I wanted to post about this issue because I called tech support multiple times and they had no idea what I was talking about, had never heard of this happening, were trying to tell me some crazy reason why this could be happening, would get very frustrated with me almost to the point that they just couldn't wait to get off the phone and through trial and error we figured out a solution.

Let me first start out by saying we use Maestro MACL switches exclusively (Unless customer doesn't want them) and we have ran in to compatibility issues and other programming issues many times. Let me also say that just because Lutron does not have an LED on their compatible list that does not mean that this switch wont work as we have found out time and time again, it just means they have not tested it, with that being said it is good practice to go with something on their list however not always possible because they can't test everything.
We installed: Phillips lighting 12.5PAR30L / F25 2700 DIM SO (929001132304)

Anyways to the point!

Our Lutron Maestro MACL switches on a job started acting up when the client started using them more and more and soon enough what would happen is that all the LED's on the switch very dimly lit and would all flash at the same time on and off and when this happened you would lose control of the dimmer, unable to turn the lights on or off as well as lose all dimming functions, unable to put it in to program mode, you can pull out the FAS switch and/or disconnect power and once the power was restored it would go back in to this disabled mode. You could only regain control whenever the switch decided it wanted you to control it again. It is important to note that this would not happen every single time, you would need to really be using the switch or testing it like; On/off, dim up/down etc. to really try to take the switch to its full capacity however not within reason and it would also act up for the client with just a simple on/off. There would be random times where the switch all on its own would turn the lights on and off without even being touched and this would last for about 5-20 minutes. We have no explanation for these symptoms and have never seen anything remotely close to this before, and again, we have installed hundreds of these switches on many LED light bulbs and drivers that are not on Lutron's compatible list. Generally when something is not compatible we see other symptoms that we have been able to easily point out.

So what was wrong?

Well quite honestly we still don't know, but our best guess would be that the inrush of the LED lamps was so much that it was causing the MACL's to be so overwhelmed that it would just freeze up. We did find out that it was due to these light bulbs because we eliminated one LED light bulb and replaced it with a Halogen and the problem went away(One tech support suggested this light bulb swap but no other solution to keep the Lutron product in play). However these light bulbs were $30 a piece and we have 48 of them so replacing them was not an option and we needed to find a better solution.

This is what we found to be our solutions:

Solution 1: Remove the MACL and install a Lutron Diva DVCL-153. This solution was a great remedy because the switches are comparable in price and ultimately is what we did.

Solution 2: Remove the MACL and install a Lutron ELV. This is a very expensive option, but it worked! We believe it worked because the ELV can handle the inrush and the dimming required for these light bulbs essentially.

Solution 3: Remove all the LED lamps and install Halogen/Incandescent lamps. We are not going back to the 90's though, so we did not do this!


You will not find this problem listed anywhere, you will not talk to any tech support that will know this issue (Well maybe now you will if they are reading this) and it can be very frustrating as it was for us. This however painful was a great learning experience and I hope that my problem and solution can help someone out there in the electrical world!