Dimmer keeps blowing

[liamruairi]

Any advice is much appreciated. I have a new light fitted, 10 x E27 40watt filament bulbs. Its this one: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-Lights...ling-Light-Bulbs-Remote-Control-/230945347394

I have now fitted 5 dimmer switches and not found one that works. Leading edge dimmers buzz really loud and trailing edge ones keep blowing. I bought a 400w varilight remote dimmer which worked lovely, then i turned it on once (full brighness) and it blew. I thought i needed an over-capacity dimmer so bought the same but 600w version (max light fixture watt is 400 - 10x 40w bulbs) and same thing happpened. Worked dimmed for few hours, turned off, then on again at full brightness and it blew. What am i doing wrong? Do i need an even bigger capacity like a 1000w dimmer?


thanks for advice!
liam

 

[AlanE]

It comes with a remote control so there is some electronics between the mains and the bulbs themselves.

This could well make it unsuitable for use with any normal dimmer control.

 

[liamruairi]

The remote control only switches off half the bulbs on or off through a transformer in the rose, its only when bulbs are on full the dimme blows. Wouldnt have thought it would be that?

 

[bernardgreen]

I bought a 400w varilight remote dimmer which worked lovely, then i turned it on once (full brighness) and it blew.

Did it blow when you operated the remote control ?

Changing the number of lamps while the dimmer is ON will cause an instant increase in the load on the dimmer. This could easily damage the dimmer.

 

[ericmark]

You in your second post talk about a transformer. This but match the dimmer. Not all transformers can be used with dimmers. With a simple bulb and dimmer the dimmer chops the wave form to reduce the power. Doing this will a simple transformer will result in the back EMF from the transformer causing spikes with the more complex the transformer is really a switch mode power supply designed to give out a regulated voltage and it will auto compensate for volt drop. Some transformers are deigned to dim and read the info from the dimming switch but clearly the two devices must match.

 

[ericmark]

Remember quartz bulbs are designed to run very hot in fact so hot the tungsten from the element will not deposit its self on the hot quartz. Running them cool defeats this design so be it due to switching on many times as large part of life it is too cool or dimming them will shorten the life. However running dim also reduces the amount of material which leaves the element in the first place which will increase the life but it will blacken the inside of the quartz envelope so in real terms one should not dim quartz bulbs.

The low voltage transformer as I have said comes in three flavours the simple toroidal will have a large inrush and also cause spikes so no good with a dimmer designed to work direct on the lamp or to send information to a more complex device. The so called electronic transformer turns all the power into DC charges a capacitor then changes it to high frequency AC then transforms it down samples the RMS voltage and alters the mark/space ratio to ensure exactly 12 volt RMS output. Some actually look for a clipped wave form and read this information as an instruction to alter the output voltage. Some read the leading edge and some read the trailing edge so clearly the electronic transformer and dimmer must match.

However since the electronic transformer is giving out a high frequency AC the coil inside the bulb can also match or be a mismatch to the frequency used so some times even the bulbs need to be from the same manufacturer.

Dimmers also cause problems with LED bulbs and with fluorescent the dimming becomes very complex. With the modern lamp dimming does not change the colour temperature and it was the red glow which gave the ambiance required. So in the main instead of dimming lights we now split the lighting so for example use a wall light for ambiance and ceiling light for main lighting.

Personally I have gradually over the years removed my dimming switches. It was all the rage in the 1980's but rather old hat today. Cinemas and the like have very complex dimming systems but we don't have the space at home for these.

But I see it as being wrong to sell items without warnings but again is does some times become crazy where a knife comes with a warning about sharp edges. Or a cooker with hot surfaces. So I suppose dimmers have been out for that long they think everyone by now knows their limitations.

 

[flameport]

The electronics for the remote control receiver inside the light will be connected to the supply all the time, regardless of how many lights are on. They will not be compatible with any dimmer.

You cannot use any dimmer with this light.

 

[ericmark]

Well spotted I missed that yes not suitable for use with dimmer

 

[liamruairi]

The electronics for the remote control receiver inside the light will be connected to the supply all the time, regardless of how many lights are on. They will not be compatible with any dimmer.

You cannot use any dimmer with this light.

Thanks, can i remove the remote function and wire straight into the transformer? I dot need the remote function so could remove this and fit a dimmer switch then, would that work?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Thanks, can i remove the remote function and wire straight into the transformer?

If you have to ask that then my best guess would be no you can't.

 

[flameport]

Does the thing even have a transformer?
10x 40W ES lamps would suggest mains voltage, and a 400W transformer would be a substantially sized item far too big to fit into the small compartment at the top of the light fitting.

 

[JohnW2]

Does the thing even have a transformer?
10x 40W ES lamps would suggest mains voltage, and a 400W transformer would be a substantially sized item far too big to fit into the small compartment at the top of the light fitting.

That makes sense - so maybe the 'transformer' is actually just the switching electronics? However, the fitting is described as "110V - 240V", which makes one wonder!

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Cease wondering:

anything is possible.

 

[liamruairi]

That wasnt the one i got but is very simila i just showed this as it had lots of pictures and was easier to post a link to. Mine came from this country

 

[JohnW2]

That wasnt the one i got but is very simila i just showed this as it had lots of pictures and was easier to post a link to. Mine came from this country

Fair enough - although "where yours came from" doesn't necessarily mean much about its actual origin. Is the one you got also described as "110V-240V", or what?

Kind Regards, John