Red Series Dimmer - Won't turn off light and incredibly hot to touch

Hey all, I am wondering if anyone has ever has this occur before.
I have 2 red series switches in a 2 gang box, one dimmer and one a standard switch. Yesterday after manually flipping the breaker off and then back on for the circuit these switches are on, the dimmer switch I referenced above will not actually shut the attached light off. The LED indicator functions as if it the switch is working and it triggers the entity in my smartthings to think its off, but the actual light is still on. The dimming functionality seems to allow the light to turn its normal max brightness and dimmm maybe down to 75% brightness but it will go no lower than that (although again the LED indicator functions as if its working). And maybe the most concerning aspect of all of this is the switch itself is very very hot. I could barely touch the metal part of the switch that is under the face plate when I was disconnecting the switch.

I tried re-tripping the breaker multiple times and leaving it off for 10-15 minutes to see if that would help, but no luck. Ultimately I gave up and disconnected the switch entirely for fear that something really bad was going on and I didn’t want to burn down the house.

Today I attached a normal “dumb” switch just to verify that the light and circuit itself still worked, and I didn’t actually mess something up in the breaker. Has anyone else had this issue, any ideas on what the cause could be?

Possibly a bad switch, or possibly an improper installation. Did this happen right away or was the dimmer installed for a while functioning normally?

Two-way, three-way, four-way?

Neutral or non-neutral?

I have had this switch installed for over a year now, and it just started yesterday right after I switched the breaker off and back on.
It is not a three way (two switches wired to trigger the same light, right?) or four-way, it is just this single switch that triggers this light, I believe I have heard it referred to as single pole. Is that the same as two-way? I have never heard that term before.
It is using the neutral.

I just hooked back in a standard “dumb” switch, and the light goes on and off as expected.

If it just started getting hot after being installed for a year and working properly, and nothing else like wiring or the load changed, then something may have failed in the switch.

Yes, what you describe with a single switch is a 2-way.

I’m having the same issue. Wondering if you ever got it resolved.

Has it been installed for a while and just now getting hot?

What is the load? Bulb type? Wattage?

How many heat sink tabs remain?

Yes, it’s been installed since January and just stopped functioning yesterday.

This switch controls one light fixture, with 5 60W incandescent bulbs. All heat sink tabs remain.

It’s installed as a 3-way switch with no neutral. The other end is a GE add-on switch. Neither work at the moment. If I try to control the light through Home Assistant, the LED bar functions as expected, but the actual switch doesn’t do anything.

I’m a little confused about what your issue is. You first posted that you were “having the same issue”. This thread is about a dimmer getting hot, it isn’t about a dimmer not functioning.

What issue are you having. If your dimmer works through HA but not at the switch, it’s possible you inadvertently disabled local control. Press the config 8x. If it turns green, then you have reenabled local control and you should be fine.

If your dimmer is getting hot, that’s another matter . . .

The original question is asking about a switch that has stopped functioning and gets hot.

My switch does not function via local control or through the app. HA still sees the device, I can send it on/off/dim commands, and the LED strip on the switch will react correctly, but the switch does not actually control the fixture, it just remains at full brightness.

If I pull the plastic tab out, it will cut power to the switch and fixture.

The switch also gets very hot after being on for a while.

Did you try enabling local control as I suggested? What happened?

I would check to make sure you don’t have remote control disabled. Also, since it’s staying at full brightness, I would check to see if you have the Smart Bulb Mode enabled.

That’s good. That is what it is supposed to do.

Do you have a non-contact temperature sensor? Know what “very hot” is in degrees would help.

If you are unsure of the settings and think they may be causing an issue, the best course may be to factory reset the switch. Long press on config for 20+ seconds.

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I tried the 8x config button, and it flashed red, which I’m assuming means local control is disabled. Nothing from the switch. I did the 8x config button again and it flashed green. Still nothing.

The infrared thermometer reads 104 - 120 degrees F at various spots on the metal body of the switch.

Smart Bulb mode is not enabled.

This was working fine until yesterday. Incidentally, the power company replaced our meter yesterday which cut power to the house for a minute or two. But we’ve lost power before and it hasn’t been an issue.

I tried doing the factory reset (20+ secs config button), but that had no effect either.

Sounds like it might be toast, particularly if you can’t factory reset it. Your temps are outside of spec as well. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for smart switches to fail from surges during power on events like what you just had. I’ve never lost an Inovelli that way, but I have with GE switches.

I use a whole house surge protector now . . .

Sorry, I am just seeing this. No, my resolution was to buy another switch and that has fixed the issue. I think it just died :person_shrugging:

Had this same issue. Except mine wouldnt turn on, respond, or acknowledge anything. I opened it up and IMMEDIATELY smelled burnt plastic smell. Took it out and replaced it with a dumb switch and could barely hold it for more than a few seconds without burning my fingers. The smell took hours to get out of the bedroom with the windows open all upstairs. Switch was installed for regular 2 way configuration, and worked for probably 2-3 years now. I dont know what happened, but i am very glad i got the problem when i did and not a notification my house was on fire. I have other Inovelli switches installed and never an issue, but this concerns me greatly.