What I'm *really* interested in is a head-to- head test against a "resistored" bulb ... (already *knowing* all the factors involved ...) I think it's common knowledge around these parts that it's the high in-rush current to a cold filament that does all these bulbs in with such sudden efect (in conjuction with a thinned-filament over time). Now the contest comes down to zero-crosing start for a bulb as opposed to simple 'ballasting' with a fixed resistor - although the resistor, by lowering the operating temp of the filament, will also work to lengthen the life of the bulb ... Jim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jinx" To: Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 6:10 PM Subject: Re: [EE] Phase control dimming on a cheap pic > > I've got what must be five years (and more!) on a hall > > lamp used a number of times (and and off) daily - but > > it's *only* switched/controlled by a BSR lamp module ... > > > > ... I wonder how one of those would work in your test? > > As the resistor is a completely passive device (maybe a little > inductance, but nothing compared to a filament's double coil) > I'd expect it to work just fine. To a dimmer or switcher the bulb > would look pretty normal. The control in a BSR/x10 is a triac > or relay ? Do they soft-start ? If the resistor idea had been > a flop, I'd have considered making a soft-starter with a 508 > that also did zero-crossing detection. That would eliminate > possibly any occurence of turn-on pop and subsequent > cursing > -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.