# LED Blinking...switch is off



## macmikeman

Well, my first thought was you mean you still have a toolbag around someplace??


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## tam

http://www.lutron.com/Education-Training/LCE/Pages/DimmingCFLsandLEDs.aspx

I just installed a dimmer for some "high quality" led recessed cans, im thinking its the dimmer. 

If you really want to check, take out the switch and hook the switch leg and feed together to see if the problem continues. if not, its the switch, is so its the lights. hope it helps.


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## emahler

macmikeman said:


> Well, my first thought was you mean you still have a toolbag around someplace??


yeah...but apparently my knowledge got lost somewhere along the way...LOL


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## emahler

tam said:


> http://www.lutron.com/Education-Training/LCE/Pages/DimmingCFLsandLEDs.aspx
> 
> I just installed a dimmer for some "high quality" led recessed cans, im thinking its the dimmer.
> 
> If you really want to check, take out the switch and hook the switch leg and feed together to see if the problem continues. if not, its the switch, is so its the lights. hope it helps.


i'm thinking it's the dimmer as well...just curious why it did not happen when one recess was the LED retro and the other was still the incandescent. when I took the incandescent out is when the LED started...same switch...


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## Celtic

I was by Battleview Orchards on Saturday...


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## HARRY304E

emahler said:


> Put one of the Halo All-Pro LED retro units in my kitchen, was happy with it...the unit I put in was on a DIVA dimmer, with 1 other recessed.
> 
> Today, I put the LED retro in the 2nd recess on that switch leg, and they started to glow on and off...and the switch was off...
> 
> I disconnected the 2nd LED, the original one still glowed on and off...
> 
> looking to see if the dimmer is compatible, can't find a definitive answer...
> 
> anyone familiar? never used these before..bunch of retro's with CREE, but they make life easy and tell you what dimmers to use...
> 
> thoughts? ideas?


You need this type of dimmer switch.http://www.dimmers.net/cfl_led_dimmers.asp


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## tam

I think this is your answer 
what I'm thinking s that when the incandescent light is in, its having that voltage flux causing it to flicker.


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## emahler

Celtic said:


> I was by Battleview Orchards on Saturday...


goody for you...LOL...where the hell is that? and what does it have to do with LED's? are you saying that Battleview is near me and you sabotaged my stuff?:laughing: am I gonna find pie crumbs when i pull the switch out?


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## McClary’s Electrical

emahler said:


> i'm thinking it's the dimmer as well...just curious why it did not happen when one recess was the LED retro and the other was still the incandescent. when I took the incandescent out is when the LED started...same switch...


 
The incandescent was bleeding the small amount of voltage that you have on your lampholder to the grounded conductor. The LED's won't do that. Find out where that voltage is coming from.


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## emahler

HARRY304E said:


> You need this type of dimmer switch.http://www.dimmers.net/cfl_led_dimmers.asp


gathered that...doesn't explain the glowing when the switch is off with just LEDs. but no glowing when it was an LED and and incandescent.


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## emahler

mcclary's electrical said:


> The incandescent was bleeding the small amount of voltage that you have on your lampholder to the grounded conductor. The LED's won't do that. Find out where that voltage is coming from.


that's what I was thinking...i'm guessing the voltage is coming through the dimmer...the Diva isn't a positive off, i believe...


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## emahler

tam said:


> I think this is your answer
> what I'm thinking s that when the incandescent light is in, its having that voltage flux causing it to flicker.
> 
> View attachment 14673


nope, that's the opposite problem. this one turned on when it wasn't supposed to.


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## Celtic

emahler said:


> goody for you...LOL...where the hell is that? and what does it have to do with LED's? are you saying that Battleview is near me and you sabotaged my stuff?:laughing: am I gonna find pie crumbs when i pull the switch out?


:laughing:


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## B W E

The dimmer you're using requires a resistive load on it to function properly, such as an incandescent bulb. I dealt with this problem extensively with some LED tape light that I used for an entertainment center recently. I had 3 groups of tape light, controlled by three Lutron Spacer IR dimmers. The drivers for the LED were magnetic and were listed as "Dimmable", however, the Spacer dimmers were digital dimmers (digital doesn't necessarily have much to do with the problem) and required a resistive load to operate properly.

When the switch was off, the LEDs would stay on, at about 10%. This is one side effect, and blinking would be another. I tried about a million different things to get it to work properly, including installing resistors, connecting a 60 watt 120 volt incandescent bulb (not enough voltage to light the bulb, but was enough resistance to work) 

In the end, I had to wire in a 16" piece of rope light, one per driver, and conceal them in a small tube of black abs, so the light wouldn't show. Ended up working perfectly.

Bottom line is, you need a dimmer SPECIFICALLY rated for CFL/LED. Nothing else will both work properly and have a good lifespan.


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## LJSMITH1

If the dimmer has a Neon "locator light" that illuminates when off (I have some of these Lutron Skylark S-603PNL's at home), it will use the locator light circuit to pump a small amount of voltage and amperage (<1V & <1mA) through the light sockets to illuminate the small Neon locator light when the dimmer is shut off. When you unscrew all of the bulbs from this circuit, the neon light goes out. 

The LED bulbs you have must be sensitive to the low voltage/amperage coming from the dimmer, and they typically have a much lower resistive load. Solution - Either change out the dimmer, or put in a single incandescent bulb in the lighting circuit to increase the circuit resistance.


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## PetrosA

Divas have indicator lights. That's the problem.


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## captkirk

B W E said:


> The dimmer you're using requires a resistive load on it to function properly, such as an incandescent bulb. I dealt with this problem extensively with some LED tape light that I used for an entertainment center recently. I had 3 groups of tape light, controlled by three Lutron Spacer IR dimmers. The drivers for the LED were magnetic and were listed as "Dimmable", however, the Spacer dimmers were digital dimmers (digital doesn't necessarily have much to do with the problem) and required a resistive load to operate properly.
> 
> When the switch was off, the LEDs would stay on, at about 10%. This is one side effect, and blinking would be another. I tried about a million different things to get it to work properly, including installing resistors, connecting a 60 watt 120 volt incandescent bulb (not enough voltage to light the bulb, but was enough resistance to work)
> 
> In the end, I had to wire in a 16" piece of rope light, one per driver, and conceal them in a small tube of black abs, so the light wouldn't show. Ended up working perfectly.
> 
> Bottom line is, you need a dimmer SPECIFICALLY rated for CFL/LED. Nothing else will both work properly and have a good lifespan.


 It looks cool but the color of the light is too white IMO....


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## B W E

captkirk said:


> It looks cool but the color of the light is too white IMO....


The color of the lights is the exact same color as the whites in an led TV (6500k), and is the "industry standard" when backlighting a screen.


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## Electric_Light

indicator or not, it shouldn't be an issue if it's not a bleed through design.

Residential types that do not utilize neutral to support the indicator or internal electronics are bleed through type. 

Controls on non-bleed through type will work even without any load. 

Lutron does make a bleeder resistor so that it will bleed off some energy into the atmosphere so that your Light Emitting Decorations work at the best aesthetic performance.


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