On Fri, 3 Dec 2010 08:01:53 -0800 (PST), Mycroft668
wrote:

On Dec 1, 8:48*am, PeterD wrote:
On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 07:55:30 -0800 (PST), wrote:
... I know there are transformers that do not
produce output unless under load

Now that's funny! Must be describing those new chinese intelegent
transformers, right?

I'm not sure if you are joking. There really are such things and I
found out the embarrassing way.
I was installing a fancy pendant light and there was a problem in the
wiring. Long story short, I checked the transformer and got almost no
output so I was sure it was defective. I called the supplier and he
told me the transformer didn't output current unless under load. I was
sure he was wrong never having heard of such a thing but after finding
and fixing the short which caused the light not to go on, the
transformer worked perfectly. Always something new to learn just when
I think I have a full grasp of something!

Mycroft

You sure that light fixture wasn't using a switching power supply? A
transformer is a passive device, it doesn't know whether there is a
load or not, it just transforms one voltage to another.