Hi All, I am trying to put three on/off/dimmer switches for my kitchen, Island, and dining on a 3 gang box. but it won’t fit. Hope the sides for the switch can be trimmed. Any suggestions? Thanks!
@Jun - You can remove the 6 tabs from the switches. You’ll lower the maximum wattage doing so, but usually less of concern with LEDs installed. E.G. Left switch, remove 3 right tabs; middle switch remove 6 tabs, right switch remove 3 left tabs.
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Pardon the ignorant question, but why does removing the tabs reduce the wattage load?
@lcw731 - The tabs serve as a heatsink for the switch. The higher wattage, the “warmer” the dimmer gets and utilizes the tabs to keep things “cool”.
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Just adding this for anyone who has this question moving forward.
Here is how you remove the heat sink tabs: Knowledge Base Redirect – Inovelli
@harjms is spot on with the Dimmer vs On/Off heat sink tabs.
lowering the wattage by removing the tabs, is this true to both dimmer and on/off switches? or just the dimmer switch.
Great question – it will not hinder the on/off switch max wattage if you remove the heatsink tabs – just the dimmer switch.
Thank you Eric, the reason I ask so I can remove all the tabs on the switch on/off and put it in the middle and the dimmers on either left/right side on a three gang box to minimize the load reduction of removing the tabs on the dimmer switch.
Fantastic! Yeah, you should be fine doing that for sure. Looking forward to hearing how it goes!