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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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triac dimmers in parallel
Hi All,
I was wondering if any one here had experience with multiple triac dimmers in parallel? I have a light track that at times has twelve 100 watt incandescent bulbs (120v/60hz) running at full to zero from a single rheostat. I need to replace the fixtures and was wondeing how messy it would be to put a triac dimmer into each fixture. The brightness is generally changes only when the lights are moved on the track so I don't need convinient access. The next step would be IR controlled but working is better than cooler right now. This could perhaps be a nice cheap way to have many brightnesses on a single track. The explanation of my use is because I don't know what I don't know. I'm wondering if there are any problems with running so many lil' clippers on the same circuit. Any guesses on how audible they would be? if at all. They would all be shutting off at different times (as in not at precisley the same time)- Would this generate worse or more RF noise than a single unit dimming the whole track? Would it be finally that frequency needed to talk to aliens? Is it stupid? Also, Even at full does a triac dimmer drop the voltage? Thank you all! DH |
#2
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"DH" wrote in message om... Hi All, I was wondering if any one here had experience with multiple triac dimmers in parallel? I have a light track that at times has twelve 100 watt incandescent bulbs (120v/60hz) running at full to zero from a single rheostat. I need to replace the fixtures and was wondeing how messy it would be to put a triac dimmer into each fixture. The brightness is generally changes only when the lights are moved on the track so I don't need convinient access. The next step would be IR controlled but working is better than cooler right now. This could perhaps be a nice cheap way to have many brightnesses on a single track. The explanation of my use is because I don't know what I don't know. I'm wondering if there are any problems with running so many lil' clippers on the same circuit. Any guesses on how audible they would be? if at all. They would all be shutting off at different times (as in not at precisley the same time)- Would this generate worse or more RF noise than a single unit dimming the whole track? Would it be finally that frequency needed to talk to aliens? Is it stupid? Also, Even at full does a triac dimmer drop the voltage? Thank you all! DH You should be fine to do that, though that's not really in "parallel" (which would definitly be a bad idea), so long as you can find a dimmer that will fit in the head. |
#3
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"DH" wrote in message om... | Hi All, | Also, Even at full does a triac dimmer drop the voltage? Imperceptibly. N |
#4
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Some years ago, I was involved in dimmer development.
Triacs may be connected in parallel but it's pretty hard to synchronize the gates and the voltage drops must be compensated by series resistors dissipating huge amounts of power with regard to the triacs' power losses. Even considering the suppressor inductor, the circuit isn't optimized. On another hand, if you have a low power dimmer, it's pretty easy to modify it, adding a 25 or 40 Amps triac, like a Darlington. The RF noise is mainly related to the voltage transients during the transitions produced by the triac, you'll need a bigger coil, dealing with the overall current. Of course, switching high currents will also cause differential conducted perturbations. Computing a suppressor circuit isn't easy. Better to look at the manufacturer's catalogs. At full, the voltage drop of a triac is around 1.5 V. However, most of the dimmers are two wires. The electronics is supplied by the voltage taken from the triac's electrodes. Hence the max duty cycle is not 100%. But due to the non-linearity of a bulb, this is completely transparent. You can decrease the voltage of 15 V, the effect is negligible. "DH" a écrit dans le message news: ... Hi All, I was wondering if any one here had experience with multiple triac dimmers in parallel? I have a light track that at times has twelve 100 watt incandescent bulbs (120v/60hz) running at full to zero from a single rheostat. I need to replace the fixtures and was wondeing how messy it would be to put a triac dimmer into each fixture. The brightness is generally changes only when the lights are moved on the track so I don't need convinient access. The next step would be IR controlled but working is better than cooler right now. This could perhaps be a nice cheap way to have many brightnesses on a single track. The explanation of my use is because I don't know what I don't know. I'm wondering if there are any problems with running so many lil' clippers on the same circuit. Any guesses on how audible they would be? if at all. They would all be shutting off at different times (as in not at precisley the same time)- Would this generate worse or more RF noise than a single unit dimming the whole track? Would it be finally that frequency needed to talk to aliens? Is it stupid? Also, Even at full does a triac dimmer drop the voltage? Thank you all! DH |
#5
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"James Sweet" writes:
"DH" wrote in message om... Hi All, I was wondering if any one here had experience with multiple triac dimmers in parallel? I have a light track that at times has twelve 100 watt incandescent bulbs (120v/60hz) running at full to zero from a single rheostat. I need to replace the fixtures and was wondeing how messy it would be to put a triac dimmer into each fixture. The brightness is generally changes only when the lights are moved on the track so I don't need convinient access. The next step would be IR controlled but working is better than cooler right now. This could perhaps be a nice cheap way to have many brightnesses on a single track. The explanation of my use is because I don't know what I don't know. I'm wondering if there are any problems with running so many lil' clippers on the same circuit. Any guesses on how audible they would be? if at all. They would all be shutting off at different times (as in not at precisley the same time)- Would this generate worse or more RF noise than a single unit dimming the whole track? Would it be finally that frequency needed to talk to aliens? Is it stupid? Also, Even at full does a triac dimmer drop the voltage? Thank you all! DH You should be fine to do that, though that's not really in "parallel" (which would definitly be a bad idea), so long as you can find a dimmer that will fit in the head. There are 1200 W dimmers readily available. That would be a simpler solution if you don't really need individual control. --- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/ Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/ +Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm | Mirror Sites: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/F_mirror.html Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive traffic on Repairfaq.org. Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is ignored unless my full name is included in the subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs. |
#6
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You should be fine to do that, though that's not really in "parallel" (which would definitly be a bad idea), so long as you can find a dimmer that will fit in the head. There are 1200 W dimmers readily available. That would be a simpler solution if you don't really need individual control. I thought that was the idea though, that he wanted individual control? Otherwise yeah, just get a higher powered dimmer, they're not terribly expensive. |
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