I kind of like the light dimmers that look like a regular wall switch. The relatively slow fade up (when compared to filament warm up time) of bringing the control up to full should limit inrush current, increasing lamp life. Harold On Thu, 6 Jun 2002 20:07:26 -0500 Jim writes: > 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. > > FCC Rules Online at http://hallikainen.com/FccRules Lighting control for theatre and television at http://www.dovesystems.com ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. -- http://www.piclist.com hint: To leave the PICList mailto:piclist-unsubscribe-request@mitvma.mit.edu