12 volt Halogen Light Bulb dimmable?

[dhalleron]

I don?t have much experience with these 12 volt halogen lights. What is the proper way if any to dim them?

My customer has two of these pointing at a picture over a mantle. One had a dimmer when I got there and I installed a dimmer on the other one.

The problem the customer is complaining about is that the slide switch on the dimmer only dims the lamp during the first 1/3 or so of the slide. After that the lamp goes all the way off. It makes it difficult to adjust to their preferred dim level.

I?m assuming the dimmer is acting weird because it is dimming a transformer and not directly controlling an incandescent lamp.

I don't have the exact model of the transformer, but the lamps are like this:

http://www.buylighting.com/MR16-Covered-Glass-12-Volt-Light-Bulbs-s/276.htm

 

[G._S._Ohm]

My customer has two of these pointing at a picture over a mantle.

Two lamps may not meet the minimum load requirements a lot of dimmers have. You could try seeing if increasing the lamp amperage extends the control range.

 

[dhalleron]

Two lamps may not meet the minimum load requirements a lot of dimmers have. You could try seeing if increasing the lamp amperage extends the control range.

Sorry I wasn't clear. There are two lamps on separate dimmers. One on the 1st floor and one in the basement pointing at pictures over mantles. There is only one lamp on each dimmer and that's all they want.

I should have paid better attention, but I know they are 12v and I think they are 50watt lamps. I'll ask them what wattage they are and maybe they could try a higher wattage lamp.

 

[ichimo23]

Dimmer basics:

http://www.lutron.com/Education-Training/LCE/Pages/DimmingBasics.aspx

you need to select a dimmer appropriate for the load

 

[broadgage]

12 volt lamps require a transformer to reduce line voltage to 12 volts.
Not all transformers are suitable for use with dimmers.
Not all dimmers are suitable for transformers, some are for line voltage lamps only.

 

[dhalleron]

Dimmer basics:

http://www.lutron.com/Education-Training/LCE/Pages/DimmingBasics.aspx

you need to select a dimmer appropriate for the load

This sheds a lot of light on my question. Thank you. I never had much experience with the low voltage lighting. Now I need to get the model and brand of the light fixtures and see which type of dimmer will work. I think I might need a Magnetic Low-voltage (MLV) dimmer, but I will find out for sure.

 

[G._S._Ohm]

This sheds a lot of light on my question.

Pardon the pun:grin: