Buzzing from Philips Hue Bulb

Digital Lounge General Discussion
1

Just installed my first Innovelli switch, a LZW31-SN dimmer. It replaced a dumb dimmer that, because it was connected to a pair of Philips Hue RGB BR30 E26 bulbs, was always set to the maximum level. There was no buzzing with the dumb dimmer.

I got it paired to my SmartThings hub and immediately disabled the relay. So far, so good.

But now one of the Hue bulbs buzzes whenever it’s turned on. It seems to only be one of the two bulbs, despite the fact that they’re identical. They did not buzz when connected to the dumb knob dimmer previously. The switch was set to full power when I disabled the relay.

In my SmartThings app the dimmer level is reported at 99%. When I drag the slider to 100%, after about 1 second when the “busy” circle fades it drops back to 99%. I don’t know why and there’s no perceptible difference.

The power meter reports 17w and the energy consumption is 8Wh.

I realize that it’s not an ELV dimmer, but since I was going to use it basically as a scene controller and not use the line load dimming function in the switch I wasn’t expecting any compatibility issues.

Has anyone had this buzzing with Hue smart bulbs before? How can I get rid of the buzzing?

Thanks.

2

Two more symptoms to report on this.

First, the same bulb that was buzzing has also now, in a few observed cycles, power cycled itself. Meaning, it was on at 100% power (99% power level from the dimmer, full power at the smart bulb), turned off for maybe 5-20 seconds, and then turned back on, resuming its previous state. Its companion bulb on the circuit is still fine.

I installed a new LZW31-SN dimmer today (2 actually, same 3-way circuit converted to a virtual 3-way with 2 of the same dimmers) to control a single Philips Hue fixture, the flat ceiling mount 4100448U7. It now also buzzes, whereas previously it did not.

Throughout the home I have dozens of other Hue bulbs and fixtures on the same model dimmer with no buzz. Many are in an identical wiring configuration.

3

I’m having the same problem with a Philips Hue Fair ceiling fixture which buzzes when connected to my LZW31-SN dimmer. Any suggestions on how to get rid of it?
For now I’ll hard-wire the light fixture, but it defeats my primary goal for buying the Inovelli switch, which was the ability to disable the relay.

Thanks!