Red Dimmer Switch Giving Fits

Digital Lounge General Discussion
,
#1

I’ve had a Red Series Dimmer Switch connected to my Hubitat Elevation for several months. Recently I tried to update the firmware to 1.48 via the Device Driver method mentioned elsewhere, I didn’t notice any issues initially but then it seemed that occasionally the lights wired to the switch would begin to flicker (about 36 watts) and the switch would become unresponsive at the switch and via wireless control.

I did discover that I updated the firmware incomplete, the instructions I first saw did not reference the Target 0 & 1 steps. And so I only updated .otz firmware. I have since downgraded the firmware back to v. 1.35. Then I have followed the instructions for a factory reset and re-included the switch to Hubitat. And I am still getting the same issue where the switch begins to flicker and becomes unresponsive.

I have updated the preferences for the switch, so the device knows to act in a Non-Neutral configuration. Also, one of the tests I did before resetting and re-inclusion was to trigger a rule to enable one of the notifications on the LCD bar. On a few occasions, the LCD trigger did immediately cause the flicker, and other times there was no reaction.

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

#2

Three things, in a non-neutral setup, install a bypass at the light fixture. The switches are very susceptible to voltage fluctuations without one. Second, check your max dim level in non-neutral it usually (for me anyway) needs to be around 85%. Lastly, did you hit the configure button in the Hubitat driver after you made the firmware changes? These are just things to look for, but in a non-neutral setup, I cannot recommend installing a bypass enough.

#3

Thank you for the suggestions.

I do plan on installing the bypass the next time I get all of my gear together to replace a different fixture and have the extra set of hands.

We normally run the switch at 100% or off, only have the dimmer because of the necessity of the non-neutral configuration.

You may have identified my real issue though, I missed the step to run the “Configure” button on Hubitat. I will give that a try now!

#4

I would still turn down the max dim level. Even though you are not using it as a dimmer, the max level in non-neutral with led can have an affect. Mine will shut off at anything above 87% dimming or no.

#5

@djordan2112 Your suggestions have seemed to pay off! I did have to reflash the production firmware .otz & .bin files, but selecting the configure option in Hubitat and enabling the 85% max has prevented any new flickering and unresponsive switch.

Thank you again for those suggestions and I’ll get to installing that bypass in the near-term.

1 Like