I replaced the Hybrinetics dimmer which is 10-3 stranded wire. Two red one black. 1580 watt max. With the power wire being 12-3 AWG. I replaced with a Leviton 600 watt dimmer. It is a single or 3 way dimmer. I hooked the black two black,(power) red to red with all present white( neutral) already tied together. Green to bare ground and 3way red wire capped off. My question is now the metal part of the dimmer housing gets pretty warm the wires are not warm at all. I put a plastic vinyl trim cover on and it gets warm. What can I do.

Use an oversized AWG cord, e.g. #12, #10 AWG to avoid voltage drop in the cord. I guess each unit needs 5 amps for total of 10 amps when both run at once.
With a 14 Gage cord (0.5 ohm @ 200' wire) and with both units starting up at same time, the current (amps) draw is 60 amps (6x running current) and 1800 watts, the 1800 watts consumed by the cord, this power dissipated as heat. The 1800 divided by the 60 ( watts/amps = volts) years a voltage drop of 30 volts, at start up of the two compressor motors if at 5 amps flc (full load current). This scenario with a 14 gage, 100' cord is problem bound so a thicker wire cord is needed to keep voltage drops within 10% of the load's rated voltage. Use a 10 or 12 Gage cord or two separate cords.

Hi, William

I am going to guess I just answered your first question, about the dimmer getting warm. It gets warm because it puts resistance in front of the load (the lights) in order to lower the voltage and dim the lights.

At a 1580 max rating, you are well over the max load those seven 65 watt lamps draw. Physics and electrical theory dictate the amount of heat the switch will generate, not the Max Load rating. As mentioned in the other answer, Warm is Okay, but HOT is NOT!

Unless the switch is getting HOT, or otherwise "acting funky", you are probably just fine with it. If you decide to replace it, you will be hard-pressed to find one of that rating for a decent price.

As far as how to wire up a replacement, the wiring configuration can vary widely, some will have a white, green, red and black wire, some might have only a white and two blacks or two reds, or like the present one with one red and two blacks. The "trick" is to identify

1. The LINE (the "hot" wire),
2. the COMMON (the "neutral" wire),
3. the LOAD (the "hot" wire that goes to the lights),
4. and the GROUND (the wire that goes to the earth)

Personally, William - as I said, if it is just "warm", I'd leave it alone. A 1500 watt dimmer switch is a high load switch, and an expensive one at that. Your need (if this is the same William as the earlier question) is only a 500 watt dimmer!

Oh, look! a THIRD question on the dimmer from William!

Yeah, I was wondering about the 10 gauge wire. It means you have a SERIOUSLY "Big" switch, capable of "dimming" a load the equivilent of a Milk-house Electric Heater.

If you are set on replacing it, just choose one rated 500 or 600 watts in the style you prefer. Believe it or not, the wires on the replacement will likely be 14 gauge, tops.

Personally, I like the ones that have the toggle itself as the dimmer, my second choice has a little "slider" next to the toggle (it keeps a "preset" dim for you). but there are maybe a dozen-plus variations.

If you do replace it, SAVE that puppy - it is very very likely good, (the replacement switch will likely get exactly as warm in use) and would cost a LOT to buy a new one of the same rating. It "might come in handy someday", like when you want to put a dimmer on fifteen 100 watt bulbs out in the garage!

Have fun, and good luck, William!

I would go to hybernetics web site and see, input the model and see, I am sure they will have what you need

You cannot wire dimmers in series and expect circuit to operate.
Problem is not 100% clear. Add a comment and include more information.

1) You have 12 dimmers.
Each dimmer has 2 black wires and a green ground wire.
The 2 black wires tell electrician that the dimmer wires are reversible.
One black dimmer wire connects to Hot from breaker, and the other black wire connects to wire going to Load (halogen lights).
If power passes through each dimmer going to next dimmer, the circuit will not work.

2) Unknown what you are replacing. Are you replacing 12 switches with 12 dimmers? Or maybe replacing 1 switch with 12 dimmers.
Number and type of devices being replaced is not known. And wires to each of these dimmers is not known.

3) You have a single 14-2 wire going to all 14 dimmers? Or does each dimmer have a different 14-2 wire?

4) You want to wire dimmers in series? So you want power to flow through one dimmer and control next dimmer?
You cannot wire dimmers in this manner and expect circuit to operate.
You can wire ordinary switches in series, but not dimmers.

5) Typically dimmers and switches are wired in parallel.
The Hot wire connects to one wire on each dimmer.
Since your dimmer has 2 black wires, the hot connects to either black wire on dimmer.
Then a jumper wire is added to connection, and the jumper wire carries power to next dimmer, and so on.
In this manner, each dimmer receives 120V potential. And then wire going to load connects to other black wire on each dimmer.

Here are your specs. RMS 900 Watts Nominal and Max 1300 on 2 Channel @ 2 Ohms.
4 Gauge should do fine but if you like to feed the beast go with 2 gauge.
Looks like going rate is $110 on Amazon or elsewhere.
If it attains the RMS wattage it would be a good amp. I like monoblocks but
you will pay more. I looked into Tri-Mode and it is straight forward but people
are having problems figuring it out. With your 2 speaker operation you should
avoid the issues others are having.
Good luck and remember, rearview mirrors were meant to fall off!
Mine: JL 1800A monoblock into 2-JL 12" W3's in series for low bass 20-80 Hz; Lanzar Vibe 266 bridged into 2-12" Memphis in series for mid bass 40-200m Hz. 2 guage wire to mononblock-250 amp fused at battery, 4 guage to Vibe w/250 amp at battery.

