LED buzz inconsistently

2 years ago

I just installed new Lutron Maestro MACL153M dimmers, replacing older MA-600 dimmers installed professionally several years ago. I did this so I can use LED bulbs. I've put these dimmers on several circuits of ceiling cans. All were fine. Then I replaced the bulbs in two of the circuits with LED bulbs. (Satco Dimmable 12.5W 3000K 40° 90 CRI PAR30S LED Bulb.) (I chose bulbs that seemed to be supported by these dimmers.)

One circuit, with four bulbs, is fine. The other, with six bulbs, has issues. There is a faint buzz. Seemed to come from one of the bulbs. But I removed that one and then it seemed to come from another. Removed that one and it was still present. So I guess perhaps it is coming from all the bulbs.

In addition, this dimmer is acting a bit flaky. Sometimes when it is off and I click to turn it on the lights flick on and immediately off again. Then when I click again they come on correctly. Other times the lights come on without problem.

What could be causing this? How can I fix it?

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

wdccruise
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
"I chose bulbs that seemed to be supported by these dimmers."

That bulb is not listed on the compatible bulbs chart for MACL dimmers at www.lutron.com/macl

"Sometimes when it is off and I click to turn it on the lights flick on and immediately off again. Then when I click again they come on correctly."

You need to follow the instructions in Step 8 of the Installation Instructions to make sure that the dimming range is not set so low that the bulbs do not fire when switched on.

I have found the Lutron LED+ dimmers to be extraordinarily compatible. I did have to replace a Maestro with a Diva because the LEDs drew so little power that they would not turn off completely without the physical switch.
Therese N
2 years ago
You need to study the specs carefully. I’ve encountered compatibility issues occasionally. Ask the company for tech help if you need it.
Related Discussions
Please help! We're getting a buzz--LED dimmer questions
Q
Comments (10)
Thanks, lazy_gardens and kirkhall. The lights are all snugly installed. We did call Lutron and Cree after I posted this morning. (Thanks for the suggestion, laz_gardens.) According to Lutron, they test for compatibility, and unless they hear a significant hum or see flickering, they think that things are ok, and stated that LED's humming is a natural byproduct of the electricity cycling 120 times per second. DH didn't ask Cree about the humming (I'm not sure why...), but he did ask them about their chart, and they said that if we noticed flickering or humming, then decrease the number of lights on the circuit until we no longer notice those characteristics occurring. DH was more concerned about whether running 12 lights on the circuit could cause premature failure of the lights or the switches, which he was told is not a concern since the switches are labeled capable of handling 150w of LED lighting. Our 12 lights fall in that range. That's very interesting that some of your lights hummed and some didn't, Kirkhall. Are they the same brand we bought? DH can't hear the hum (he has some hearing loss and doesn't pick up on noises outside of his hearing range). I haven't climbed the ladder to check them up close. I could try that and see if I can figure out which ones are creating the sound. The noise is subtle, and when the household is active I don't pick up on it as much. The sound reminds me of the hum of fluorescent lights in a classroom.
...See More
Please help us get rid of buzz from dimming LED can lights
Q
Comments (5)
I have had this problem with can lights with incandescent bulbs. My previous house had them without an issue. The new home (built in 2008) has always been a problem. I read that it has to do with filament vibration, and a higher quality lamp and bulb should resolve the problem. I tried replacing the builder's bulbs with a name brand, but to no avail. In our case, when we have all of our lights dimmed, we play soft music so you don't hear them. I don't know about the LED bulbs. Maybe someone else can help.
...See More
Buzzing lights help
Q
Comments (3)
I've found that simply trying a different brand of incandescent bulbs can help. Some seemed to buzz and others didn't. I doubt it has anything to do with the fixture, so calling the electrician back might be a waste of time. At the least, it's fairly cheap to try a bunch of different incandescents before you do that.
...See More
LED lights are causing my induction cooktop to buzz
Q
Comments (9)
Are the lights on a dimmer? It might be producing lots of powerline "hash" -- that is, radiating noise of various frequencies well into the radio frequency range back into the powerline. Presumably your cooktop is unusually sensitive to such noise. Another possibility is that the power supplies in the lights themselves are the source of the noise. Or, it could be the combination of this particular dimmer and these particular lights. If you have the lights on a dimmer, I would first try replacing the dimmer with a conventional snap switch, and see if the noise abates or disappears. If it does, try changing to a different brand or type of dimmer. If they're not on a dimmer, I'd try disconnecting all the lights from power, then adding them back in one by one, to see if any single light is the source. Line powered LED lights have switching power supplies built in, to convert 120vac (or 240vac in other countries) to the lower voltage that LEDs need. It's possible that one of your light units has defective noise filtering in its power supply. If they all make noise, it would be pretty surprising, because the page you linked to seems to say that they meet regulatory requirements. I'm not familiar with Canada's, though, so I don't know how complete their compliance is. If the easy fixes above don't work, you may be stuck with either replacing all the lights, or changing the cooktop. One possible "quick fix" before going that drastic route might be to install a noise filter. I would wire it in ahead of the lights, maybe in a cellar junction box. I've never had to do this, so I don't have a specific recommendation. However, a quick web search turned up this one, which is supposed to be wired in ahead of noisy devices when they're interfering with an X10 home automation system. Others here may have their own recommendations for noise filters. Please let us know how it goes.
...See More
paul_ma
Original Author
2 years ago
wdccruise, good point about dimming range. I hadn't done that, but now have. These bulbs were stable at the lowest level.

