Good Info Chris: Been enduring the ringing -both ears - for longer that I
can remember, plus the hypertussis thing which aggravates hearing one
specific person when in a group, or in lots of ambient noises.
On the right track with more expensive light bulbs to minimize the
resonance.
The White noise generators do help, to do a test, just use an AM radio,
tuned off station to static, adjust for comfortable volume setting.
"Chris" wrote in message
oups.com...

Sam Nickaby wrote:
I'd been having a hard time sleeping because the dimmer I use on a
lamp for a night light whistles or makes a very high pitch, continuous
noise like a Cicada. I then move the dimmer to another location but
the sound is still there. When I face the wall during sleep the sound
gets
louder. I have tinnitus so it's very hard to distinguish the two sounds
until I sleep with ear muffs. I will get rid of this problem but I
haven't
found a solution since I lack sleep and not in my right mind. What are
some repair solution or products I can use to dim night lights?

Thanks

Hi, Sam. Sorry about the tinnitus. If you view in in terms of
productive capacity lost, tinnitus is one of the most costly diseases
to the American economy (over a million Americans have it badly enough
to be at least partially disabled, and most of those are adults who
could otherwise lead productive lives), and a lot more research could
be done to work towards a cure.

The high frequency sound is almost certainly coming from the bulb
itself rather than the dimmer. The filament and filament mount on many
bulbs are mechanically resonant at a multiple of line frequency.

The easiest thing to try is getting a different (usually a more
expensive) brand of light bulb. More expensive ones are typically
better-made, and seem to be more resistant to this effect. You can
also slow down the turn-on of the triac in the middle of the AC cycle,
to mimimize or stop this effect. In days of yore, triacs all had soft
turn-ons, and this was less of a problem. Since you can't change the
triac, you can also accomplish this by putting a small choke in series
with the line. Lutron makes these, but I'm not sure you want to play
with the electrical wiring. Either that, or get a different dimmer
that has that protection built-in (quite a bit more expensive).

To get a little more sleep at night, you might want to try one of those
"white noise generators" that make sounds like rain or waves. They're
sold separately as stand alone desktop models, and are also built into
some better alarm clocks. A friend of mine found that helped him for
some time. Try to get one that has an external connection for speakers
or headphones. That will give you more options.

If you're trying to find and isolate high-frequency sounds that are
bugging you in order to minimize their effect on your life, you might
want to buy, beg or borrow an old medical stethoscope, or use an
automotive one (that has the horn funnel at the end).

Good luck, and let's keep hoping for a cure! Anyone who's interested
in more information can check out:

http://www.ata.org/

Chris