Dimmer switches

[Shinners]

Hi, hope someone can help.

I have dimmer switches running 6 spotlights in my living room. All of a sudden last night, the lights would only work when turned to full power. At any level less than full, they would start to fade and eventually turn off. But when on full they work fine.

Any ideas?!

 

[TicklyT]

If the 6 spotlights are 50 Watts = 300 Watts.

It's usual practise to de-rate dimmers by 50% to account for the higher start up currents required by tungsten halogen lamps.

That indicates the need for a 600 Watt dimmer. If it is a 250 Watt or 400 Watt dimmer, I would suspect it has failed through overload.

 

[Shinners]

That's really helpful, thanks. I imagine that's probably right as I did not specify wattage when buying the dimmer switch so probably ended up with the cheapest (lowest wattage) switch.

Gonna check it after work.

Cheers for your help.

 

[Taylortwocities]

Look up IQ dimmers on TLC-Direct. There's a guide to their dimmers - not always need de-rating.....