Maestro Switch not working - low light, no off/on, no increase/decrease of levels.

Hi All - I've seen a few threads with similar symptoms of Maestro switches not working as intended, but there was enough differences here in my case that I thought it warranted a new thread.

I've got a 5 pendant light fixture in my dining room we recently bought from Pottery Barn, with Lucero LED edison 4W (40W equivalents) installed. All are brand new. The previous switch mechanism was a standard Lutron Paddle switch that works fine on the new light fixture, but I'd like to add the dimming functionality as it's our dining room and 5 40W's still can be a bit over-powering with no shades. Photos:

Attachment 484Attachment 485

The wiring appears to be a standard Switch loop, with the power coming in via the switch box and not the light box. I installed the Maestro in the same poles as the paddle switch, and the lights just stay on with about 20% intensity, regardless of the setting. I can't turn them off, I can't increase brightness, and I can't vary the dimming level at all. Photos:
Attachment 486

I tried adjusting the min/max via the instructions, and when I enter adjustment mode, the lights get a low level flicker to them. As I get to the bottom of the dimming range on the switch while in adjustment mode, the lights will pulse to max brightness every second. If I dial the min limit up 2 notches, it stops. I tried setting that as the lower limit, but still cant' increase brightness regardless, and can't turn off the lamp.

As a troubleshooting step, I reversed the poles on the switch, but had the same result. I'm not an electrician, and while i'm mildly competent at wiring and understand the workings of circuits I feel like i'm at the limit of my comfort range with troubleshooting and changing wiring configurations in the switch loop. But I suspect that it's either because of the wiring not being 100% correct, or because the LED's are the problem with their low W pull, and it just may not be an option for me.

Would I be better off with an analog dimmer? or is there a solution designed specifically for these types of Edison Bulbs that I should be using? They are incredibly trendy in restaurants and bars right now and all are dimmable setups, so I have to imagine there's a solution available.

Thanks!

What type of Maestro Dimmer are you using?

Maestro MACL-153M-WH CFL/LED Dimmer.

Hello sdixon26,

At this time we do not have any Edison/filament/vintage/nostalgic LED products listed on any of our compatibility lists or tools. We have conducted testing on a variety of manufactures that offer these types of LEDs, however we are unable to recommend any of them due to unsatisfactory performance.

These types of LEDs are extremely challenging to dim without any misbehavior due to the fact that they do not have the traditional LED driver circuitry installed in the base of the bulb. The driver circuitry helps to filter the line and stabilized dimming performance, without this the bulbs can be influenced/interfered with by any additional line fluctuations.

For now, anybody that is locked into installing these types of LEDs and would like to dim must contact the LED manufacturer to determine which dimming controls they have tested and found to be compatible.

Bummer, but thanks for the answer. I'll go check out the manufacturer and see if they have any recommendations. As a side note- would I stand a better chance using an analog dimmer vs. the digital dimmer?

Have there been any updates? Have any Edison bulbs been found to be compatible?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jehdubya

Have there been any updates? Have any Edison bulbs been found to be compatible?

---

I ended up buying another analog lutron switch, and i looked on the bulb manufacturer's website and picked the exact model that was compatible. It works for both a multi-bulb and single bulb fixture. It's kind of counter-intuitive as lightbulbs are traditionally the last consideration for any electrical switch, but it was the best fix available.

I bought and tried FEIT LED Edison bulbs at Home Depot. THEY WORK!!! Item# BPST19/LED/CAN
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.l...000833679.html

so one of the largest dimmer manufacturers in the continent does not support some of the most widely promoted and available bulb types.
I bought Maestro cfl/led dimmers and looks like they are all going back.
dimmer does not even support regular type dimmable led bulbs that came with my fixtures.
I appreciate there are technical challenges but dimmers in the specialty light fixture store worked well.
I was profoundly disappointed that you haven't figured this out - someone else obviously has a compatible product.
I will give the dimmer one more chance with a different brand Feit bulb, but I don't expect much.

The problem with the LED industry right now, is there is no industry standard for manufacturing LEDs. With every manufacturer making them differently, it's difficult to design a dimming control that works well with all of the LEDs on the market.

As for the filament style LEDs, we have approved a few. Please see the following report cards.

http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Resource...OCT%20RevA.pdf

http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Resource...%20REV%20A.pdf

http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Resource...%20REV%20B.pdf

http://www.lutron.com/en-US/Resource...%20REV%20A.pdf