RE: Dimmers

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: Jim Lux <jimlux-at-earthlink-dot-net> 

At 01:11 PM 11/25/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>Original poster: Jan Wagner <jwagner-at-cc.hut.fi>
>
>On Tue, 25 Nov 2003, Tesla list wrote:
> > Original poster: "Philip Brinkman" <peeceebee-at-mindspring-dot-com>
> >
> > O.K., You got me curious... I took apart my dimmer, it has a linear
> > variable resister... resistance lowers voltage, or so I learned in
> > electronics 101, this is how the volume control for your radio works, I
> > don't know what a triac dimmer is, I don't have an ossciliscope, to measure
> > wave form, all I know is it works perfectly on my neon sign transformer.
>
>HowStuffWorks to the rescue!
>   http://home.howstuffworks-dot-com/dimmer-switch.htm/printable
>
>Includes a nice pic with the delayed turn-on i.e. the phase-angles.


but unfortunately, they leave out the diac/sidac/neon bulb that's an 
absolute necessity in this circuit to work.
The ascii art at: http://www.repairfaq-dot-org/REPAIR/F_samschem.html#SAMSCHEM_031
illustrates a better circuit..