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Dimmer 2 - doesn't dim low enough


Richard H

Question

Hi,

 

I have a Dimmer 2 that I'm using with 16x 5w Megaman dimmable LED GU10s (141391). It's in a 3-wire configuration. I'm using them with a Vera Edge but I don't think that's important for my issue.

 

My issue is that it doesn't dim down anywhere low enough. At full brightness they report 87 watts, but at 1% dim, they are currently reporting 20.3 watts which is still pretty bright! Also, the dim range is far from linear. There is almost no decrease in light/power dropping from 100% to 50%. It's only when I get below about 40% that there is much noticeable decrease.

 

I've done a couple of re-calibrates but it doesn't seem to help. After doing so Variable 1 (min brightness) is set to 10 and 2 (max) is set to 46. I've tried setting variable one lower but the value doesn't seem to stay.

 

Would the Dimmer Bypass 2 maybe help me out here?

 

Thanks

Richard

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Hi! Parameter 14 default 0 means the device is uncalibrated when first operated. After you attach a load, the dimmer calibrates and will set p14=1. So the "usual" value of this parameter is not the "default". You'll notice p14=0 after you start experimenting with parameters...

 

Parameter 1 (Minimum brightness level) seems te be set to a typical value. You can try if 1 makes any difference, but I doubt it will solve your problem. (Edit: 1 is the lowest possible value, and the OP confirms that 1 greatly improves things!)

 

Parameter 2 (Maximum brightness level) is in my case (tested with several different LED lamps) between 60 and 80 and 47 is is on the low side. But that's not the side where your problem is.

Please login or register to see this image.

/emoticons/default_icon_sad.gif" alt=":-(" /> Possible explanations: the lamp does not have a wide dimming range, it is very non-linear at the higher end, or the dimmer is in 2-wire mode. Feel free to experiment with this parameter too, you can't damage anything.

 

Other parameters are as expected.

 

I think the only other parameter worth trying is 30 (Load control mode). It's now 1 - trailing edge so please try 0 - leading edge.

 

Do you know if these Megaman LED lamps have a better dimming range on a non-Z-Wave dimmer? 

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Guest fat

I am using 4 X 11w LEDs in a 3 wire setup and I can dim them down to less than 4w of power. I do get some flicker at those levels when the power company sends through the signal for change over to off peak

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  • I am using 4 X 11w LEDs in a 3 wire setup and I can dim them down to less than 4w of power. I do get some flicker at those levels when the power company sends through the signal for change over to off peak

     

    Cheers.

     

    Are you using the bypass, and do you happen to know the bulb details?

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    Guest fat

    I am not using bypass at all. As for the bulbs I am not sure as they were put on by th builder when I built. I believe they are LEDLux

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  • I am not using bypass at all. As for the bulbs I am not sure as they were put on by th builder when I built. I believe they are LEDLux

     

    Thank you. I'm not sure what to do now to be honest! Was hoping not to have to replace all the bulbs!

     

    I'd be grateful for any suggestions...

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    The bad news: my personal statistics (on about 15 lamp types) tell me 9 out of 10 cases, bad dimming range is a lamp issue. Let's try to find out if you're in that other 10%

    Please login or register to see this image.

    /emoticons/default_icon_smile.gif" alt=":-)" />

     

    What happens if you replace one of the Megaman lamps with a halogen lamp? Also please try p13=1 to force a new calibration (explanation is in the manual).

     

    And could you please tell me the values of parameters 1,2,5,6,7,8,14,30,31,32,33,34 because they tell a lot about the configuration, load and calibration.

     

    In the past, people have a few times silently ignored this request. Let me explain *WHY* I would like to know them. You might think: "I didn't mess with those parameters (yet) - why should I respond to that question? Surely those parameters are all at their default values? Why waste time by telling the obvious?".

