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    smishy's Avatar
    smishy Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #1

    Nov 29, 2006, 02:28 PM
    Dimmer switch hot
    We recently changed over fluorescent lighting to track lighting with a dimmer switch. Recently I noticed that there was a bit of a blue spark when we turned the switch off and the switch itself was warm. What would the problem here be?:confused:
    ceilingfanrepair's Avatar
    ceilingfanrepair Posts: 5,733, Reputation: 109
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    #2

    Nov 29, 2006, 03:02 PM
    How many light fixtures do you have attacted to your tracks and what wattage bulbs?
    smishy's Avatar
    smishy Posts: 2, Reputation: 1
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    #3

    Nov 29, 2006, 03:42 PM
    There are a total of 9 bulbs (60w each). The dimmer switch we bought is the correct one for the amount of lights we have running from it - are all dimmer switches hot or should we try a new one?
    tkrussell's Avatar
    tkrussell Posts: 9,659, Reputation: 725
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    #4

    Nov 29, 2006, 04:11 PM
    Yes all dimmers are hot and designed to disipate the heat through the front aluminum plate on all dimmers. The heat is usually mentioned in the manual.

    This heat is mentioned because if dimmers are "ganged" along with other dimmers, extra steps are needed to be taken, such as derating the dimmer rating.

    Can you find yours at the manufacturers website to confirm this?
    Stratmando's Avatar
    Stratmando Posts: 11,188, Reputation: 508
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    #5

    Jun 28, 2007, 06:50 PM
    Probably 600 Watt dimmer, 9 X 60 = 540 Watts, one more bulb, and you would be at limit, you could reduce bulbs to 52 watts
    (X 9 = 468 Watts).
    Or you could use higher wattage Dimmer. Should be fine.
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