dugery Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 My wife called to my attention the warmth of the c4 dimmer. I felt several and they seemed pretty warm, only the ones that are on. Any comments would be helpful. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 It is normal for the dimmers to get warm when they are in use. All dimmers (C4 or any others) will warm up when you use them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dugery Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigrzeye Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 If the dimmer is off, but of course the LED's are displaying, are they still a bit warm ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 Not mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigrzeye Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I have 2 Rev2 black dimmers in the same wall box, installed yesterday, and they have both the upper and lower LED's lit even when off and I notice a slight warmth. Not much but you can feel it. Any one else ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 I have 2 Rev2 black dimmers in the same wall box, installed yesterday, and they have both the upper and lower LED's lit even when off and I notice a slight warmth. Not much but you can feel it. Any one else ?Define "slight warmth". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFUG Posted July 31, 2009 Share Posted July 31, 2009 OK, just checked and I suppose there is a little warmth around the bottom LED that's illuminated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigrzeye Posted August 1, 2009 Share Posted August 1, 2009 Sorry went to a ball game last night... I have both LED's lit when on or off and I just feel a very little warmth especially between the two switches. I had my friend check it out last night before we left for the game and he said he didn't notice it. I can feel it though if I use the back of my finger, instead of a finger tip, and I feel it between the switches as opposed to the sides of the wall plate area. Since there are 2 switches in the box and you have to break off the tabs on each where they adjoin, that leaves a gap between the 2 and that is probably why I am feeling it between the switches. A 6 button keypad shares a box with a standard toggle switch and I don't feel it there or at a 3rd dimmer that shares it's box with a standard decora switch.Since I had read this thread before installing, and since this was my first foray into lighting, I guess I was predestined to checking how warm they got.Just my OCD acting up and being overly cautious I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rsmolo Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 just follow wattage rating. I can't remember exactly but I thing it goes like that: 1 gang-1000W (single dimmer in a box) 2 gang-800W (dimmer with a switch or other dimmer) 3 gang-600W ...............The wattage is decreased when you break off the heat sinks, so just add up all bulbs on that dimmer and if its less you are good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigrzeye Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Load on either of the dimmers not even close to max dimmer 1/ 2-65watt spots & 1-45watt spot = 175watts dimmer 2/ 2-60wat bulbs = 120wattsthanks for the reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 They're just warm to begin with, in comparison to a standard switch/dimmer. You're running zigbee radio and LED lights all the time. I just felt some of mine and I can barely feel the warmth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigrzeye Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 thanks codeman... that is what I wanted to verify Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 They're just warm to begin with, in comparison to a standard switch/dimmer. You're running zigbee radio and LED lights all the time. I just felt some of mine and I can barely feel the warmth.The little LEDs in a C4 dimmer produce little to no heat at all. I doubt that the ZigBee radio produces much heat at all either. What produces the heat in a dimmer is the electronics that control/dim the load.Think about it. 3 and 6 button keypads don't feel warm to the touch and they have more LEDs than a dimmer and also have a ZigBee radio. A 2 button keypad has the same number of LEDs as a dimmer as well as the ZigBee radio and it is also not warm to the touch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted August 3, 2009 Share Posted August 3, 2009 They're just warm to begin with' date=' in comparison to a standard switch/dimmer. You're running zigbee radio and LED lights all the time. I just felt some of mine and I can barely feel the warmth.[/quote']The little LEDs in a C4 dimmer produce little to no heat at all. I doubt that the ZigBee radio produces much heat at all either. What produces the heat in a dimmer is the electronics that control/dim the load.Think about it. 3 and 6 button keypads don't feel warm to the touch and they have more LEDs than a dimmer and also have a ZigBee radio. A 2 button keypad has the same number of LEDs as a dimmer as well as the ZigBee radio and it is also not warm to the touch.I figured that it would be assumed that the electric components to control the load in a dimmer would be factored in .. but you're right the LEDs and radio by themselves *should not* put off a noticeable amount of heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alhouko Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 Heat is just going to be a natural by-product in a dimmer unless you are running a dimmer that is controlled by pulse width modulation. In this case the dimmer would run at a very high frequency spending slightly more time in the off state than in the on state. If you are running a typical dimmer you have to sink some of that energy somewhere and not send it to the light bulb. You sink it through resistance and boom dim lights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 The heat doesn't come from dumping part of the load to a resistance to dim, the heat comes from cooling the triac that is switching on and off to control the load.If part of the load were being dumped to a resistive load instead of going to the light, the dimmer wouldn't be very efficient, and would use nearly the same power when the light was dimmed as when it's full on. Control4 (as other electronic dimmers) are quite efficient, and the power being used as the dimmer ramps up is nearly linear. i.e. at 50% light setting, the dimmer is using just over 50% of the watts it uses at full on.RyanEEdited to add: The heat is because if you have (like I do in this room) 600 watts of lights on a dimmer, even a 99% efficient dimmer still has to dissipate the waste heat, and 1% of 600 watts is 6 watts. A 5 watt night light bulb still gets pretty warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.