I have five of these in my home, and one afternoon they all stopped
functioning. No breakers were tripped. Since I did not install these
myself, I was unfamiliar with how this could happen or how to remedy
the problem. The led's were lit, so I knew power was being fed to the
dimmers. They happen to be controls with a fat rocker switch that dims
up or down, and have an on/off at the bottom. After much fiddling,
i.e., turning breakers off then on again, the controls were returned to
their normal operating mode. I also discovered a pull tab to the left
and bottom of the control that shuts it off and allows it to be reset
without something as draconian as futzing with the breakers.

Here are two questions about such controls: (1) Is this normal
behavior, and how does an ordinary consumer deal with it without
calling in an electrician? (I am not an ordinary consumer, so don't
count me in this lot). My wife was panicking. (2) Are there any dimmers
with an on/off switch and soft ramp-up available that are not subject
to getting hung up due to a line glitch? The microcontroller in
Leviton's dimmers does not inspire confidence in me if it can globally
enter neverland like this.

I've never had good luck with Levitan dimmers. My suggestion would be to
replace them with Lutron dimmers of the style of your choice.




"Abe M." wrote in message
oups.com...
I have five of these in my home, and one afternoon they all stopped
functioning. No breakers were tripped. Since I did not install these
myself, I was unfamiliar with how this could happen or how to remedy
the problem. The led's were lit, so I knew power was being fed to the
dimmers. They happen to be controls with a fat rocker switch that dims
up or down, and have an on/off at the bottom. After much fiddling,
i.e., turning breakers off then on again, the controls were returned to
their normal operating mode. I also discovered a pull tab to the left
and bottom of the control that shuts it off and allows it to be reset
without something as draconian as futzing with the breakers.

Here are two questions about such controls: (1) Is this normal
behavior, and how does an ordinary consumer deal with it without
calling in an electrician? (I am not an ordinary consumer, so don't
count me in this lot). My wife was panicking. (2) Are there any dimmers
with an on/off switch and soft ramp-up available that are not subject
to getting hung up due to a line glitch? The microcontroller in
Leviton's dimmers does not inspire confidence in me if it can globally
enter neverland like this.

"Abe M." wrote in message
oups.com...
I have five of these in my home, and one afternoon they all stopped
functioning. No breakers were tripped. Since I did not install these
myself, I was unfamiliar with how this could happen or how to remedy
the problem. The led's were lit, so I knew power was being fed to the
dimmers. They happen to be controls with a fat rocker switch that dims
up or down, and have an on/off at the bottom. After much fiddling,
i.e., turning breakers off then on again, the controls were returned to
their normal operating mode. I also discovered a pull tab to the left
and bottom of the control that shuts it off and allows it to be reset
without something as draconian as futzing with the breakers.

Here are two questions about such controls: (1) Is this normal
behavior, and how does an ordinary consumer deal with it without
calling in an electrician? (I am not an ordinary consumer, so don't
count me in this lot). My wife was panicking. (2) Are there any dimmers
with an on/off switch and soft ramp-up available that are not subject
to getting hung up due to a line glitch? The microcontroller in
Leviton's dimmers does not inspire confidence in me if it can globally
enter neverland like this.

I've never had it happen with either Lutron or Leviton dimmers (only a White
Rogers programmable thermostat); but it sounds like a good question to ask
of Leviton Product Service -- particularly if they can tell you what kind of
glitch (low voltage, a spike, lightning, etc. causes it).

Someplace in a house IMHO there ought to be a consumer guide sheet (maybe on
the CB panel) that has a few helpful hints like:
- exercise circuit breakers and test GFCIs once a year
- replace smoke alarm batteries and test
- test CO detectors

TKM

TKM

You are probably lucky. They obviously protected themselves agains a surge.
Another brand might have burndt out.


"Abe M." wrote in message
oups.com...
I have five of these in my home, and one afternoon they all stopped
functioning. No breakers were tripped. Since I did not install these
myself, I was unfamiliar with how this could happen or how to remedy
the problem. The led's were lit, so I knew power was being fed to the
dimmers. They happen to be controls with a fat rocker switch that dims
up or down, and have an on/off at the bottom. After much fiddling,
i.e., turning breakers off then on again, the controls were returned to
their normal operating mode. I also discovered a pull tab to the left
and bottom of the control that shuts it off and allows it to be reset
without something as draconian as futzing with the breakers.

Here are two questions about such controls: (1) Is this normal
behavior, and how does an ordinary consumer deal with it without
calling in an electrician? (I am not an ordinary consumer, so don't
count me in this lot). My wife was panicking. (2) Are there any dimmers
with an on/off switch and soft ramp-up available that are not subject
to getting hung up due to a line glitch? The microcontroller in
Leviton's dimmers does not inspire confidence in me if it can globally
enter neverland like this.