tech_guy Posted May 8, 2011 Posted May 8, 2011 Scary stuff - didn't realise they could be dangerous: BBC News - Richard Hammond tests dimmer switch danger
Domino Posted May 8, 2011 Posted May 8, 2011 right, cause dimmers in houses and theatres are always catching fire? this is just as bad as the Panorama Wireless scare....
plexer Posted May 8, 2011 Posted May 8, 2011 Did you watch it? What a load of scaremongering tosh. Ben
tech_guy Posted May 8, 2011 Author Posted May 8, 2011 But it's by the hamster - it has to be true?!?! [NOTE - the above is a sarcastic comment]
Gatt Posted May 8, 2011 Posted May 8, 2011 Scary stuff - didn't realise they could be dangerous: BBC News - Richard Hammond tests dimmer switch danger Why? do you regularly leave bare wires lying on top of nail-polish-remover soaked cotton wool ?
tech_guy Posted May 8, 2011 Author Posted May 8, 2011 Why? do you regularly leave bare wires lying on top of nail-polish-remover soaked cotton wool ? All the time. And I run with scissors.
john Posted May 8, 2011 Posted May 8, 2011 (edited) On that dimmer there showing the leads, some of them look like they failed PAT tests, surely not good advertising by the beeb to show using hardware that has failed pat! As for that, as has been said another typical Beeb junk reporting situation! Edited May 8, 2011 by john
PICNIC Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 [NOTE - the above is a sarcastic comment] We need a sarcasm sign like Sheldons in the emotes
mjs_mjs Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 ok - so using triacs to control the power getting through does create harmonics, but not huge ones... a 60W light bulb at 10%'s harmonic distortion is nothing to worry about, the cable used for lighting is usually well over rated for the load. i don't see you running into your drama department and telling them not to use their dimmers? if it was dangerous we wouldn't be aloud to use them. and it's the same effect from switch mode PSU i do believe, but we still run labs full of em (although they have power factor correction usually now)
mjs_mjs Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) On that dimmer there showing the leads, some of them look like they failed PAT tests, surely not good advertising by the beeb to show using hardware that has failed pat! just by co-incidence the zero 88 betapack 2 dimmers that are so often used in schools WILL and SHOULD fail a PAT test. they have a capacitor to meet CE regs and this means it will fail the PAT test. Not sure if the ones used in this was a zero 88 model but just a FYI. http://common.zero88.com/public/files/IM8025Betapack3ManualIssue2_1.pdf page 8, bottom left, up a bit for reference. Edited May 9, 2011 by mjs_mjs
tech_guy Posted May 9, 2011 Author Posted May 9, 2011 There was a mistake with that test. Hammond and the rest of the Top Gear team should have been in that shed.....
Hightower Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 I watched this last night, and thought the whole point was not to show 'this is dangerous in your house' but to say 'this can be dangerous in very large buildings with lots of dimmers'. Obviously he's not saying, "quick, rip out your dimmers". He's merely showing an extreme case (the shed) as an example, and then quickly introduces the capacitor afterwards - the device that makes dimmers safe. This isn't a whole load of scaremongering tosh at all. It's a program about engineering (and a program I enjoyed, even though i was slightly drunk) and it demonstrates how different obstacles are overcome. Why are people always so skeptical on this website? 1
Andrew_C Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 (edited) just by co-incidence the zero 88 betapack 2 dimmers that are so often used in schools WILL and SHOULD fail a PAT test. Fail the standard test, yes. Dangerous, no. They may have a leakage to earth through the capacitor (that almost ALL dimmers NEED) but it will only "fail" if the tester doesn't know what he is doing. American theater installations have their neutral conductors over rated by 50% due to the 1/3rd harmonics issue. Over here, it is all just a bit "looser". Edited May 9, 2011 by Andrew_C
Sirbendy Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 Hah, I have a love/hate thing with dimmers. Last one I installed was an intelligent, touch sensitive unit with "multi stage" abilities, "dim to off" delay night lighting functions etc. Once the lights were out, the dark square in the middle would light up with a HAL9000-esque "pulsing" LED to show the switch location. It worked once. Then it emitted a sad "pffft.." noise, and that was it. Triac blown. Manufacturer gone under, and so on. Nice idea, poor quality execution. Went back to a dull rotary dimmer after that. New place has a bedroom dimmer that's a rotary..that can bin. I want one of the ones you can dim up/down with a remote control from the bed. Or maybe just lose the dimmer altogether as we have a capacitive touch lamp for night lighting. Moral of this story? Never buy a whizzy dimmer from a company who's slogan for the product (printed all over the box) was "Touch me, turn me on..". I thought the postie looked at me a bit oddly..
sparkeh Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 But I thought the idea of dimmers was to get things heated in the bedroom?
CESIL Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 I don't have any dimmers in my house...I just fit energy saver bulbs...the light is nice and soft after about 6 months...
Hightower Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 I don't have any dimmers in my house...I just fit energy saver bulbs...the light is nice and soft after about 6 months... We still use parafin lights in our house, so dimming the lights actually reduces the risk of fire!
bondbill2k2 Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 But I thought the idea of dimmers was to get things heated in the bedroom? Explains the remote to reach from the bed
tommej Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 I watched this last night, and thought the whole point was not to show 'this is dangerous in your house' but to say 'this can be dangerous in very large buildings with lots of dimmers'. Obviously he's not saying, "quick, rip out your dimmers". He's merely showing an extreme case (the shed) as an example, and then quickly introduces the capacitor afterwards - the device that makes dimmers safe. This isn't a whole load of scaremongering tosh at all. It's a program about engineering (and a program I enjoyed, even though i was slightly drunk) and it demonstrates how different obstacles are overcome. Why are people always so skeptical on this website? Were we watching the same clip?
Butuz Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 So if you run 40 amps worth of lamps through a 13 amp dimmer switch it catches fire. Really??!!!! Genious!!!! Butuz
plexer Posted May 9, 2011 Posted May 9, 2011 I think Hightower watched the actual bbc programme and not just the bbc news clip. Ben
cpjitservices Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 I have a dimmer switch in my living room controlling 2 lights :S - both light sockets have energy saving bulbs so they cant be dimmed any way so are on full pelt most of the time
Gibbo Posted May 10, 2011 Posted May 10, 2011 Hmmm, the words Hammond and Dimmer in the same title. Seems appropriate to me.
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