Aeotec Bypass Dimmer - Alternative

It could be an RC circuit, but I would expect to see the ratings for the cap on the item if it were. The picture I took captures ALL of the markings on the item. I don't have access to my scopes at work right now to check. (shut down and all)

My theory is that the issue is just not enough wattage on the dimmer for it to be stable. So, they just add resistance to make a minimum load. No need for a capacitor in that situation. But, they may have one for grins and giggles.

PS - Make sure whatever resistor you get is rated for AC.... that could make a difference......

According to Luke:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's a simple capacitor and it works to eliminate LED ghosting

Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2019

This is just a 0.47uF X1 310VAC rated capacitor. Electronic dimmers without neutral connections need a return path when the light bulb (load) is off to power the circuit inside the dimmer. This capacitor provides a lower impedance return path for the dimmer to bypass the bulb when "off" which reduces or eliminates LED ghosting. If you are not using a dimmer with a neutral, don't have a neutral available in dimmer location, or do not want to pay for a dimmer that uses a neutral this is a good solution. If there is no neutral at the dimmer location you will need to install this capacitor across the load (the light bulb socket). It is important to note this capacitor is designed to eliminate ghosting not to fix a poor LED and dimmer combination that is producing flickering but it can help with that in some cases.

Lutron LUT-MLC

cap

2 Likes

Nice find!!! I guess I have an order to place at Digikey :slight_smile:

Resistors and capacitors. And then see what it best and report here when all is done.

If your fixture takes 3 bulbs, are you sure you're going to need a bypass? I've got some Inovelli switches setup with no neutral, and haven't had any need to use a bypass. One of the switches feeds a 3 bulb vanity, and it dimmed and shut off perfectly.

I’m using a 24k 3W power resistor.

And there is no ac or dc rating on resistors. Only caps.

The zooz zen26 and Zen27 are horrible without a load on them. I know Zooz recommends at least a 25w load but hitting 80v no load voltage is a little silly. The zen26 will not even switch properly using the paddle with a small load. Inovelli red dimmers are almost as bad with open voltage.

The problem with some types of led bulbs is they will not conduct any leakage until a certain voltage is hit, making them glow when off.

Zwave controller behaviour can be erratic as well when switching on.

I have yet to hit an issue that the 24k resistor doesn’t take care of. And yes I buy them from digikey and solder 14 awg wire on so it straps across the back of the switch.


11 Likes

I have an Inovelli Red Dimmer with 72 LED bulbs on it (string lights), problem is they are all 2 Watts bulbs, so they were all glowing a bit when off. So I installed an incandescent one for string lights in place of the first light in the string, now they dim completely off.

The lower your draw, the bigger the problem becomes. Especially with dimmers that don't require a Neutral because of the way they are made to be able to do that, even if you plug a neutral to it.

@Eric_Inovelli Inovelli should come out with a dimmer that always requires a Neutral wire and has no leaking problem, this would be a nice option with a lot less problems, or add the load in the dimmer with a user selectable switch or something like the air gap thing but in the back of the switch.

1 Like

Resistors don't have an AC or DC rating, only Capacitors have this.

From both a safety standpoint and a length of service standpoint, there are resistors that are designed to be used in AC circuits. Also, from a pure measurement standpoint, some resistors cause issues in an AC circuit. So, yes, from a purely hypothetical view, a resistor is a resistor. However, if you don't want to be replacing it all the time, or you do not want to start a fire, you need a resistor that was designed to be used in an AC circuit (Note the frequency specs on the picture I placed in my previous comment.)

ok I did some calculations, at 1.2MΩ, you get around 100µA which I find way to low to make a difference.

Using the 24kΩ (as stated by @steve.maddigan), you get 5mA (600mW of heat dissipation) , this seems a lot better without over doing it, using a 3 Watt resistor is on the safe side if you consider that 120VAC has a peak voltage of around 170 and gives you 1.2W, so at least 2W resistor will do the job perfectly.

So I guess I'll only be getting some 24kΩ resistors or something in that ball park, I'll go see my local store that will most likely have something in that range, thanks for the info @steve.maddigan. 1$ of parts and 2-3 minutes of time and voila, bypass and more money in the pockets to get more HA stuff (don't tell the wife).

1 Like

Yes I used a 3W since it’s in a confined space and didn’t want a 1W disintegrating :wink:

1 Like

Thanks for the detailed post. Am I correct to assume that the set-up shown in the pictures above is for an install where there is a neutral in the switch box. Would you still use the same resistor if you were wiring a dimmer switch without a neutral? If so, where and how would you place the resistor.

Thanks.

Same setup when not using a neutral.

Dimmers that don't require a neutral have a special circuit or TRIAC that let's some current flow, this is the path where the circuit board is powered. Dimmers that require a neutral wire will not have this leak to power the electronics, it's using the neutral for that. Then there's the hybrid that can do both, some will leak even if a neutral is connected because it's a feature built in the TRIAC and can't really be truly called a neutral required alternative since it will still leak current and have this possible problem.

Other thing to note is that this can occur with some LED lights and not with others, it all depends on how the LED light was built. So some places you will see a glow, and some others not. Your mileage will vary and believe me, it has nothing to do with how much you pay for the lights,

1 Like

Thanks for the explanation, it is a little above my head. With no wire hooked-up to the neutral terminal on the switch, I find it hard to understand how placing any resistor between the load terminal and the neutral terminal would have any effect on operation, where is the path for the electricity to flow?

I assumed (most likely incorrectly), that a dimmer installed without a neutral would just have a small amount of current go through the switch and the fixture. This small amount of current would be enough to power the zwave electronics, but not enough to turn on the light fixture.

Your assumptions are right on the money, the problem is that the small amount of current flowing through the light was not a problem with incandescent bulbs because all they are in reality is a resistor. But since we almost all have LED lights (since they were almost all banned in Canada except for stoves and other places that can't use LEDs), this small current flowing can excite the LED enough to make it turn on and glow just enough to be annoying. Some LED lights have a sort of bypass when you don't have a minimum of voltage going through the, that makes them go completely off all the time, but most don't.

So basically that resistor goes in parallel with the lights, either at the switch (when neutral is present) or the fist light in a string when using multiple lights (because there will always be a neutral at that first fixture) to make sure that current goes through the place with the lease amount of resistance and stop the LEDs from glowing.

1 Like

The resistor should always be place between the switches hot and the neutral. If there is no neutral in the switch box then the resistor can be placed in oct box of the light fixture.

I think that’s what @nclark just posted.

4 Likes

Thanks, so I will be installing in the Octagon Box in parallel with the light fixture.

1 Like

Thanks for your help. I have no experience with resistors, but am I correctly in assuming the resistor you mentioned above would draw a constant 0.6 watts at 120 volts (ohm's law) and not the 3 watts posted on the package?

1000/0.6 = 600 hours to use 1 kilowatt of electricity
1 year you would use 14.6 kilowatts or in Manitoba $1.46 of electricity. (.10 cents per kilowatt hour)

The load resistor will only be burning this much power when the switch is fully on.

When the switch is off it pulls the RMs down to below 20v rms (it’s not symmetrical but is less than 60Vp-p). So when the switch is off it’s a sixth of this value.

Yeah we're definitely exploring that now as this has come up multiple times :slight_smile: -- hopefully once funding comes in and we're able to revamp the line, we will do this.

4 Likes