Regarding bulb choice: for my setup I need PAR30 short neck bulbs. I've been wanting to change to LED for a long time, but until recently I couldn't find any suitable bulbs available. Using the Lutron compatibility tool I now find only GE bulbs listed that will work for me. Those aren't available on the big online bulb suppliers. It does look like they should be available in the big box stores. (Though I haven't found them when looking in the past.)

I'm thinking that because the same bulbs are working fine in another circuit they ought to work in this one too. I'd rather not have to spend $60 on new bulbs for this circuit if the bulbs aren't the problem. So I'm wondering what else might be wrong.

I thought of contacting Lutron support, but are they going to tell me anything other than to use bulbs on their compatibility list?
wdccruise
2 years ago
I've had good luck with Euri PAR bulbs. The Euri EP30-11W6000es is compatible with the Lutron MACL-153M according to the spec sheet linked to the web page.
mcarroll16
2 years ago
Try working in the opposite order. Check Satco's website for compatible dimmers. Way cheaper to switch the dimmer again than to switch out the bulbs.
wdccruise
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
@mcarroll16: "Check Satco's website for compatible dimmers."

The bulb appears to be the Satco S29416 and the Lutron MACL-153M appears on its compatible dimmers list.
Lauren Eliz
2 years ago
We just installed a whole house of Maestro Pro LED+ Dimmers and we had buzzing as well. I tried some Euri bulbs A-19 bulbs (EL-EA19-5W5041cec-2) because I was searching for 4000k bulbs. I ended up having to return them and get Philips bulbs that the Lutron website approved. The Philips don’t buzz. I also have to swap out two LED fixtures because they refused to work with any dimmer our electrician tried. I’m finding while LED tech has been around awhile it still has much to be desired about compatibility.

I have read if lower voltage fans or lights are blinking (which the original post is not about it) could be the need of a switch that has a neutral wire installed. Best of luck.
paul_ma
Original Author
2 years ago
wdccruise, thank you for checking. Yes indeed the bulbs I am using are S29416. Where did you find them in a compatibility chart? The only chart I could find stopped before S10000. And same for a tool I found.

LED buzz inconsistently

Comments (8)

wdccruise

Therese N

Related Discussions

paul_ma
Original Author

wdccruise

mcarroll16

wdccruise

Lauren Eliz

paul_ma
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

LED buzz inconsistently

Comments (8)

wdccruise

Therese N

Related Discussions

paul_maOriginal Author

wdccruise

mcarroll16

wdccruise

Lauren Eliz

paul_maOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

paul_ma
Original Author

paul_ma
Original Author