>Speaking of limiting the DI/DT to protect the triac - what
>methods are used to do this when (trying) to control a 1300w motor.

Usually some sort of snubbing network across the triac and/or some form of LC
network that also acts as an RF filter. It is a bit like trying to reduce the
sparks on relay contacts.

--
http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different
ways.  See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.