Dimmer Switch help

[jlhg]

Hello - Our dimmer switch stopped working after 7 years so went to replace it at the weekend. When I opened it up, the black wire was in the common slot and the red wire was in L1 which i thought odd because i thought it needed to be the other way around. Anyway as it had worked for so long that way around I wired the new dimmer the same way, black in common and red in L1 and for a few days lights working well. 4 LED bathroom spotlights and one extractor. However now they are flickering and then switching off. Should I swap the wiring around? Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

 

[Richard-the-Ninth]

Does the dimmer say it is compatible with LED lamps? (not all are)

 

[jlhg]

Does the dimmer say it is compatible with LED lamps? (not all are)

thank you - yes it does

 

[kerching]

Is the fan on the dimmer??

 

[jlhg]

Is the fan on the dimmer??

to be honest i have not a clue! i just unscrewed the old dimmer and attached the new one in the same way - beyond that i don't know what i'm doing!

 

[monkey5]

Can you post a picture of the dimmer?

 

[michael8554]

Did the dimmer switch stop working, or are the LED lights failing ?

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

Hello - Our dimmer switch stopped working after 7 years so went to replace it at the weekend. When I opened it up, the black wire was in the common slot and the red wire was in L1 which i thought odd because i thought it needed to be the other way around.

Both of the wires at a switch are live conductors, permanent live "IN", switched live "OUT".
The 'black' wire should of had some red-sleeve to indicate it is live. (On some installations cables with twin Red conductors are used.)

The mains supply is AC, 'alternating current' so it does not have a fixed polarity between live and neutral.

So unless you have two-way switching.. i.e. two, (or more), switches operating the same light(s), the actual cable terminations on the switch are irrelevant and will not prevent the switch from operating correctly.

Most dimmer problems nowadays relate to the fact that you need dimmable LED lamps,
AND LED compatible dimmer switch.. (basically to do with the min & max power ratings the switch is designed to work with and the methods used to dim the lamps).

I had a customer last year who put some non-dimmable LED's into a light fitting which ended up blowing one of the lamps plus the dimmer switch!

You probably need to double check the spec and compatibility of all the lamps plus the dimmer switch.

My personal choice now for dimming LEDs is to use smart-lamps and the associated phone app.. and just leave traditional on/off switches for any manual control you may need.