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Thread: two MA-600H dimmer switches in 3-way lighting system now don't work after 11 yrs!

  1. #1
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    two MA-600H dimmer switches in 3-way lighting system now don't work after 11 yrs!

    I renovated my childhood home in '07 and installed all Lutron control systems for lighting and fans. No issues until today when I installed an LED bulb in the Lightolier track lights in my office. Now the MA-600H dimmer switch at either end cannot turn of the lights. Both switch's dimmer control work fine.
    Do I now need to replace the MA-600H with the MACL-153 to solve this? I had read that the original controllers can handle LED bulbs as well. so what am I dealing with here? What is required to correct it? I can certainly replace the switches, but is this really required? If this change is made, will this prohibit the use of incandescent and halogen bulbs in this system?

    Thank you.

  2. #2
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    You should not have 2 dimmers controlling the same set of lights. I'm surprised it worked at all but incandescent bulbs were more forgiving. You need a remote (MA-R) in the other locations. There are advanced instructions for using a single mechanical 3-way with a dimmer.

    The MA-600 was never intended to work with LED bulbs, especially one from that era. It has a high minimum load, no neutral, etc. The MACL-153 is going to be a better choice.
    Convergence Technologies Raleigh, North Carolina
    www.convergenceusa.com

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  4. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by randyc View Post
    You should not have 2 dimmers controlling the same set of lights. I'm surprised it worked at all but incandescent bulbs were more forgiving. You need a remote (MA-R) in the other locations. There are advanced instructions for using a single mechanical 3-way with a dimmer.

    The MA-600 was never intended to work with LED bulbs, especially one from that era. It has a high minimum load, no neutral, etc. The MACL-153 is going to be a better choice.
    Randy, thank you for your reply. the Electrician team that did the original install noted that in using the MA-R units would not switch off the lights, only raise or lower their brightness. when operating across a room that is not useful, as it would requite walking back across to a single switch to turn it off.

    Obviously, the Lutron Maestro were the wrong choice for this application and five other rooms that now need to be replaced as I move to LEDs.

    I also noted that in the Master bath I was able to install the same LED bulbs in ceiling cans replacing Halogens, with the Lutron Skylark dimmer switches in a 3-way connection with a standard Lutron on/off switch installed at the same time. It appears that may be a simpler and far less expensive configuration to use, although I do loose the ability to adjust brightness at either switch location.

    What am I missing here?

  5. #4
    Senior Member
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    Jan 2018
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    Hello claretva,

    Thank you for your post!

    I just wanted to stop by and explain a few things. 1. The MA-R can absolutely turn on and off the lights as well as dim. They have the same physical appearance as the Maestro just without the indicator lights.

    Please see the below install guide. This includes the MA-R and other Maestro dimmers. Under operations it explains its ability to turn the lights on and off:

    http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocum...y/0301122A.pdf

    2. As for the LEDs not turning off 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, but there are ways to stop this from happening. The first would be to use LED's that have been tested for compatibility and are listed on the LED Compatibility Tool, found at www.lutron.com/compatibility.

    Adding a more resistive load, like an incandescent bulb, to this lighting circuit can help. This will help to absorb that leakage current and stabilize the circuit. You could also try a neutral based Maestro dimmer, such as the MRF2S-6ND-120 as its neutral will help to absorb the leakage of current and stabilize the circuit as well.

    Finally, you can use a analog dimmer, such as the Skylark, as this will physically disconnect the circuit when off, stopping the leakage of current altogether.

    Hope this helps!

    Julia K.

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