     

    But they are not at their "default"... You see... "calibration" means the dimmer tries to determine optimum values for some parameters, by pulsing/stepping its output and measuring the response of the load (so changing load? Do a calibration!). Because you and I have a different loads on that dimmer, we end up with different parameters! And that's why I'd like to know what they are set at...

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  • Thanks for the comprehensive reply Peter!

     

    I won't get chance to swap in a halogen until the weekend. In the meantime, here are those parameter values (after I forced another re-calibration via b button):

     

    1 9

    2 47

    5 1

    6 1

    7 1

    8 5

    14 1 (bit confused why this isn't the default of 0)

    30 2

    31 1

    32 2

    33 0

    34 1

     

    Thanks again for your help.

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    I don't know if I'm much help here but I've also got dimmer 2s with megaman dim to warm gu10s. Most of my curcuits have between 7-14 bulbs. I can dim pretty much all the circuits to use about 3-4watts. At that point its really really low, the dim to warms are great because at this point they are super warm light. I do have two circuits that have 5 lamps, one of them dims down really low (1.6 watts) the other one which has exactly the same setup only dims to 5 watts. No idea why.

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  • Busy weekend but just had chance to have another play with this. Found myself a halogen to swap in, but before doing so thought I'd have another go at setting parameter 1 first. I tried setting it to 1 and it worked! I've tried this at least once before and it didn't seem to "stick", but this time the parameter stayed, and 1% brightness is now acceptably dim and apparently uses 2.5 watts. I tried setting it to 0 but got "Failed at setting user configuration" and it went back to 1. I had been getting this error previously interestingly, so I think something was stopping it accepting my updates for some reason...

     

    Not really relevant any more, but for the sake of completeness, these bulbs dim really well with LightwaveRF kit I have in another room, so that's why I keen to improve on the situation.

     

    Anyway, all looks good now even though I'm not quite sure what changed to allow me to do this.

     

    Thanks very much for you help!

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    Thanks and I'm glad it's better. I've edited my original post to reflect the fact that "1" is the lowest possible value for the minimum brightness parameter. I cannot explain why you got "Failed at setting user configuration" with valid settings. The only two things I can think of is that either a calibration was going on or there was some timing issue (between Vera controller and module) but that's speculation.

     

    Just for fun, to set your dimmer 2 to act in the same way as your LightwaveRF dimmer, try p1=1, p2=99 and p30 (Load control mode)=0 - leading edge. But I expect it won't be better than what you have now.

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    I don't know if I'm much help here but I've also got dimmer 2s with megaman dim to warm gu10s. Most of my curcuits have between 7-14 bulbs. I can dim pretty much all the circuits to use about 3-4watts. At that point its really really low, the dim to warms are great because at this point they are super warm light. I do have two circuits that have 5 lamps, one of them dims down really low (1.6 watts) the other one which has exactly the same setup only dims to 5 watts. No idea why.

     

    If you want help explaining why there is a difference... could you please tell me the values of parameters 1,2,5,6,7,8,14,30,31,32,33,34 because they tell a lot about the configuration, load and calibration. (See post #6 as to why I need them).

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  • Thanks and I'm glad it's better. I've edited my original post to reflect the fact that "1" is the lowest possible value for the minimum brightness parameter. I cannot explain why you got "Failed at setting user configuration" with valid settings. The only two things I can think of is that either a calibration was going on or there was some timing issue (between Vera controller and module) but that's speculation.

     

    Just for fun, to set your dimmer 2 to act in the same way as your LightwaveRF dimmer, try p1=1, p2=99 and p30 (Load control mode)=0 - leading edge. But I expect it won't be better than what you have now.

     

    Looks like that potentially improved the adjustability at the top end of the brightness range, but at the expense of making it really non-linear (and even unpredictable) at the low end of the dimmer range!

     

    I think I'll stick with how it was!

     

    Thanks again,

    Richard

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    Thanks for reporting back! Enjoy your dimmer!

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    /emoticons/default_icon_smile.gif" alt=":-)" />

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