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Faulty Keypad Dimmer


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So one of my keypad dimmers has suddenly started playing up.

The top button usually controls the load and that has stopped working.  The LED still goes on and off as though the light is coming on but the light itself does not respond.  This is a 3 bulb unit and the bulbs are definitely OK because if I try a reset (15 pushes of the top button), after the flashing of the LEDs to mark the reset, the light itself comes on for a few seconds and then goes off.  All the other buttons on the keypad work fine.  If I try and turn the light on from a navigator there is no response except for the little LED on the keypad lighting up.

I have tried a 15 tap reset (Top button), turning off and on the hidden switch above the keypad buttons, dropping the power for 30 seconds and nothing works.  

Any suggestions or do I need to order a new keypad?

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5 hours ago, chopedogg88 said:

13-4-13

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk
 

Thanks... it looks like this has probably fixed the problem.  I have done the reset and now have green LEDs and the load can be controlled but not the other keypad functions.  I will ask my dealer to remote in and re-identify this keypad this morning.

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24 minutes ago, lippavisual said:

Or the load you are controlling with it is giving you a mosfet fault.

Not quite sure what that means but unlikely as it has had the same load for 6 years...

My dealer ultimately replaced the driver with the same driver (not sure if that makes sense) and it has been stable for 6 hours and counting... hopefully it is fixed!

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Mosfet (metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor) is just the type of switching transistor the Gen3 dimmers use.  They have a lot of advantages over using Triacs, which the older dimmers used, including higher efficiency, lower noise, etc.

Mosfets have several ways in which they can fail, and there is circuitry in the dimmer to determine if the mosfet has failed, or if it reaches other conditions which could cause it to fail (over temperature, over load, etc.).  This is protection for the mosfet/dimmer, so that hopefully the dimming would stop before the failure causes the dimmer to be damaged.

A dimmer will stop using the mosfet if a condition happens that indicates possible failure of the mosfet, and will indicate that with LEDs or a message in Composer until it's reset.  If you have mosfet failures on your dimmers frequently, you likely have some kind of wiring/bulb issue (too large a load, a short or other bulb issue, etc.)

If the issue persists, either your wiring has an issue that needs to be corrected, or the mosfet has already been damaged ('blown', either shorted or open), and the dimmer would need replacement.

All of this is a *very* simplified overview of the complicated issue of mosfet protection.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention... The mosfet protection could also be triggered by other events (weather, etc.), although this would likely be very uncommon.

RyanE

 

P.S.  I'm not speaking for SnapAV/Control4, and am not an electrical engineer, and none of this is any kind of recommendation or warranty.  This is just my limited understanding of the issue at hand.

Edited by RyanE
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