Anarchy Series 2-Channel Car Amplifier

• RMS Power Rating:
  • 2 ohms: 900 watts x 2 chan.
  • Bridged, 4 ohms: 1800 watts x 1 chan.
• Max power output:
  • 2 ohms: 1300 watts x 2 chan.
• Total Power Output: 2600 watts
• Pulse width modulated MOSFET power supply
• Convenient remote subwoofer control
• LED power (green) and protect (red) indicators
• Variable Bass Boost 0 to +18 dB
• Bridgeable Tri-mode operations
• Chrome-plated connections enhance durability
• Variable high and low pass crossovers
• Illuminated logo
• 3-Way System Protection circuitry (thermal, overload, and speaker short protection)
• Dual speaker terminals simplify the hookup of multiple speakers
• Heavy duty aluminum alloy heatsink for extreme heat dissipation
• Low level high inputs
• Heavy-duty set-screw terminals
• Input sensitivity:
  • Low level: 100mV-2V
  • High level: 2V-8V
• Variable high-pass filter (45-90 Hz, 24 dB/octave)
• Variable low-pass filter (50-500 Hz, 24 dB/octave)
• Damping factor: >125
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio: 102 dB
• Frequency response: 20-20,000 Hz
• Dimensions: 15-9/16"L x 10"W x 2-3/16"H
• 1/0-gauge power and ground wiring is required for installation. Contact us for information regarding a discount on select amplifier kits when purchased together with this amplifier.
• 1-year Manufacturer's warranty

Pin Name Color Description
1 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC
2 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC
3 COM Black Ground
4 5V Red +5 VDC
5 COM Black Ground
6 5V Red +5 VDC
7 COM Black Ground
8 PWR_OK Gray Power Ok (is a status signal generated by the power supply to notify the computer that the DC operating voltages are within the ranges required for proper computer operation)
9 5VSB Purple +5 VDC Standby Voltage (max 10mA)
10 12V Yellow +12 VDC
11 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC
12 -12V Blue -12 VDC
13 COM Black Ground
14 /PS_ON Green Power Supply On (active low). Short this pin to GND to switch power supply ON, disconnect from GND to switch OFF.
15 COM Black Ground
16 COM Black Ground
17 COM Black Ground
18 -5V White -5 VDC
19 5V Red +5 VDC
20 5V Red +5 VDC

/PSON activated by pressing and releasing the power button while the power supply is in standby mode. Activating /PSON connects the power supply's /PSON input to ground, thereby switching the power supply to full-on condition.
18 AWG is recommended for all wires except pin 11, which should be 22 AWG. For 300W configurations 16 AWG is recommended.
There are several ATX variants.
Hope this helps.
If this helps you resolve your problem, please
consider giving me a rating of 4.It will help me as well. Thank you.

The watt rating is absolutely critical to the operation of the device.
The high heat is a direct result of too much amperage flowing through the dimmer.

Reduce your wattage immediately or stop using the dimmer.
You have a fire hazard.

According to the math, you have 20 - 65 Watt bulbs
Change 12 of the bulbs to 40 watt and you will drop to the 1000W max.
12 x 40 = 480W
8 x 65 = 520W
Total = 1000

However I am worried about this circuit.
A typical 15 amp switch (not a dimmer, but the switch) is maxxed-out at 1440 Watts.
So if you had 20 100 watt bulbs for 2000 Watts, it would heat up the 15 amp switch
It seems very odd that an electrician would put 20 lights on one circuit without having a 20 amp switch and 12 gauge wire.
Look at the markings on the switch you replaced and look for amps or watts.
And then look at the color of the wire cable inside your box ... 12 gauge wire is yellow and the lighter-weight 14 gauge wire is white.
If you have a white wire going to all those lights, then you are going to burn down the house unless the total wattage is reduced.
Volts X Amps = Watts.

I think your circuit needs a review to make sure it has the correct wire.
http://waterheatertimer.org/Color-codewire2.html

This being said, Lutron makes 1800 Watt dimmers.
You can web search: 1800Watt single pole dimmer
If you have yellow-colored 12 gauge wire, it can carry up to 1920 Watts

If you want more help, add a comment and I will answer

Blue to Blue, black to black, red to brass. Check that out...

Based from your comments, a new steam shower that blows the fuse in five minutes. You could have installed a new steam shower that is much bigger than what you previously have.
1. For a 5000 watts steam shower at 220 volts
power must have a fuse rating of 40 amps, supply
wires of at least No. 6 AWG Type THW ; and at
110 volts a fuse rating of 80Amps, supply wires
of at least No. 2 AWG type THW.
2. For a 4000 watts at 220 volts, Fuse: 30 amps,
Supply wire: No. 10 AWG type THW. At 110volts
60 amps, Supply wires : No. 4 AWG Type THW
3. For a 3000 watts at 220 volts, Fuse: 20 amps
Supply wire: No. 10 AWG type THW; At 110volts
Fuse: 40 amps, Supply wire: No. 6 AWG THW
4. For a 2000 watts at 220 volts, Fuse: 15 amps
Supply wire: No. 10 AWG THW and at 110 volts
Fuse: 30 amps, Supply wire: No, 8 AWG THW