I am trying to figure out a dimmer switch at my mother's house.

I can't find any voltage at the light fixture, which is strange
because it used to work.
The fixture is gone, just wires for now.

The house is 56 years old.

There aren't any tripped breakers and other outlets in the room have
current.

Any ideas of what to check next?

Andy

"Andy" wrote in message
...
I am trying to figure out a dimmer switch at my mother's house.

I can't find any voltage at the light fixture, which is strange
because it used to work.
The fixture is gone, just wires for now.

The house is 56 years old.

There aren't any tripped breakers and other outlets in the room have
current.

Any ideas of what to check next?

Andy

Maybe the dimmer feeding the light is bad. Remove the dimmer and connect the
wires together, then see if you have power at the light

On Feb 17, 2:06*pm, "RBM" wrote:
"Andy" wrote in message

...

I am trying to figure out a dimmer switch at my mother's house.

I can't find any voltage at the light fixture, which is strange
because it used to work.
The fixture is gone, just wires for now.

The house is 56 years old.

There aren't any tripped breakers and other outlets in the room have
current.

Any ideas of what to check next?

Andy

Maybe the dimmer feeding the light is bad. Remove the dimmer and connect the
wires together, then see if you have power at the light

"Remove the dimmer and connect the wires together"

Oh boy...why do I picture this going very badly?

On Thu, 17 Feb 2011 10:57:00 -0800 (PST), Andy
wrote:

I am trying to figure out a dimmer switch at my mother's house.

I can't find any voltage at the light fixture, which is strange
because it used to work.
The fixture is gone, just wires for now.

The house is 56 years old.

There aren't any tripped breakers and other outlets in the room have
current.

Any ideas of what to check next?

Andy

The first question is how many wires are in the light box?
Was the dimmer used for the missing light?
Did you try to test power with the dimmer on?

On Feb 17, 1:57*pm, Andy wrote:
I am trying to figure out a dimmer switch at my mother's house.

I can't find any voltage at the light fixture, which is strange
because it used to work.
The fixture is gone, just wires for now.

The house is 56 years old.

There aren't any tripped breakers and other outlets in the room have
current.

Any ideas of what to check next?

Andy

Some dimmers don't work without a load.

On Feb 17, 3:02*pm, jamesgangnc wrote:
On Feb 17, 1:57*pm, Andy wrote:

I am trying to figure out a dimmer switch at my mother's house.

I can't find any voltage at the light fixture, which is strange
because it used to work.
The fixture is gone, just wires for now.

The house is 56 years old.

There aren't any tripped breakers and other outlets in the room have
current.

Any ideas of what to check next?

Andy

Some dimmers don't work without a load.

Yes, that's what I was thinking too. It may need a minimum load to
turn on
and if he's using a high impedance VOM, might not turn on at all.'

This is pretty basic:

1 - Is 120V present on the input lead of the dimmer?

2 - IF yes, then connect up a load like a small lamp or drop light
as the dimmer load and see what happens.

If you don't understand how to do 1 and 2 safely, call an electrician

On Feb 17, 2:57*pm, Andy wrote:
I am trying to figure out a dimmer switch at my mother's house.

I can't find any voltage at the light fixture, which is strange
because it used to work.
The fixture is gone, just wires for now.

The house is 56 years old.

There aren't any tripped breakers and other outlets in the room have
current.

Any ideas of what to check next?

Andy

Dimmer circuits can be a PITA especially for the DIYer. Some of them
dont come on unless there is a load in place so if the bulb is blown
or missing they dont appear to work. They can be bad and its not easy
to do a contiuity check. Bulbs and switches are cheap.

Jimmie

On Feb 17, 8:27*pm, JIMMIE wrote:
On Feb 17, 2:57*pm, Andy wrote:

I am trying to figure out a dimmer switch at my mother's house.

I can't find any voltage at the light fixture, which is strange
because it used to work.
The fixture is gone, just wires for now.

The house is 56 years old.

There aren't any tripped breakers and other outlets in the room have
current.

Any ideas of what to check next?

Andy

Dimmer circuits can be a PITA especially for the DIYer. Some of them
dont come on unless there is a load in place so if the bulb is blown
or missing they dont appear to work. They can be bad and its not easy
to do a contiuity check. Bulbs and switches are cheap.

Jimmie

You're right.

As far as their use for lights, I would say their days are numbered.

With CFLs and all.

Andy

On Feb 17, 2:02*pm, jamesgangnc wrote:
On Feb 17, 1:57*pm, Andy wrote:

I am trying to figure out a dimmer switch at my mother's house.

I can't find any voltage at the light fixture, which is strange
because it used to work.
The fixture is gone, just wires for now.

The house is 56 years old.

There aren't any tripped breakers and other outlets in the room have
current.

Any ideas of what to check next?

Andy

Some dimmers don't work without a load.

Andy is correct, the dimmer is in series with the load and if the
lighting fixture is gone, the series connection is broken, Connect a
light bulb where the fixture should be and everything should then make
sense.