Flickering LED downlights on a dimmer

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timmmay

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#196357 28-May-2016 07:18

I just had some Lons dimmable LED downlights installed by my electrician, along with Lons dimmable drivers. Sometimes after being on for a while they start to flicker. The first dimmer was a Kiwi Electronics universal dimmer, the second I wasn't told what it was. The LED and drivers are mainstream, from Lighting Plus, but on the cheaper end of the scale.

The puzzling thing is sometimes the light will be fine for 8 hours in a row, another time it will start to flicker after 30 - 60 minutes of use.

The roof it's install in is flat, and the drivers are under the insulation rather than on top of it. Could heat be causing this? Or simply an incompatible driver? What else could cause flickering LEDs?

I'll talk to my electrician, who's also my next door neighbor, just interested in experience / opinions of others.

gregmcc

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#1561068 28-May-2016 07:26

Quite a common problem, at low loads (like LED lights) some dimmers can't preform correctly, there are specific LED dimmers, get your electrician to source some good quality LED dimmers, been cheap on these will only cause problems

timmmay

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#1561069 28-May-2016 07:29

Not being cheap as such, I did a search for LED dimmers but I couldn't find any. Names of products and /or links would be appreciated.

The puzzling thing is sometimes the light will be fine for 8 hours in a row, another time it will start to flicker after 30 - 60 minutes of use.

gregmcc

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#1561076 28-May-2016 08:22

A couple of questions

how many lights on the dimmer?

does each light have it's own driver or are multiple light off 1 driver?

is it one light that is flickering or more?

timmmay

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#1561081 28-May-2016 08:31

Four lights, 10W each, each on their own driver. All lights are flickering about equally.

gregmcc

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#1561083 28-May-2016 08:38

timmmay:

Four lights, 10W each, each on their own driver. All lights are flickering about equally.

If all on the same dimmer then the blame would land squarely on the dimmer, although there is the possibility that the "dimmable drivers" aren't up to the claim of been dimmable.

Linuxluver

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#1561090 28-May-2016 08:51

timmmay:

Not being cheap as such, I did a search for LED dimmers but I couldn't find any. Names of products and /or links would be appreciated.

The puzzling thing is sometimes the light will be fine for 8 hours in a row, another time it will start to flicker after 30 - 60 minutes of use.

Other things drawing current on the same circuit could be relevant. What else is on? Time of day?

As an aside....I gave up on dimmers. More trouble than they are worth. Instead i have four lights in the room. If I want more, I turn them all on. If I want less, I turn fewer of them on. I had a dimmer before this but I found I rarely used it and with dimmable CFLs I got flickering and buzzing noises and with regular incandescent bulbs I was changing one or other of the 4 constantly....which requires a ladder.

Got rid of the dimmers. Problem solved.

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k1w1k1d

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#1561095 28-May-2016 09:24

Has anyone tried the new LED lights that have an internally installed driver? They are called Driver on Board(DOB) and don't require an external driver.

http://www.rexellighting.co.nz/product/opal-led-600-lumens?i=1781

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chimera

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#1561108 28-May-2016 10:07

timmmay:

I just had some Lons dimmable LED downlights installed by my electrician, along with Lons dimmable drivers. Sometimes after being on for a while they start to flicker. The first dimmer was a Kiwi Electronics universal dimmer, the second I wasn't told what it was. The LED and drivers are mainstream, from Lighting Plus, but on the cheaper end of the scale.

The puzzling thing is sometimes the light will be fine for 8 hours in a row, another time it will start to flicker after 30 - 60 minutes of use.

The roof it's install in is flat, and the drivers are under the insulation rather than on top of it. Could heat be causing this? Or simply an incompatible driver? What else could cause flickering LEDs?

I'll talk to my electrician, who's also my next door neighbor, just interested in experience / opinions of others.

I had (have) the same issue. I had 6 x small Halogen downlights (50W each) in the Lounge on its own dimmable switch and the same setup in the Kitchen / Dining (4 kitchen, 2 dining on separate dimmable switches)

They were all wired in series with their own (non-LED) driver, so I removed all drivers except the first (so 1 driver for 8 lights in Lounge, 1 driver for 4 lights in Kitchen and 1 driver for 2 lights in Dining). The more bulbs (more wattage draw) the less flicker. The Lounge is *considerably* better, but it still flickers at certain dim settings. The Dining lights are pretty much unusable if dimmed at all (flicker is so bad you'd think you were at a night club) The LED bulbs are supposed to be quality ones that are "halogen driver compatible" - yeah right...

As mentioned above - I would just ditch the dimmers more trouble than they're worth. I'm going home automation with my lights so this will be a lower cost moving forward too.

Let us know what you do to resolve

gregmcc

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#1561146 28-May-2016 11:53

Go back to lighting plus and ask them which dimmer to use with the dimmable drivers, it's their product they should be able to say exactly which dimmer should work with no problems on their lights, failing that they are not living up to the claims of the product "dimmable driver".

timmmay

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#1561479 29-May-2016 08:04

I did initially get LEDs with a driver built in, but for some reason I returned them. Might be because they weren't dimmable.

I apparently have a PDL dimmer now, my electrician neighbor say it is meant to use with LEDs. Pretty sure I looked at the data sheet and it said from 20W up, and I have around 40W of lighting. Because of the wiring, which isn't accessible, it's all or nothing, I can't turn two of them off.

Replacing the lights would be tricky, as they're a larger size that you don't get many of. 125mm cut out I think.

Dynamic

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#1561485 29-May-2016 08:43

k1w1k1d:

Has anyone tried the new LED lights that have an internally installed driver? They are called Driver on Board(DOB) and don't require an external driver.

http://www.rexellighting.co.nz/product/opal-led-600-lumens?i=1781

If I understand correctly, LEDs themselves very rarely fail. Normally the driver circuits are responsible for any failures. If one of your set of 4 or more ceiling-mounted downlights fails in 5 years time, would you rather replace the separate driver or replace the failed downlight (with built-in driver tat has failed) with a new one that doesn't match, and due to WAF have to replace the whole lot in the room?

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k1w1k1d

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#1561530 29-May-2016 09:15

With the rapid advances occurring in LED technology, and reducing prices for LED light fittings, would it be economically feasible to replace an external driver in five years time?

Will drivers for today's LED lights still be available?

Would the WAF prefer the latest generation of LED lights?

Will you still be in the same house?