What about doing some sort of soft start / ramping on it? Use a non-zero crossing SSR for it? Martin McCormick wrote: "M. Adam Davis" writes: >Arcing will still occur inside the mercury bulb, you just won't be >able to smell it, and presumably it will be less visible. > >You might consider adding a small sealed (or solid state) relay into >the electrical box with the light switch controlling the relay. > >One keyphrase you are looking for, however, is "intrinsically safe". >An intrinsically safe device does not create sparks, among othe >things. You may be able to find light switches with this feature, and >some of them may be mercury switches. Thanks. I wasn't sure if they had been outlawed as the last one I installed was in the early nineties. It was a spiffy one with a neon light in the handle. Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK Systems Engineer OSU Information Technology Department Network Operations Group -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist --------------------------------- Catch up on fall's hot new shows on Yahoo! TV. Watch previews, get listings, and more! -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist