Hi,
I have always been told not to put flourescent bulbs in light systems
with dimmers. My question is what happens? I know you can't run the
flourescent bulbs in a 'dimmed' fashion... so if I run the system at
full power all the time I would assume it would be ok. But what
happens if someone turns the dimmer down? Will it blow anything up?
Just shorten the life of the bulb? Burn the dimmer out? Cause world
hunger to stop, etc?

In article , Matt
wrote:

Hi,
I have always been told not to put flourescent bulbs in light systems
with dimmers. My question is what happens? I know you can't run the
flourescent bulbs in a 'dimmed' fashion... so if I run the system at
full power all the time I would assume it would be ok. But what
happens if someone turns the dimmer down? Will it blow anything up?
Just shorten the life of the bulb? Burn the dimmer out? Cause world
hunger to stop, etc?

I think the dimmer would buzz loudly, then blow out. A
traditional dimmer works by briefly interrupting the current
going to the bulb. The dimmer the light, the larger the gaps
are when the power is interrupted. That works great for a
resistive load like a light bulb or a radiant heater. But
flourescent bulbs have ballasts and capacitors in them to
start up and keep running. These are reactive loads.
Interrupting power to these things causes the magnetic fields
to build up and shutdown. That acts like a very heavy load
on the dimmer, which will likely overload it and blow it up.
Or pop the breaker. The light itself will likely never get
enough uninterrupted current to fully startup, so it will
probably do little more than flicker.

I have never seen a dimmer for flourescent bulbs. I suspect
that the new high-tech bulbs that run on radio frequency have
the same issue. Motors have similar problems with dimmers.
I have seen motor speed controllers, but I suspect that
handling the speed mechanically is cheaper.

-john-

--
================================================== ====================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
================================================== ====================

John A. Weeks III wrote:
In article , Matt
wrote:
I think the dimmer would buzz loudly, then blow out. A
traditional dimmer works by briefly interrupting the current
going to the bulb. The dimmer the light, the larger the gaps
are when the power is interrupted. That works great for a
resistive load like a light bulb or a radiant heater. But
flourescent bulbs have ballasts and capacitors in them to
start up and keep running. These are reactive loads.
Interrupting power to these things causes the magnetic fields
to build up and shutdown.

There are newer compact fluorescents that work fine on dimmers. Check
the box before you buy.

"Matt" wrote in message
...

I have always been told not to put flourescent bulbs in light systems
with dimmers. My question is what happens? I know you can't run the
flourescent bulbs in a 'dimmed' fashion... so if I run the system at
full power all the time I would assume it would be ok.

It is here at least.

But what
happens if someone turns the dimmer down? Will it blow anything up?
Just shorten the life of the bulb? Burn the dimmer out?

1. The light goes off.
2. No (not yet, 12-18 months).
3. I do not think so.
4. No (not yet.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

But what
happens if someone turns the dimmer down? Will it blow anything up?
Just shorten the life of the bulb? Burn the dimmer out?

1. The light goes off.
2. No (not yet, 12-18 months).
3. I do not think so.
4. No (not yet.)


Heheh ok thanks. I guess the easy solution is to just replace the
dimmer with a regular switch, eh?

The question is.. is it worth it for 6 40watt bulbs that burn only
occasionally? Everything else in the house has been conversed to
compact fluorescent.

In article ,
says...

I have never seen a dimmer for flourescent bulbs. I suspect
that the new high-tech bulbs that run on radio frequency have

Then you haven't looked very hard.

In my living room is a light with a circline flourescent bulb that is on a
dimmer. Works just fine.

Of course, I'm pretty sure that I need a specific type of bulb as a
replacement--not just any flourescent will work. I think I've got a web
link around here somewhere to a store that carries lots of flourescent
bulbs, including dimmables.


-Tim

"The Enigmatic One" wrote in message
news
In article ,
says...

I have never seen a dimmer for flourescent bulbs. I suspect
that the new high-tech bulbs that run on radio frequency have

Then you haven't looked very hard.

In my living room is a light with a circline flourescent bulb that is on a
dimmer. Works just fine.

Of course, I'm pretty sure that I need a specific type of bulb as a
replacement--not just any flourescent will work. I think I've got a web
link around here somewhere to a store that carries lots of flourescent
bulbs, including dimmables.


-Tim

The general rule is that any fluorescent bulb can be dimmed. But, dimming
ballasts and controls are only made for a limited range of bulb types.

There are several manufacturers of fluorescent dimming ballasts and
controls. One is Lutron and examples of their systems can be found at:
http://www.lutron.com/novat/?s=17000&t=17200

Special fluorescent bulbs are not required for dimming.

Screw-base compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) which combine the bulb and
ballast into one assembly generally cannot be dimmed although manufacturers
(including Philips) now list one or two types that they claim can be dimmed
with standard wall-box or socket dimmers. I haven't tried any of those, but
suspect that the dimming range is limited.

TKM

TKM wrote:
Screw-base compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) which combine the bulb and
ballast into one assembly generally cannot be dimmed although manufacturers
(including Philips) now list one or two types that they claim can be dimmed
with standard wall-box or socket dimmers. I haven't tried any of those, but
suspect that the dimming range is limited.

I saw a demo of them the other day and they dimmed just as well as
incadescents.