Guitar potentiometer as lamp dimmer?

[kwalton839]

I know it will get the job done, but I don't want to fry myself or burn the pot. Would, say, a 500K or 1 meg pot made for a guitar work for a lamp project that runs on main electric (120V, 60Hz AC)? Thanks!

KJ

 

[slippyr4]

almost certainly not. it'll melt.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Maybe he's building a dimmer....

But any thoughts of using the pot as a dimmer in series with the light would display about the most staggering level of electrical ignorance I've ever encountered....

 

[toasty]

That's not to say you couldn't use a pot, but it'd need to be a very big one.

One from a guitar would be rated at about .5 of a Watt so would be very little use and as already pointed out would melt. I've seen 2 and 10W ones but they are more expensive than a cheap dimmer.

Mate, to be honest, and don't take this the wrong way, considering your lack of knowledge in this field, I'd just buy one

 

[slippyr4]

Actually, having thought about this a little more, perhaps it won't melt.

It might catch fire instead.

 

[Lectrician]

It would spark well first

 

[kwalton839]

OK, point taken, I'll go buy a normal dimmer. I am making a lamp that looks like a guitar amp, so an authentic look is what I'm going for. Thanks for the help -

KJ

 

[slippyr4]

seriously though, use a regular dimmer and shove a normal guitar-amp style knob onto it. Perfect looks, and it'll work too.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

They usually have loads of knobs, don't they?

 

[kwalton839]

yeah - I'm going to put on some 'dummy' knobs, and have either the gain or master volume knob be the dimmer. I found a museum picture bulb that looks similar to a tube, and that's where the idea came from.

 

[slippyr4]

looks similar to a tube

a tube?

B-A-S, you seem to have a picture for everything!!

 

[JohnD]

This "tube" may be what we in the UK (see the title of this forum) call a thermionic valve.

 

[kwalton839]

Right you are. I meant thermionic valve, aka vacuum tube.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Or bottle.