Phantom dimming / fluctuating issue

Hi everyone,

I just had an electrician install eight (8) LED recessed lights connected to a single Lutron Diva DVCL-153P dimmer in my living room.

He also installed four (4) of the same lights and same dimmer in my office.

The LED lights are the following model: https://dawnray.ca/product/DR40RG-WH.

The living room lights have a very strange issue. At lower dimming levels (i.e. from 0% to around 40%), the lights fluctuate / dim up and down by themselves. It's very distracting. It's not a flicker though... it's more slow and irregular.I'm attaching a video showing the problem.

The office lights (same lights and dimmer) are totally fine even at the dimmest setting.

We swapped the living room dimmer for a new one but it made no difference.



Appreciate your advice!

Tom

Hi Tom. With what is occurring there is a possibility that (2) things are causing the issue. (1) With 8 of that LED in the line in the dining room the LEDs could be causing enough noise on the line that is causing the issue. (2). If both the office lights and living rooms lights are on the same breaker/share the same neutral line the LEDs between both locations could be causing noise on the neutral line, causing a neutral interaction issue that you are seeing. We'd recommend to pinpoint the to troubleshoot at the living room location with only a non-LED load (incandescent or halogen) connected and see if the issue persists. Taking a quick look at the LEDs the manufacturer states for dimming "Compatible with industry TRIAC/ELV dimmers". If you have a neutral connection at the wallbox in the living room we would recommend an LED dimmer that requires a neutral connection, such as the DVRP-253P as a neutral based dimmer can resolve this issue. We have not tested this LED here at Lutron but with the issue that is occurring using a neutral based dimmer should assist. If you have any other questions our tech support team is available 24/7 at (1-888-588-7661) and support@lutron.com.

Hi Dorothy thanks very much for your reply.

Regarding (1), I was thinking of unplugging some of the LEDs , one by one, to see if it changes anything. Sounds like this would be worthwhile to test first.

For (2) The problem occurs even when the office lights are turned off.

The idea of using the RP dimmer sounds interesting. I do believe there is a neutral connection in the box but I will confirm this with my electrician. On this topic, It doesn't seem easy to find the RP dimmer for sale. Are these in short supply right now?

Thanks!

Hello Tom,
The DVRP-253P is considered a PRO dimmer so it will only be available online to certified dealers as well as local electrical warehouses that carry Lutron's PRO products. It will be not available at big box stores such as Home Depot, Menards, Lowes, etc. We'd recommend to use the "where to buy tool" @ https://www.lutron.com/en-US/Pages/W...Selection.aspx to find local dealers in your area that carry this product. Please note that when using the tool it may still bring up big box stores in the search results so just skip over those and look at the local electrical distributors/dealers in the results. We hope this helps! If you have any other questions our tech support team is available anytime, 24/7. at (1-888-588-7661) and support@lutron.com.

Thanks again Dorothy. I tried the where to buy tool but I got 0 results within 50 miles of my city (Toronto - biggest city in Canada). Can this be accurate?

One other question... I noticed that the dimmer installed by my electrician looks a bit different than the one of the same model I bought myself. His has a blue adjustment slider but mine has a black one. Are these dimmers different in any way?
Attachment 895

Hey Tom- The adjustment dial for the DVCL-153Ps changed from being black to now blue. The aside from the color change and potentially the aesthetics of the dial they serve the same purpose- they are the same dimmer. As far as the "where to buy tool" it is typically pretty accurate as long as you change the country to Canada if you are located in Canada and enter in your local postal code. We'd recommend to check online as there are lots of sellers that the sell the DVRP-253P including Amazon. We hope this helps! If you have any other questions our tech support team is available 24/7.

Thanks once again Dorothy. I found that the tool didn't recognize my postal code, that's why it showed zero listings. It's a new postal code as of 2018... so your site might need an update!

I have reached out to the appropriate team here at Lutron regarding the "where to buy tool" and making sure it is up to date with newer zip codes/postal codes. Again, thank you for bringing this to our attention and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. If you have any other questions our tech support team is available 24/7 at (1-888-588-7661) and support@lutron.com.

Thank you Dorothy.
My electrician said he can't get a hold of the Lutron RP dimmer and wants to try a different dimmer that he uses called Legrand. I am going to let him try that and we'll see what happens... I will try to remember to report back!

Update: The Legrand dimmer worked. Probably thanks to the neutral wire. However it was too large to fit in the electrical box!
So I am now on the hunt for the Lutron DVRP with neutral connection, which seems to be smaller, and the same size as the non-RP Diva.
It looks like it's back ordered everywhere... Can you provide an idea of when it will be restocked? OR are there other lutron dimmers that have a neutral wire?

Hi Tom- aside from the DVRP-253P, there is also the Skylark Contour CTRP-253P. The Maestro MA-PRO also take a neutral connection. The Diva, Skylark Contour, and Maestro all take the same wallplate opening and have similar dimensions. If you have any other questions our tech support team is available at (1-888-588-7661) and at support@lutron.com.

Thanks a lot, that's helpful!

Hi there,
Just wanted to update you and for anyone else reading this thread.
I got the Lutron MA-PRO and it works beautifully. It is connected to a neutral.
The lights can dim down to a very low level and there are no more pulsing/fluctuating issues.
It's the same size (maybe even a little smaller) than the old Diva DVCL-153P.