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Lights flicker when 2 dimmers are on at the Same time


goedh452

Question

Hi,

 

I'm new to this forum and as off yesterday I switched my domotica systeem to Fibaro. The roller shutter is working perfectly, but I experience soms problems with the dimmer FGD212. I contacted Fibaro support before puchasing them with the question if 2 dimmers could be next to eachother. They assured me this would be fine.

 

Today I installed the dimmers and when the are on seperately the lights are fine. When I switch them both on at the same time, both start to flicker.

 

Both dimmers are conected to a 12V electronic transformer with halogene lights. Both are connected to the same live wire.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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2 hours ago, goedh452 said:

Hi,

 

I'm new to this forum and as off yesterday I switched my domotica systeem to Fibaro. The roller shutter is working perfectly, but I experience soms problems with the dimmer FGD212. I contacted Fibaro support before puchasing them with the question if 2 dimmers could be next to eachother. They assured me this would be fine.

 

Today I installed the dimmers and when the are on seperately the lights are fine. When I switch them both on at the same time, both start to flicker.

 

Both dimmers are conected to a 12V electronic transformer with halogene lights. Both are connected to the same live wire.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

What size are the loads?, is it a dimmer 2?, do you have a bypass fitted?, Are you using a neutral on the dimmer?,

It sounds like a wiring issue a photo may help.

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  • Thanks for the response!

     

    Both are dimmers 2, no bypass and no neutral. One dimmer has 7 30watt halogen lights, the other 4. Since they work fine when only one is on, I expect a bypass will not work. When both are on they keep flickering no matter if they are at full strength or a low dim level. 

     

    I cannot not make a photo since I fitted the original dimmers again to be able to use the lights. 

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    Hi @goedh452 

    I was meaning a photo with the switch plate off the wall so we can see the way its been wired.

    If you look at the wiring (if its a two wire system with no neutral) the sx and N terminal will be looped together and then wired to the switch.

    Check there are no interconnecting wires from these terminals  being shared between the two different dimmer 2 units.

    And that there are no interconnecting wires between the two switches.

    The only wire shared between the two  dimmer circuits  would be the live feed to the each of the two dimmers L terminals.

     

    Edited by Jamie mccrostie
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  • 51 minutes ago, Jamie mccrostie said:

    Hi @goedh452 

    I was meaning a photo with the switch plate off the wall so we can see the way its been wired.

    If you look at the wiring (if its a two wire system with no neutral) the sx and N terminal will be looped together and then wired to the switch.

    Check there are no interconnecting wires from these terminals  being shared between the two different dimmer 2 units.

    And that there are no interconnecting wires between the two switches.

    The only wire shared between the two  dimmer circuits  would be the live feed to the each of the two dimmers L terminals.

     

     

    Hi Jamie,

    Thanks for the explanation. I had everything connected like you said. Only "shared" wire is the live. Only thing is I connected both the Sx and N to the input of the switch so I would nog have to connect the 2 wires in the dimmer.

     

    I found a neutraal behind another switch. Maybe I'll try to make a 3-wire connection. See if that helps.

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    1 hour ago, goedh452 said:

     

    Hi Jamie,

    Thanks for the explanation. I had everything connected like you said. Only "shared" wire is the live. Only thing is I connected both the Sx and N to the input of the switch so I would nog have to connect the 2 wires in the dimmer.

     

    I found a neutraal behind another switch. Maybe I'll try to make a 3-wire connection. See if that helps.

    Cool, Im just trying to think what would let both work ok separately but play up when on together and wiring seemed likely.

    Yes id be trying for the neutral even if you ran a temporary wire to prove it

    Edited by Jamie mccrostie
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    Guest fat

    Could it be the dimmable transformer is sending dirty power back along the live? Similar to when ripple control sends the signal along the power lines causing the dimmers to flicker?

    Edited by fat
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  • That is possible of course. Maybe I should install the Fibaro somewhere else in the house away and check if the problem still occurs.

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    1 minute ago, goedh452 said:

    That is possible of course. Maybe I should install the Fibaro somewhere else in the house away and check if the problem still occurs.

     

    4 minutes ago, fat said:

    Could it be the dimmable transformer is sending dirty power back along the live? Similar to when ripple control sends the signal along the power lines causing the dimmers to flicker?

    Maybe but why only when both dimmers working together

    I guess the electronics is more likely to do this with 2 wire set up ?

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    Guest fat

    If the driver is cutting power by pulsing slightly it could be sending ripples back down the common live. So if one driver is powered up then it doesn't get ripples from the other meaning the light will not flicker

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    44 minutes ago, fat said:

    If the driver is cutting power by pulsing slightly it could be sending ripples back down the common live. So if one driver is powered up then it doesn't get ripples from the other meaning the light will not flicker

     

    Maybe. You could drop the feed off one transformer at a time to prove that. HC2 may squawk load fail but don't worry about that.

    I have had faulty transformers "bouncing" the output and causing a flicker (not on fibaro) but it only effected that dimmed circuit. ie if you pull a lamp out on a 105VA electronic transformer with two lamps connected it can do this with a power cycle the only way to stop it.

    It will be interesting to see if introducing the neutral changes things

     

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  • Well, I finally had some time do dive in. Adding the neutral solved the problem. No idea why, but it does :-)

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