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Old June 8th, 2004, 09:04 AM
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Mayhem Mayhem is offline
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Default Re: Circuit breaker tripping

No - modern dimmers use high speed control circuitry and switches which effectively turn the lamp on and off.

When you actually dim a lamp it is turning it on and off. However, it does it that quickly that your eyes do not register the on and off but see it as being a lower intensity.

It does this by sampling the sin wave and firing the trigger at set points but I do not understand it enough to explain it - sorry - but I am sure that others on this site can go into this detail if you so desire.

The dimmer on a household light works using a variable resistor and this is why they heat up and burn out over time. This is also why they are of no use in this industry.
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