Converting my RadioRA System to LED

I have a RadioRA system installed in my house in 2006. The repeater is marked with RA-REP, and in the lower left it has the ID "BRN51". My dimmers are marked with "RA-6D".

My first question: is this a "RadioRA Classic" system? I'd love to hear that it's either RadioRA-2, or at least compatible with RadioRA-2.

Secondly, and based on the information above, what would it take for me to upgrade my system to support LED bulbs? For what it's worth, I'm looking at the Soraa PAR30 long-neck bulbs.

What options do I have to upgrade?

You have the RA Classic, unfortunately. It is not compatible with RA2. Depending on the number of bulbs on each switch, there may be a solution without changing out to RA2.

The TCP BR30 dimmable LED lamps dim very well with my RRD-6D dimmers, the equal of your RA-6D. But You'll need at least three from what I've heard. I have four on the RRD-6D and the performance was excellent. I did need to tune the low end trim via the software. There should be a way to set a low end trim through the Maestro Advanced Programming mode- http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/048370A.pdf

Thank you for the response. Unfortunately, now that I've seen the Soraa's, my heart's set on them. Particularly given the longevity of LED bulbs, I'm going to want something nice. I think I'm going to try to find a way to upgrade my system with the best cost possible, so will be re-directing to the RadioRA 2 forum for an upgrade strategy.

If you are set on the Soraa, why not get a few and try them out? I wouldn't convert the whole house yet. Unfortunately, Soraa is not listed for anything in RA2 for the non-neutral RRD-6CL. Doesn't mean that they won't work. It does show two Soraa bulbs for the RRD-10ND.

I have three coming in the mail in a day or two. My first strategy is to tackle rooms with non-integrated (non-wireless) Maestro CL dimmers. I'm testing three different colors.

Well, I tried out three Soraa bulbs (varying only in color: 2700°K [model 01481], 3000°K [model 01497], and 4000°K [model 01513]). These are PAR30 long neck 50° floods, using 12.5W to put out 575, 620, and 645 lumens at 95 CRI.

To begin with, I swapped out an existing Lutron Diva dimmer (DV-600P) with a new Maestro C?L dimmer (MACL-153M-SW). Regarding the colors, the 4000°K (which I had in mind for the kitchen) was too blue for me. I'll be using the 3000° in the kitchen, and 2700° in the living areas.

The bulbs worked quite well, and were able to dim down quite far. They tend to flicker for a little bit at the lowest setting, but eventually settle down to an even, low light. Naturally, on a dim setting you get a much cooler color with the LED than you would with a halogen/incandescent, but that's to be expected. I did have to tune the dimmer low setting a little bit; at the rock bottom setting the lights would continue flickering intermittently. At the tuned setting, they're still quite low (think low low ambient for movie watching). Also, going from off to lowest setting, they take about five seconds to come on. The light quality of the bulbs is excellent, however, with very even illumination across the 50° flood. All in all, I'm very happy. Oh, and no humming at all that I could make out.

On an interesting side note, I tried out the bulb in one of my RadioRA classic circuits, and it was excellent! No flickering, evenly dimmable even to the lowest setting, and with zero humming.

These bulbs are comparatively expensive, but they seem to do very well in the newer C?L dimmers as well as my RadioRA classic system.

I would adjust the low end trim of the Maestro dimmer using the advanced setting. http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocum...ary/048459.pdf

I love the SORAA bulbs too!

Hey hollasch,

I'm in the same boat as you. Most of my home has RadioRA classic. I wanted to swap out my most used lights with LEDs and on my first go with 3 PAR30 short necks on a RA-6D I get ghosting. There is no option to set the low end trim with the classic dimmers - at least I can't get into APM following the instructions above. I bought these bulbs at Lowe's. Do you think that 3 Soraa bulbs would solve this issue for me based on your tests? I would be fine with spending more money on the Soraa bulbs if they didn't ghost or hum.

Thanks,
JP

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Originally Posted by hollasch

Well, I tried out three Soraa bulbs (varying only in color: 2700°K [model 01481], 3000°K [model 01497], and 4000°K [model 01513]). These are PAR30 long neck 50° floods, using 12.5W to put out 575, 620, and 645 lumens at 95 CRI.

To begin with, I swapped out an existing Lutron Diva dimmer (DV-600P) with a new Maestro C?L dimmer (MACL-153M-SW). Regarding the colors, the 4000°K (which I had in mind for the kitchen) was too blue for me. I'll be using the 3000° in the kitchen, and 2700° in the living areas.

The bulbs worked quite well, and were able to dim down quite far. They tend to flicker for a little bit at the lowest setting, but eventually settle down to an even, low light. Naturally, on a dim setting you get a much cooler color with the LED than you would with a halogen/incandescent, but that's to be expected. I did have to tune the dimmer low setting a little bit; at the rock bottom setting the lights would continue flickering intermittently. At the tuned setting, they're still quite low (think low low ambient for movie watching). Also, going from off to lowest setting, they take about five seconds to come on. The light quality of the bulbs is excellent, however, with very even illumination across the 50° flood. All in all, I'm very happy. Oh, and no humming at all that I could make out.

On an interesting side note, I tried out the bulb in one of my RadioRA classic circuits, and it was excellent! No flickering, evenly dimmable even to the lowest setting, and with zero humming.

These bulbs are comparatively expensive, but they seem to do very well in the newer C?L dimmers as well as my RadioRA classic system.

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Originally Posted by jaypopsu

… Most of my home has RadioRA classic. … Do you think that 3 Soraa bulbs would solve this issue for me based on your tests?

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To strictly answer your question, yes, I think they would. The real answer, though, is that for the time being we're all beta testers for our own systems. My suspicion is that you'll find the lamps/bulbs don't work well at the lowest setting (I had to adjust this on the newer C?L dimmer). Not a big deal, though, as you can just program the levels that you want. I have not yet filled in one of my classic systems with these lamps, so I can't give you anything other than the brief test I did earlier.

My recommendation is to buy one or more (I bought three different temperatures) lamps, try them out in your fixtures, and return the ones that don't work. I can also add that eight months later I'm still quite happy with them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hollasch

To strictly answer your question, yes, I think they would. The real answer, though, is that for the time being we're all beta testers for our own systems. My suspicion is that you'll find the lamps/bulbs don't work well at the lowest setting (I had to adjust this on the newer C?L dimmer). Not a big deal, though, as you can just program the levels that you want. I have not yet filled in one of my classic systems with these lamps, so I can't give you anything other than the brief test I did earlier.

My recommendation is to buy one or more (I bought three different temperatures) lamps, try them out in your fixtures, and return the ones that don't work. I can also add that eight months later I'm still quite happy with them.

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All I recommend are the SORAA 2700 and 3000 Vivid series (I find the R9 rating to make a difference).They are worth the money! I'll put in others if they are provided BUT no guarantees they will work or that they will be liked.