John B wrote:
Impressive commentary! Thank you for clarifying the triac
methodology.
That was quite the observation for a 6 year old. I trust that was
quite a
while ago...!!g So that speaks well of your memory, too. Seems
you were
a "natural."

Thanks for the complement. I was a natural at some things but a failure
at others.

I have an attractive light fixture, which has been dark for years.
[snip]

This thread has renewed my interest in reactivating the fixture. I
will put
a standard (non 3-way) slide-dimmer at each of the two switch
locations.
SLIDE is critical, to force the user to warm the bulb filaments
gradually.

I like the Lutron sliders for the reason you describe.

The catch is that TWO DIMMERS cannot cohabitate in the same 3-way
circuit;
because it seems highly imprudent to put two dimmers in series. Your
rebuttal would be welcome.

Technically I think dimmers in series should work, but of course if you
turn any one off, the other(s) cannot turn the system back on. With
dimmers in parallel (with each other), all would have to be turned off
to make the light go out. So I agree it's imprudent.

I have Lutron 3-way sliders which push on and off. Each slider teams up
with a normal 3-way at the other side of the room. When I turn the
lights off at the slider by pushing it, I place the slider in the 60%
position so that when I turn it on at the other switch, I don't get
blinded by the bright light. It has also anecdotally lengthened the
life of the bulbs, several years since a replacement.

So...
I'll should split the fixture sockets. Two sockets will be
controlled by
one slide switch; the other two sockets by the other switch. This
way, at
least there will be some light, if only one switch is slid to its
"on"
position.

Another option is to use X10 or remote-multiway type dimmers. The ones
I like best are the Smarthome ToggleLinc line, because they use regular
switchplates. I've used their Togglelinc PLC (X10) switches to control
compact fluorescents. Anyway, if you don't want/need to have X10
compatibility, then by using the same wires as a "regular" 3-way
configuration, you can use the "hardwired only" Deluxe Dimmer 23897
with the multiway companion 23892

http://www.smarthome.com/23897w.html
http://www.smarthome.com/23892w.html

I'm seriously thinking of doing this myself, because the dimming
function would then be available at both switch locations.

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