimming CFLs and LEDs require dimmable lamps and a dimmer. They were hoping to make CFLs and LEDs dim smoothly on already installed dimmers but this never happened. Dimming related trouble is the number one complaints about residential LED installs. The dark side of dimmable CFLs and LEDs is like buying auto parts. You have to pair the make and model of the dimmer and the lamp, fixture or ballast. You're still expected to compromise on how low it dims down and there might be a sore spot where it becomes unstable and flickers. The ballast for dimming fluorescent/CFL is quite a bit more complicated than the LED equivalent.

Personally I've found the EcoSmart brand 8W "Classic Glass Bulb" LED lamps (looks identical to the standard filament bulb) to be quite abuse tolerant which sells for $10 for 4. The lamp explicitly says not to be used in enclosed fixtures but I haven't been able to make this one fry out even in a jelly jar unlike common LED lamps. The dimming range is noticeably limited compared to ordinary light bulbs but dims well when paired with a LED rated dimmer. When you dim LEDs (or CFL), you should expect it to create a mood like a large shed with a single 60W light bulb as you dim down. It doesn't turn reddish orange as you dim like standard filament bulbs.

 

[rydan]

Dimming the cfl bulbs

Dimming the cfl bulbs

As the member stated, there was a switch on top of the dimmer that was set to led .. I changed it to the cfl setting and it kinda worked but made a humming sound. ( Ecosmart helix cfl brand , made in China crap ) Bought the led bulbs at the Depot ( 4 for $10.00 ) and it works perfect !!!!! Got the daylight ones and she loves it .. Yep