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I am using the Nicor DLR56 LED retrofits for can lights for my customers and am having some flickering problems at random times and at varying dimming levels. I am using a approved dimmer from Lutrons product report card.
I have tried the AYCL 153 and the TGCL 153 and neither one seems to help.
This house is in a rural area where the power quality is somewhat poor at times I am sure.
Can somebody give me a dimmer model that has the best line noise attenuation possible for my problem?
Good afternoon strawburner,
Sorry for the delayed response.
We have seen behaviors like this before in applications that have dirty power or a lot of line fluctuations. However, we have also seen this behavior if another dimmer, appliance or any number of electronic devices that add spikes to the line are turned on.
The way a dimmer dims is by turning the lights on and off 120 times a second. Based upon the on time of the signal you will either get brighter or dimmer light. Less on time = dimmer light because the lights are not running as long each cycle.
During this rapid cycling on and off there is a spike present before the dimmer turns on, we call this repetitive peak. When controlling incandescent or halogen bulbs you normally will never experience misbehaviors because these bulbs are resistive in nature and act like a filter for the line, suppressing the repetitive peak. On the other hand, LEDs are capacitive and can greatly increase this repetitive peak, resulting in misbehaviors.
In some cases, even if the dimmer and LED are compatible, you can experience misbehaviors due to other equipment installed in your home. We have seen air conditioners, LED / LCD TV’s, appliances with digital displays, non-dim CFL on another switch and many other devices that can cause interference and influence dimming behavior negatively.
If you don’t know what is influencing the misbehavior, there is a way to determine what is causing the interference, but it may not always be an option. Turn off all of your circuit breakers, except for the one that is having the misbehavior. Then turn off all other dimmers and switches and unplug everything that is in an outlet. Now turn the dimmer on to see if it still has the issue, if it does it could be incompatible or the quantity that is causing this performance.
However, if it works fine, start turning on other dimmers and switches to see if the performance changes. If it doesn’t, start plugging in and turning on the appliances to see if the performance changes. In the event that is doesn’t, turn on another circuit breaker and repeat the steps until you can find the switch, dimmer or plugged in devices that is influencing this dimmer.
If you find that a plug in device is the root cause, you can purchase a plug in RFI filter. Plug the filter into the receptacle and them plug the offending device into it. This will eliminate the spikes on the line that the LEDs are picking up on. If you find that it is another switch or dimmer, on a different breaker, that is the root cause you can change the phase of the offending breaker. By changing the phase you are now tied into a different neutral bar on the panel and the noise from that circuit will never reach these LEDs. If changing the phase is not an option, either replace the dimmer with a switch or replace the bulbs with incandescent or halogen.
If conducting the above steps is not an option or if the misbehavior still occurs when the dimmer is the only device being powered you could try the AYCL-253P which is able to handle this type of conditions better.
Please let me know if you have any questions.