Hi, I have 2 stairway/landing lights controlled by 2-way switching. I purchased a 2-way dimmer switch and wired it in what I thought was the same way as the 2-way switch.
So I had 1 wire (common) in the AC symbol connection.
2 wires into L1 (incl. switching live)
2 wires into L2
Initially, I mistakenly used energy saving bulbs. These worked OK with minimum resistance, but flickered at high resistance. I changed these for what I think are 40W candle bulbs. This worked OK for a few days, they then just seemed to flicker and stop working.
I checked one of the bulbs, which was working fine in another fitting.
I looked at other dimmer switches and observed the multi-bulb power ratings, typically 60-250W or 60-400W. I tried a 70W Phillips EcoClassic30 bulb in one of the fittings. This made no difference.
I have replaced the dimmer with a new 2-way switch and the system works fine. So the problem has to be the dimmer or my wiring?
1- Am I using bulbs with a power rating too low? Do I need both bulbs to be 60W or more?
2- Am I using the wrong dimmer, should I be using a 2-way 2-gang. If the later will I need to add a bridging wire between the two commons?
So I had 1 wire (common) in the AC symbol connection.
2 wires into L1 (incl. switching live)
2 wires into L2
Initially, I mistakenly used energy saving bulbs. These worked OK with minimum resistance, but flickered at high resistance. I changed these for what I think are 40W candle bulbs. This worked OK for a few days, they then just seemed to flicker and stop working.
I checked one of the bulbs, which was working fine in another fitting.
I looked at other dimmer switches and observed the multi-bulb power ratings, typically 60-250W or 60-400W. I tried a 70W Phillips EcoClassic30 bulb in one of the fittings. This made no difference.
I have replaced the dimmer with a new 2-way switch and the system works fine. So the problem has to be the dimmer or my wiring?
1- Am I using bulbs with a power rating too low? Do I need both bulbs to be 60W or more?
2- Am I using the wrong dimmer, should I be using a 2-way 2-gang. If the later will I need to add a bridging wire between the two commons?
