Jeff Givens wrote:

I've been having problems with these dimmers. They have the rocker preset
underneath the slider.

Two of them in a double-gang, center heatsink tabs broken off, 1000W
rating, 800 as installed. Each dimmer has 600-650W of incandescent lighting
on it.

After about 5 or 6 months, the more commonly used one started arcing when
the rocker was switched. I got Lutron to send replacements. In about 6
months after these were installed these started arcing as well. I just
ignored it (wasn't all that bad - only when the rocker was made) but it has
gotten progressively worse. Just now it arced horribly, even the slider
rheostat appears to be suffering, or the rocker contacts are barely being
made.

Are these just bad dimmers and if so what's a good solid one I can get? If
it matters, the sliders were usually in full on position and the rocker
toggled on/off. I don't know if this puts undue stress on the contacts.


The Lutron Skylarks I had arced and smoked after a short time with
lighting under half their rated load.

I'd say they're crap.

The Levitons I have been using for the past 10-15 yrs - sliders,
touch-dimmers and rocker styles - have been flawless.

In fact the 50-year-old Leviton (rotary) dimmers that came with my
recently purchased house still work perfectly.