New RRD-6ND?

[smart_home_guy]

Any news on how the RDD-6ND will compare cost and performance wise with the 6NA? I just bought a bunch of 6NA’s, almost exclusively to control LEDs, which I’ll likely keep, but I’m curious what I might be missing out on....

[SDR-Mike]

The new RRD-6ND is intended for the RA2Select line, but should come and play with those of us using RadioRA2. List is $139.00, which is a nice price point to hit. My go to was the 10ND at $199. Still only forward phase, neutral required, but most likely covers a lot of the places I was spec'ing the 10ND. Should save a bit of money for all involved.

[smart_home_guy]

The new RRD-6ND is intended for the RA2Select line, but should come and play with those of us using RadioRA2. List is $139.00, which is a nice price point to hit. My go to was the 10ND at $199. Still only forward phase, neutral required, but most likely covers a lot of the places I was spec'ing the 10ND. Should save a bit of money for all involved.

Interesting. I notice in the release notes for RadioRA 12.0 it says: "A new neutral based RF dimmer has been added for improved LED control."

I'm just trying to parse if "improved" is in comparison to the 6CL, or the 6NA, which was already neutral-based.

[SDR-Mike]

Interesting. I notice in the release notes for RadioRA 12.0 it says: "A new neutral based RF dimmer has been added for improved LED control."

I'm just trying to parse if "improved" is in comparison to the 6CL, or the 6NA, which was already neutral-based.

I would assume it works similarly to the RRD-10ND. That has always been my "go-to" dimmer for reliability. I always hated watching people use the 6CL for the cost, when the 10ND was a better choice almost 95% of the time. Now there is no excuse. Run the neutrals as long as you have them. Run the CL when you don't. And the 6NA when the customer can't make up their mind, but let them know they might be buying a replacement dimmer if it's wrong.

[schalliol]

+1 month I thought I'd bump this.

It does get confusing with al the options out there. Certainly the 6NA is the go to for reverse phase, but it gets confusing now as to what's best. Yes, we can use the LED tool, but it's often out of date.

Here's what Lutron posts today for dimmers:

• Incandescent/Halogen/MLV (120 V~)
  
  • RRD-6CL-XX 600 W / 600 VA (Incandescent / Halogen / MLV) or 150 W (CFL / LED) Two-Wire Dimmer
  • RRD-6ND-XX 600 W / 600 VA Neutral Wire Dimmer
  • RRD-6D-XX 600 W Incandescent / Halogen, 600 VA MLV [this is on the way out]
  • RRD-10D-XX 1000 W / 1000 VA Dimmer
  • RRD-10ND-XX 1000 W / 1000 VA Neutral Wire Dimmer
  
  
• Incandescent / Halogen / MLV / ELV (120 V~)
  
  • RRD-6NA-XX 600 W / 600 VA Neutral Wire Adaptive Dimmer
  
  
• 3-Wire Fluorescent/LED (120-277 V~)
  
  • RRD-F6AN-DV-XX 6 A Neutral Wire Dimmer

One wrinkle: I believe the seeTouch Hybrid non-CL keypad is basically a 6D, while the C•L version is just a 6CL, but I'm not 100% sure.

I'd be interested in your thoughts on what you'd choose. Given that 6CL is cheapest, that seems to be preferred if it works, but it's hard to say which to use if you don't need reverse phase, as I've seen some that should work on 6NA very well but work better on 6CL. How does 6ND fit into this for you?

[SDR-Mike]

The new RRD-6ND-xx has a list cost of $139.00. RRD-6CL-xx is $149.00. I see the 6ND becoming the new go-to, on cost and the fact it is a better choice probably 95% of the time over the 6CL.

[schalliol]

Oh, now that's interesting. So the 6ND is a actually cheaper. I don't see it now, but there used to be a table that showed the load range (where 6NA goes lower than 6CL, etc.). I imagine a neutral could help with stability. What's the rated load handling for each?

Is the only reason someone would pick a 6CL is because they don't have a neutral available, and is the only reason someone would pick 6NA because it's reverse?

[SDR-Mike]

Is the only reason someone would pick a 6CL is because they don't have a neutral available, and is the only reason someone would pick 6NA because it's reverse?

That would be my thinking for anything that I specify from now on. Minimum load should be 10W like the 10ND. Functionally the same parts, just not as strong. The 6NA is not a triac/wave chopper dimmer. It uses FET and has been designed for the 5W minimum load. I've used the 6NA down to 6W no problem. Just the "super dimmer" that is the 6NA sometimes encounters MLV Kryptonite and goes to the three LEDs of death. That requires a dimmer to be replaced under warranty and results usually in an unhappy homeowner.

[Bill13]

+1 month I thought I'd bump this.

It does get confusing with al the options out there. Certainly the 6NA is the go to for reverse phase, but it gets confusing now as to what's best. Yes, we can use the LED tool, but it's often out of date.

Here's what Lutron posts today for dimmers:

• Incandescent/Halogen/MLV (120 V~)
  
  • RRD-6CL-XX 600 W / 600 VA (Incandescent / Halogen / MLV) or 150 W (CFL / LED) Two-Wire Dimmer
  • RRD-6ND-XX 600 W / 600 VA Neutral Wire Dimmer
  • RRD-6D-XX 600 W Incandescent / Halogen, 600 VA MLV [this is on the way out]
  • RRD-10D-XX 1000 W / 1000 VA Dimmer
  • RRD-10ND-XX 1000 W / 1000 VA Neutral Wire Dimmer
  
  
• Incandescent / Halogen / MLV / ELV (120 V~)
  
  • RRD-6NA-XX 600 W / 600 VA Neutral Wire Adaptive Dimmer
  
  
• 3-Wire Fluorescent/LED (120-277 V~)
  
  • RRD-F6AN-DV-XX 6 A Neutral Wire Dimmer

One wrinkle: I believe the seeTouch Hybrid non-CL keypad is basically a 6D, while the C•L version is just a 6CL, but I'm not 100% sure.

I'd be interested in your thoughts on what you'd choose. Given that 6CL is cheapest, that seems to be preferred if it works, but it's hard to say which to use if you don't need reverse phase, as I've seen some that should work on 6NA very well but work better on 6CL. How does 6ND fit into this for you?

The RRD-6CL is only rated for 450 watts when controlling MLV. Helpful list otherwise, thanks for posting!

[schalliol]

My experience is that the 6CL does a better job of controlling some of the LEDs than the 6NA, which really surprised me. It just gets so confusing as to which really is best.