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shanagirl33 · Oct 8, 2006, 05:20 PM

Hi. My daughter's room has 6 recessed lights that are controlled by a dimmer switch. Today, I went to turn them on (they have worked fine up until today), we recently had new doors installed and I was spackling, and when I tried to turn the lights on, the dimmer switch wouldn't turn the light's on anymore. I went to the basement and switched all of the circuit breaker switches on and off, but they still wouldn't go on. How can I confirm that the switch needs to be replaced? Or determine what the problem is if it isn't the dimmer switch needing replacement. I am pretty handy and if I could would love to replace the switch myself... if that is the problem. Please offer assistance if you can, Thanks in advance!

tkrussell · Oct 9, 2006, 02:50 AM

The only method is to have a voltage tester, and open the dimmer to test for voltage. Oherwise you are only guessing and can only replace parts that may or may not be working.

Be sure the total wattage of all the lamps do not exceed 80% rating of the dimmer, if you have 6-100 watt lamps on a 600 watt dimmer, the dimmer is overloaded.

shanagirl33 · Oct 9, 2006, 11:00 AM

Thank you for your advice. I did replace the dimmer switch but the lights still aren't working. I did buy a voltage tester, but am a little hesitant because I have never used one before. (I turned off the main power to the house when I changed the switch). If there is no voltage going to the box (we just had new doors installed in the bedrooms) could the jarring of these doors have knocked a wire loose? The lights stopped working right after the doors were put in.

shanagirl33 · Oct 9, 2006, 11:39 AM

UPDATE: I did test with the voltage tester. There are two sides to this switch. One side has a dimmer, and the other has a wall switch (that would operate the ceiling fan if I had it hooked up). I used the voltage meter on the wires on the side with the dimmer switch as well as the side with the regular switch. I got no light coming from the dimmer which I assume would indicate that no electricity is present. I then went to my circuit breaker box to see if the circuit was tripped, but it wasn't. What else could it be?

tkrussell · Oct 9, 2006, 02:37 PM

If construction did occur close to the switch, then you lost power, sounds very likely there is a loose connection someplace.

Let's hope there is not a buried junction box. Check the switches and receptacles close to the construction, see if the connections are wires stabbed in the back of the devices. These types of connections are popular for loosening up.

shanagirl33 · Oct 10, 2006, 11:07 AM

I will check, thanks for all of the advice!