I have several quite old ACT Homepro dimmers and at least two of them have dropped out of the Zwave network and do not work as independent switches anymore, either. Was just wondering if anyone has tried to repair these dimmer switches before? Thinking that it could be a capacitor braking down or something relatively easy to fix.
Hi Zooz,
Have you tried turning off the circuit breaker to the dimmer to reset it? It may have just locked up and needs resetting.
I have not repaired any of those dimmers, but can offer some advice. Open the device and do a physical inspection of the components inside. A physical examination is usually the best way to troubleshoot initially. Look for anything that is discolored, charred or burnt. If you have a working dimmer that you can use as a sample, you could open it up for a comparison. This is especially helpful to determine the value of burned resistors. Also check the solder connections to see if there are any rings around any of the components, especially the ones with thicker leads. If you don’t see anything out of the ordinary, you might want to “shotgun” some of the most likely parts, namely the electrolytic capacitors and the triac.
-bob
Hey Bob,
and thank you for good info on repair attempt.
Turning off the breaker was not a first option due to some wild wiring…too many systems in the same ac line. Unscrewed the mains from the switch directly (yeah, not healthy playing with the hot wires) and reconnected it. It started working…for a while. OK, dismantled the dimmer for visual inspection but did not find anything suspicious. There are too many discrete smd parts to unsolder and test, so it seems very unpractical to start digging in further.
This is one of the 1st zwave products. Still was surprised to see (most likely) some hand soldered parts there.
Now need to find a two paddle dimmer to replace few units acting the same.
Cheers,
Zooz
ACT made the Evolve/Linear/Nortek devices as well. ACT is gone and its product line is part of Nortek/Linear
This week I had a couple of my Evolve LTM-5’s go completely brain dead. I just tossed one out last night after it seems to go offline about 5 minutes after power is applied. Once I apply power, I can stress test and configure it. Wait a few minutes and it just seems to fade out. Works great until something probably heats up on the control board. Date code was 2011 so unfortunately, I just have to absorb it as a cost of the hobby and early failures.
Completely not worth trying to repair the electronics.
[quote=“niharmehta, post:4, topic:192134”]ACT made the Evolve/Linear/Nortek devices as well. ACT is gone and its product line is part of Nortek/Linear
This week I had a couple of my Evolve LTM-5’s go completely brain dead. I just tossed one out last night after it seems to go offline about 5 minutes after power is applied. Once I apply power, I can stress test and configure it. Wait a few minutes and it just seems to fade out. Works great until something probably heats up on the control board. Date code was 2011 so unfortunately, I just have to absorb it as a cost of the hobby and early failures.
Completely not worth trying to repair the electronics.[/quote]
Symptoms sound pretty similar. Agree, not worth trying to repair. Yet, I’m quite sure it has something to do with the power supply part of the module. Some capacitors wearing out… perhaps need to try to measure signals with an oscilloscope to identify noisy ones. Yep, forget it for now.
You are probably correct regarding the power supply. If its the capacitors, then likely we will have a 100% failure rate over the next couple of years. With my 30 or so Evolve devices, not happy about that .
If either of you would like to ship a dead dimmer to me, instead of throwing it out, I will pay the shipping cost. I am willing to have a go at repairing it. I have 25 years of experience repairing consumer electronics to the component level. I am located on the east coast of the US. Once I determine the problem I will post it on the board here to help out future users.
-bob
[quote=“rbakley, post:7, topic:192134”]If either of you would like to ship a dead dimmer to me, instead of throwing it out, I will pay the shipping cost. I am willing to have a go at repairing it. I have 25 years of experience repairing consumer electronics to the component level. I am located on the east coast of the US. Once I determine the problem I will post it on the board here to help out future users.
-bob[/quote]
PM your shipping address to me.
PM sent
-bob