Re: UK Wall dimmer reliability

[Keith Doxey <keith.doxey@xxxxxxx>]

Hi Tim,

When did you install them.
Dont forget we it is now summer and ambient temperatures have risen.

They could have been on the verge of failing when the weather was cooler
and the few degrees rise has tipped them over the edge.....in which case
expect the 4th one to fail during August !!!

Keith

Keith Doxey
http://www.btinternet.com/~krazy.keith
Krazy Keith's World of DIY Home Automation

-----Original Message-----
From:	Timothy Morris [SMTP:timmorris@xxxxxxx]
Sent:	Monday, July 19, 1999 3:12 PM
To:	ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject:	[ukha_d] Re: UK Wall dimmer reliability

The interesting thing is, that for the first week of operation all of them
worked fine. I have one controlling 200W that has failed, but another
which is controlling 300W which is (at the moment) working fine. I wonder
whether the heat is affecting the soldering on the board. Although I'm
happy working on the low-voltage side of things, I dont trust myself to
work on the mains side, so I haven't opened them up. The suggestion of a
Din rail dimmer seems to be the solution, does anyone have one that is
accessible so the can provide accurate measurements?

I also have a particularly un reliable universal module - seems like
manufacturing tolerance is not what it could be.

Tim.

-----Original Message-----
From: Keith Doxey [mailto:keith.doxey@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 19 July 1999 12:20
To: 'ukha_d@xxxxxxx'
Subject: [ukha_d] Re: UK Wall dimmer reliability


Hi Tim,

I would imagine that the poor little X10 chip inside the switch is getting
cooked so much by the heat coming from the triac that it just stops
responding. Once cooled it will work OK until the next time.

I personally dont like running ANYTHING at 100% load. Its much better to
have a good safety margin.
If I want 500W of lighting I use a 1kW dimmer.
If I want 50 watts of audio playing I use a 200W amp with speakers rated
at
3-400W



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