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Uncle Monster[_3_] Uncle Monster[_3_] is offline
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Default Touch light dimmer problem

terry wrote:
On Sep 16, 10:52 pm, Uncle Monster wrote:
wrote:
About 2 years ago I bought a plug in touch dimmer for a bed side
lamp. It worked fine for over a year. Then one day the lamp began
coming on by itself, at random times. Usually twice a day. So I
bought a new plug in touch dimmer. It did the same thing. I tried
different outlets throughout the house. I put it on a surge
suppressor. Nothing helped. I changed lamps, and it did NOT come on,
so I figure it is the lamp. The lamp has 3 bulbs, so I replaced them
with all new ones. That did not help. I don't know what else to do.
My wife loves the lamp and does not want to change it for any other
one. Having the touch was a great convenience. Any ideas how to make
it less sensitive or otherwise keep it from turning on by itself?
TIA.

I have one that does the same thing when
there is a momentary power interruption.
These power glitches are more numerous
during the summer months around here.

[8~{} Uncle Monster


Just another symptom concerning all these cheap 'extra' bits of
consumer electronics that are available today. Usually to lowest price
possible, most likely manufactured in some third world country
struggling to improve the day to day living standards of its citizens!

So, at Wal Mart or Costco etc. , we buy the cute lamp or the wall
mounted dimmer/touch switch, or the cheap smoke detector and one may
interfere with the other, or create RFI (Radio Frequency interference)
or the cheap phone attachment won't work after a power outage; notice
how cheap microwaves have to be reset each time there is a power
glitch? Why? Because they don't have memory backup!

Outdoor motion sensor lights that come on intermittently! Some so
sensitive that the cat coming around the corner triggers them. Other
that won't come on even if you park a hot motor vehicle right under
them. And then the following week they work fine!

Ever had to reprogramme the TV remote after the batteries ran down?
The cordless phone that conks out just as someone says 'Love you'!
There is one place in our bathroom where our cordless doesn't work
properly! And we have, again a supposedly 'good' brand' of non-
rechargeable shaver, that clicks on the radio if left plugged in!
Ridiculous!

Thunderstorms, very humid weather, power outage, power glitches/
momentary hits, lightning, low voltage are all factors that here have
been seen to affect various forms of these gadgets.

Easiest way is keep things simple, basic and rugged. For example screw
in bulb type lamps work best and longest if the socket are ceramic,
not plastic and also if one does not put in too big a bulb, e.g. a say
100 watt incandescent in a plastic socket rated for a maximum of 60
watts. But who checks the little heat sensitive sticky label that fell
off years ago anyway!

It's like the d**n last vehicle we bought; it has a number of options,
none of which have failed btw, perhaps because it is Japanese design
manufactured in the USA, which are unnecessary are never used and add
unnecessary weight. These include; Cruise control, extra speakers,
several speed wipers, a slot in the radio which apparently can take a
CD, interior light that stay on after you get out of the cab, and then
just die away! Remote locks (fortunately you can still use the key on
the driver's door anyway). But you can't push/roll or bump start this
vehicle if the battery goes low 'darn-it'. Which one could with every
other manual vehicle we ever owned.

Anyway just read this rant as plea for simplicity. Everything is
getting, as one of my technology instructors of over 50 years ago,
used to say, "Too bl**dy clever by half"!

Also btw the simpler something is usually the easier (and cheaper) it
is to maintain it!


Well, think of it this way as far as
my touch lamp goes. If I come in and
see the touch lamp on dim and I didn't
leave it that way, I know that the power
has been off. If there is a power outage
at night, and the manual start fluorescent
lights are out, the touch lamp lights
the way.

[8~{} Uncle Monster