HomePro Halogen bulbs

[wmark]

Be careful with the HomePro ZDW100 and halogen bulbs. I have lost two switches when a halogen bulb burned out and triped the hardware fuse. The circuts were well under the 300 watt load of the switch. Whom do I contact to get them repaired. I checked the HomePro website and can find No warranty info. Or whom to contact for repair.
Thanks

[Ben2]

where did u buy them? Your supplier should replace if you have your invoice/receipt.

[rjh]

Yes, if you purchased them from HomeSeer, send an email to Karen@homeseer.com. She will get an RMA # from ACT and give you instructions on where to send it. The warranty is 2 years.

If you purchased the switch from someone else, you need to contact them.

-Rich

[DC]

This sounds like a MAJOR problem. I occasionally have a circuit breaker trip when a recessed ceiling light bulb blows. If the switch burned out and had to be sent in for repair, that would be a big problem. Is this a design flaw with the switches? I would prefer that the switches NOT have fuses and just be protected by the proper size circuit breaker. I guess the reason they need fuses is because they are only rated for 300 watts (about 2.7 amps) so a 15 or 20 amp circuit breaker would not protect the switch.

[jcd]

Kinda related so I am reading this thread with interest: I've had the same thing happen to me with my Leviton X-10 switches - except that it's not just a "fuse" but instead the whole switch popped. Just blew up. Let all the smoke out...

Same thing - halogen lighting, not anywhere near the capacity rating of the switch. But when the bulb blew, it took the switch with it.

It's happened twice. The second time (once I had made the pattern), boy was I hopping mad. I wrote to Leviton and they ignored me, so I wrote them several more times - still no response. Grrr.

Thankfully, it doesn't happen EVERY time, cause I have nothing but halogen lighting in my house (and Leviton switches for that matter). But still... it's a problem somehow, somewhere and I'd LOVE to better understand why it happen(s/ed).

Can any EE's out there provide some more info on this??

Thanks,
Jcd

[Ericryherd]

This is a well known failure mode for many types of bulbs, not just halogens (though they seem to be worse than regular bulbs).
At burn out, the element fails and for a brief instant, the line is shorted (thus the bright flash just when the bulb burns out).
If the dimmer circuit isn't designed with a resettable fuse or sufficient margin in the triac, then the unit will fail. I took apart one of my ZDW100s and it does have a .5A/125V fuse in it (F2). It should be one of the resettable ones though I can't be certain. If it hasn't come back to life after cooling off then it must not have done it's job and something else fried.

Most X10 units do not have a fuse (it would cost a few more cents) and thus they often burn out when the bulb burns out. Keeps their volumes high and prices low...

I am curious on why you'd want to use halogens with dimmers. I thought that halogens needed the high temperatures to maintain their longevity and thus are not usually recommended for dimmers.

[DC]

This phenomenon apparently isn't limited to halogen bulbs. I have regular incandescent bulbs in my recessed can lights and I've had circuit breakers trip a few times when a bulb blows. This will deter me from getting too crazy with remote controllable light switches (X-10 or ZWave) if I have to worry about the switch itself blowing when a light bulb blows.

[wmark]

Thanks Rich they are from HS I'll email Karen.

Eric: I use halogen bulbs in almost all my lighting I like the color of the light. They only need a few minutes of full bright to maintain their life. Also a lot of the newer fixtures require halogen. The bulbs that blew the fuse were of an older design so I replaced them with a newer version as I have had the newer ones burn out without any switch damage.

[Rupp]

Well I'll be dipped in butter milk! I just received a new Z-wave lamp module on Tuesday and tonight I was watching TV and the 70 watt regular ole light bulb burnt out. When this happened I thought I saw a "flash" around the z-wave module. Well now it doesn't work. I tried removing it from the group and re-add it and that worked. But it will not turn the light on and off. So it must of fried the fuse? Is this something that a regular joe can do?

[Rick Tinker]

Whether it is or not, I would not do it if it can be replaced under warranty!

Work with Karen to see if it can be repaired under warranty and then perhaps at the same time Rich or I can query ACT or Sylvania to see if there is a replaceable fuse in there.

Which brand was it?

[Rupp]

Thanks Rick,
It's a Sylvania.

I emailed Karen is this the direction I should take?

[Rick Tinker]

Yes, she is one who knows everything w/r/t warranties and such.

[rjh]

There is no fuse that can be replaced.

-Rich

[Rupp]

Bummer.

[tobad78]

Great

it seems the Zwave bug got passed to me. I was using this as a standard dimmer wall switch with only a 60 watt standard bulb. Went to turn it on this morning and "pow". Talk about waking up quick. Waited most the day kept trying it nothing ever happpened. The weired thing was the green led stayed on for a sec then kept going off.

I sincerly hope this won't be a common problem.

BrianD