LED lights won't turn off completely and can't reach maximum brightness.

[kochjv]

I have 3 Progress Lighting Beyond 17-Watt LED Wall Sconces with a Lutron Maestro C-L dimmer model MACL-153M. I believe I have installed the dimmer correctly and the programming appears to be successful. However, the lights do not completely shut off. I am also unable to raise the lights to the maximum brightness. The documentation for the Progress lights indicates they are dimmable to 10% with an ELV type dimmer.

Can you tell if I have the correct dimmer and, if so, if the symptoms are characteristic of this type of dimmer?

Thanks

[Jai H.]

I have 3 Progress Lighting Beyond 17-Watt LED Wall Sconces with a Lutron Maestro C-L dimmer model MACL-153M. I believe I have installed the dimmer correctly and the programming appears to be successful. However, the lights do not completely shut off. I am also unable to raise the lights to the maximum brightness. The documentation for the Progress lights indicates they are dimmable to 10% with an ELV type dimmer.

Can you tell if I have the correct dimmer and, if so, if the symptoms are characteristic of this type of dimmer?

Thanks

Hello kochjv, The Maestro dimmer is a digital control. Because of this, there is no mechanical relay inside which turns the lights on and off. As a digital control, there is a very small amount of electrical current that runs through the circuit when the lights are off. Some LEDs react to this current by dimly glowing in the off-state. There is no safety concern with this happening. It is just simply not a compatible dimmer/LED combination.

The MACL-153M is not an ELV dimmer. Since we have not tested these fixtures, we cannot guarantee compatibility with any of our controls. We would suggest contacting Progress Lighting to see if they can recommend a specific dimmer for your fixtures.

[kochjv]

Hello kochjv, The Maestro dimmer is a digital control. Because of this, there is no mechanical relay inside which turns the lights on and off. As a digital control, there is a very small amount of electrical current that runs through the circuit when the lights are off. Some LEDs react to this current by dimly glowing in the off-state. There is no safety concern with this happening. It is just simply not a compatible dimmer/LED combination.

The MACL-153M is not an ELV dimmer. Since we have not tested these fixtures, we cannot guarantee compatibility with any of our controls. We would suggest contacting Progress Lighting to see if they can recommend a specific dimmer for your fixtures.

Jai,

I contacted Progress Lighting and they recommended the Lutron MAELV-600 dimmer as they have tested it with these lights. After installing the MAELV-600, I get full brightness, on/off and even fade to off. But the dimmer does not work. I can find no instructions indicating I have to program the dimmer and none of the Advanced Programming Mode features appear to control the dimming of the lights. This shouldn't be this difficult. I'm obviously missing something but I don't know what. The troubleshooting guide that comes with the dimmer does not address problems with dimming the lights.

[Jai H.]

Jai,

I contacted Progress Lighting and they recommended the Lutron MAELV-600 dimmer as they have tested it with these lights. After installing the MAELV-600, I get full brightness, on/off and even fade to off. But the dimmer does not work. I can find no instructions indicating I have to program the dimmer and none of the Advanced Programming Mode features appear to control the dimming of the lights. This shouldn't be this difficult. I'm obviously missing something but I don't know what. The troubleshooting guide that comes with the dimmer does not address problems with dimming the lights.

kochjv,

It sounds as though the dimmer is wired backwards. a way to test this is to pull the tab out at the bottom of the dimmer. If the LED indicator lights on the dimmer do not go out, it is wired backwards. The 120V feed should be going to the black screw or wire, and the lights should be attached to the brass screw or red wire.

[kochjv]

kochjv,

It sounds as though the dimmer is wired backwards. a way to test this is to pull the tab out at the bottom of the dimmer. If the LED indicator lights on the dimmer do not go out, it is wired backwards. The 120V feed should be going to the black screw or wire, and the lights should be attached to the brass screw or red wire.

Jai,

You are a genius. I had carefully plugged the dimmer switch with the same wiring configuration used for the original rocker switch. I flipped the wires as you recommended and all is well.

Thank you

[Jai H.]

Jai,

You are a genius. I had carefully plugged the dimmer switch with the same wiring configuration used for the original rocker switch. I flipped the wires as you recommended and all is well.

Thank you

That's great! I'm glad it was a simple fix for you!

[yeahgofigure]

believe I have installed the dimmer correctly and the programming appears to be successful. However, the lights do not completely shut off. I am also unable to raise the lights to the maximum brightness.

I had similar problem. Replaced 3 pendant lights with incandescent bulbs with 3 new pendants with LED bulbs. Dimmer worked fine before but afterwards had this mentioned problem. Double checked wiring, replaced dimmer switch, then finally popped in an old incandescent bulb and boom worked fine. Finally checked the very small print on the LED bulb box and there it is was "non-dimmable". Switching to dimmable LEDs.

[JoeCustomer]

Hello,

I realize this is an older thread, but I'm having the same issue, and I've recently installed a LUT-MLC W18 on one of my dimmers. The Caseta has two black wires that connect to the two black wires that come out of the wall, and the green wire is connected to the ground; post in this configuration I get full functionality out of the dimmer, but I still have some ghosting. Installing the LUT-MLC by connecting it to one of the black wires and to the white neutral wire seems to have reduced the glow, but it doesn't fully address the issue. I'd like to know if there is a way another way to approach this; should I connect one of the LUT-MLC wires to the white neutral, and the other black wire to BOTH of the black wires that connect to the dimmer?

Thanks in advance!

[JoeCustomer]

Okay... I think I figured I out. Apparently I'd connected the MLC to the feed side of the dimmer. What I need to do is connect it to the fixture side of the dimmer so that the minimum load would be absorbed. There is no labeling on the switch that indicates which is which, so some experimentation was necessary.

[mar0bin]

Okay... I think I figured I out. Apparently I'd connected the MLC to the feed side of the dimmer. What I need to do is connect it to the fixture side of the dimmer so that the minimum load would be absorbed. There is no labeling on the switch that indicates which is which, so some experimentation was necessary.

So did you swap the two blacks as you indicated that one of the blacks was wired to the neutral? I also have the caseta dimmer and yes there is no label to indicate the feed side.