I have just had a touch dimmer fail.

I had used it to control a bar with 4 x 50 watt GU10s.

I replaced with LEDs and ov course it wouldn't work as it had a 40watt
minimum load requirement.

I put a Halogen back in and it worked - but after a while the dimmer
failed. Could this be due to it seeing a mixed load?

I have now replaced the dimmer with one that says 4 watt LED min.

In article 2,
DerbyBorn wrote:
I have just had a touch dimmer fail.

I had used it to control a bar with 4 x 50 watt GU10s.

I replaced with LEDs and ov course it wouldn't work as it had a 40watt
minimum load requirement.

I put a Halogen back in and it worked - but after a while the dimmer
failed. Could this be due to it seeing a mixed load?

I have now replaced the dimmer with one that says 4 watt LED min.

Dimmable LEDs usually need a trailing edge dimmer. Depending on design,
long before LEDs arrived, some were but most weren't. I've got MK grid
dimmers in one room fitted in the late 80s, and they are fine with LEDs.
But other much newer ones which had to be changed.

So saying, I'm not sure why a LED would cause the dimmer to fail. Where
I've mixed tungsten and LED with an 'old' dimmer, the LED just failed to
dim.

--
*On the seventh day He brewed beer *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On 01/08/2018 13:28, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article 2,
DerbyBorn wrote:
I have just had a touch dimmer fail.

I had used it to control a bar with 4 x 50 watt GU10s.

I replaced with LEDs and ov course it wouldn't work as it had a 40watt
minimum load requirement.

I put a Halogen back in and it worked - but after a while the dimmer
failed. Could this be due to it seeing a mixed load?

Were the LEDs officially capable of being dimmed?

I have now replaced the dimmer with one that says 4 watt LED min.

Dimmable LEDs usually need a trailing edge dimmer. Depending on design,
long before LEDs arrived, some were but most weren't. I've got MK grid
dimmers in one room fitted in the late 80s, and they are fine with LEDs.
But other much newer ones which had to be changed.

So saying, I'm not sure why a LED would cause the dimmer to fail. Where
I've mixed tungsten and LED with an 'old' dimmer, the LED just failed to
dim.

It fails to dim by drawing progressively more current during the
shortened on part of the mains cycle until the semiconductor maximum
peak current gets exceeded. Even some dimmers that are supposed to be OK
with dimmable LEDs seem to suffer unexpected failures in service.

I know someone who has had several fail inside the warrantee period
replaced with identical ones from a later batch that also failed.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

The LEDs were marked as dimmable.

The touch dimmer was getting erratic at turning on and eventually failed
completely. (Doyle & Tratt brand)

On Wed, 01 Aug 2018 11:30:32 GMT, DerbyBorn
wrote:

I have just had a touch dimmer fail.

I had used it to control a bar with 4 x 50 watt GU10s.

I replaced with LEDs and ov course it wouldn't work as it had a 40watt
minimum load requirement.

I put a Halogen back in and it worked - but after a while the dimmer
failed. Could this be due to it seeing a mixed load?

I have now replaced the dimmer with one that says 4 watt LED min.

Was it a dimmable LED? As far as I can see, some are and some are
not.

On 01/08/18 13:37, Scott wrote:
On Wed, 01 Aug 2018 11:30:32 GMT, DerbyBorn
wrote:

I have just had a touch dimmer fail.

I had used it to control a bar with 4 x 50 watt GU10s.

I replaced with LEDs and ov course it wouldn't work as it had a 40watt
minimum load requirement.

I put a Halogen back in and it worked - but after a while the dimmer
failed. Could this be due to it seeing a mixed load?

I have now replaced the dimmer with one that says 4 watt LED min.

Was it a dimmable LED? As far as I can see, some are and some are
not.

And some that say they are just flicker instead



--
"Anyone who believes that the laws of physics are mere social
conventions is invited to try transgressing those conventions from the
windows of my apartment. (I live on the twenty-first floor.) "

Alan Sokal

On Wednesday, 1 August 2018 14:26:09 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 01/08/18 13:37, Scott wrote:
On Wed, 01 Aug 2018 11:30:32 GMT, DerbyBorn
wrote:

I have just had a touch dimmer fail.

I had used it to control a bar with 4 x 50 watt GU10s.

I replaced with LEDs and ov course it wouldn't work as it had a 40watt
minimum load requirement.

I put a Halogen back in and it worked - but after a while the dimmer
failed. Could this be due to it seeing a mixed load?

I have now replaced the dimmer with one that says 4 watt LED min.

Was it a dimmable LED? As far as I can see, some are and some are
not.

And some that say they are just flicker instead

Like fluorescent lights, I've seen them flicker?

On Wed, 1 Aug 2018 08:03:36 -0700 (PDT), whisky-dave
wrote:

On Wednesday, 1 August 2018 14:26:09 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 01/08/18 13:37, Scott wrote:
On Wed, 01 Aug 2018 11:30:32 GMT, DerbyBorn
wrote:

I have just had a touch dimmer fail.

I had used it to control a bar with 4 x 50 watt GU10s.

I replaced with LEDs and ov course it wouldn't work as it had a 40watt
minimum load requirement.

I put a Halogen back in and it worked - but after a while the dimmer
failed. Could this be due to it seeing a mixed load?

I have now replaced the dimmer with one that says 4 watt LED min.

Was it a dimmable LED? As far as I can see, some are and some are
not.

And some that say they are just flicker instead

Like fluorescent lights, I've seen them flicker?

I find if you look out the the peripheral area of the eye the flicker
is more conspicuous.

On Wednesday, 1 August 2018 16:59:21 UTC+1, Scott wrote:
On Wed, 1 Aug 2018 08:03:36 -0700 (PDT), whisky-dave
wrote:

On Wednesday, 1 August 2018 14:26:09 UTC+1, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 01/08/18 13:37, Scott wrote:
On Wed, 01 Aug 2018 11:30:32 GMT, DerbyBorn
wrote:

I have just had a touch dimmer fail.

I had used it to control a bar with 4 x 50 watt GU10s.

I replaced with LEDs and ov course it wouldn't work as it had a 40watt
minimum load requirement.

I put a Halogen back in and it worked - but after a while the dimmer
failed. Could this be due to it seeing a mixed load?

I have now replaced the dimmer with one that says 4 watt LED min.

Was it a dimmable LED? As far as I can see, some are and some are
not.

And some that say they are just flicker instead

Like fluorescent lights, I've seen them flicker?

I find if you look out the the peripheral area of the eye the flicker
is more conspicuous.

Yes it's something to do with our ancestors which needed to motice movement more than colours.