I just got a shipment of switches and have installed most of them without issue. I had a question about some low power LED lights I have that illuminate our stairs. They’re on a multiway switch configuration with one smart Blue 2-1 with neutral wire and four other switches being dumb switches.
When I first installed it, the lights flickered on and off constantly—not the rapid flicker which I’ve had with LEDs on a dimmer before, but on for a half second, off for a half second. I did some searching and found that limiting the power could resolve the issue. I did that, and it did indeed resolve it. I’m curious about why this works now, though.
The switch that was there before was just an on/off. I’m assuming that delivers full power to the lights as well. Is it the fact that the waveform isn’t being altered in this configuration that allows the lights to operate properly? And if that’s the case, and assuming I took these out of the multiway switch config, would the bulbs work properly with the switch type changed to Single Pole Full Sine? Finally, is there a reason that the Blue 2-1 can’t support Full Sine for the 3-Way Dumb configuration?
I’m thinking that you ought to be able to test that in-place. Set the parameter to the full sine wave setting. That settings only works works with a 2-way only, but set the dumb switches so they all pass the switched hot to the LED transformer. I don’t think that just having the voltage pass through the dumb switches is going to cause an issue. Worth a shot . . .
Ok, assuming what you meant was (electricity jargon is still not my forte):
Don’t unscrew or rewire anything
Change the switch config to Full Sine
Flip one of the dumb switches to ensure the flow of electricity is through the load wire instead of the traveler (which would be just a guess based on if the lights are on or not)
Check for flickering
I gave that a try, and it seems they work as expected with the Full Sine.
So I guess now my main question is:
Finally, is there a reason that the Blue 2-1 can’t support Full Sine for the 3-Way Dumb configuration?
But maybe also, more generally:
What causes LEDs to work like this?
And for the Blue 2-1, is full power in summer mode (or 3-Way-Dumb), not a Full Sine? Why would these configurations also alter the waveform when delivering full power?
That’s a question Inovelli would have to answer. This feature was added somewhat recently in response to complaints that the on/off portion of the device was not outputting a full sine wave, causing issues with some loads. Given All of the wailing and gnashing of teeth that surrounded the issue, I would think that Inovelli would have implemented the fix for 3-ways as well if it was technically possible. That is just my guess, however.
In the on/off mode prior to the full sine wave update, the device was not putting out a perfect wave. Even though it was set to on/off, it was still working through the dimmer pieces, causing the issue.
I would think that Inovelli would have implemented the fix for 3-ways as well if it was technically possible. That is just my guess, however.
Thanks for the history & insight. That seems like a reasonable guess!
In the on/off mode prior to the full sine wave update, the device was not putting out a perfect wave. Even though it was set to on/off, it was still working through the dimmer pieces, causing the issue.