Loud Buzzing on Cree A19 40 replacement LED w/ Evolve LRM AS in 4 way setup

Other Devices & Integrations Lighting & Load Control
1

I am hoping someone has some insight on this. The situation:

a chandelier with 15 Cree 40 watt replacement a19 style (your traditional look) light bulbs each using 6 watts per bulb (so 90 watts total) These are the bulbs: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cree-40W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-A19-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-6-Pack-BA19-04527OMF-12DE26-2U100/204084370

A 4 way set up, i.e. 3 switches controlling the 15 bulbs.

The original setup was not a dimming setup. I replaced the load side switch with the Evolve LRM-AS, and used Linear remotes on the Line side and “middle” switch. I have not configured remotes yet, but all switches are powered. Evolve and Linear were a bit vague, at best, on how to set up the switches in a 4 way set up, so I used a Cooper wiring diagram to wire this up since the Cooper switches also work by wireless association like the Evolve/linears, as seen on page 3 of the link below.

http://www.cooperindustries.com/content/dam/public/wiringdevices/products/documents/spec_sheets2/AspireRFSmartDimmerSystemAccessorySpecSheet.pdf

Based on everything i researched in advance, there is little problem reported using Crees and the evolve/linear dimmers. In fact I believe a member of this forum did a test using this specific bulb and the Evolve switch and found it to be very good, no buzzing.

To be clear, my problem is not the dimming – that actually is very good. My problem is the LOUD buzzing. It is loudest when dimming and the least (yet still loud) when fully lit.

My initial thoughts on this is that, as per the diagram, both travelers are wired to be hot, and that maybe this is causing interference. My idea is to, using the terms present on the diagram, cap off the “red” traveler on both the line and load sides, leaving on the “black” traveler to supply power all switches in the circuit plus the load.

I did search the forums in an attempt to resolve this, but most folks seem to have problems with dimming, not buzzing. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to resolve this issue? Thanks in advance.

2

Have you tried identifying the buzzing bulbs and replacing them? I’ve had a couple of bad bulbs.

Or are you saying that all the bulbs are buzzing? Even then I’d be suspicious of a bad bulb or possibly a bad dimmer. I’d unscrew all the bulbs and then start screwing them in one at a time until the buzzing started. Then take that bulb out of the mix and continue.

“Interference” doesn’t cause buzzing.

3

Thanks for your reply.

The buzzing is definitely coming from the lighting fixture . Unfortunately the lighting fixture is approximately 15 to 20 feet in the air making it difficult to deal with the light bulbs. I will attempt, the best I can, to deal with each bulb.

Another thought I had was to try switching out the dimmer as you suggest.

My reference to “interference” was an inarticulate way of saying, or asking, if improper wiring would cause the buzzing

EDIT: Your diagnosis of a bulb problem may be correct. Despite the difficulty in reaching the bulbs (I need to stand on a ladder and then a device called “the giraffe”) there seemed to be a marked difference in noise after removing the third bulb – I think that this one might be the problem. However, because my kids broke all 3 of the bulbs i removed, I am going to pick up 3 extra bulbs and test it out again. Hopefully my next post/edit will be “problem solved”

4

LOL

Good thing they have that awful sticky silicone coat on the globes.

Perhaps just loosening the bulbs enough to disconnect them, rather than complete removal, would save bulbs and trips up and down the ladder. Pro tip for next time. :slight_smile:

5

I tried that actually and encountered a problem due to the nature of the device I was using. Basically I could not tell how far the light bulbs are unscrewed. If I were to release hold of them while they were still within the chandelier I would have difficulty in grabbing them again. This is a light fixture where the lights face up rather than face down making it extremely difficult 2 change the bulbs… I’ll try and length of the device is used in case anyone else have a similar issue

6

With the new bulbs in, you cannot hear buzzing at normal background house noise volumes. Now, only when dimming and in total silence can you hear some buzzing. My guess is that there may be another bulb or two that are causing buzzing, but at this point, it does not seem to be worth the time/effort to identify them due to the acrobatics I must engage in to ID the problematic bulbs.

Thanks again to Z-Waver for the advice!