High pitched noise from light

[K8MHZ]

I hope that I am posting this in the correct forum.

Here is the situation. We have a chain hung light over our dining room table. It is properly grounded, etc. and powered via a dimmer switch. When the dimmer is neither at the off or full on position my daughter complains of a high pitched noise coming from the light (not the switch). I can't hear it but she can.

1) Should I have some sort of safety concern?

2) I need to eliminate the noise because she does her homework at the table and the light is too bright on full so she needs it to be dimmed about half way which produces the noise and she can't stand it so she works without the light which I don't approve of.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. FWIW my daughter is an accomplished musician and has a very good ear. I trust her assessment of the noise as I cannot hear high pitched sound due to an old ear infection from an unchlorinated pool many years ago. Since I cannot hear the noise I am at a loss to be able to troubleshoot it but I owe it to her to fix the problem so she can accell in school to achiever her goal to become a veterinarian.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. My kid is the most important thing in my life and I will go to any lengths to provide for her. She is a great kid and would and has done the same for me. Actually, I consider her to be my best friend, a fellow ham radio operator and an assistant in my ham radio class. I really need to solve this problem to give her the best chance at achieving her goal.

Again, thanks in advance!

 

[dwellselectric]

Check the dimmer if you have a cheap dimmer that can cause a noise from the light. I have run into that same problem myself. So try a better quality dimmer and that should solve the problem:smile:

 

[mdshunk]

I second that. The dimmer is the cause. Some dimmers make the lamp filaments "sing". A different brand/style of lamps might help, and changing to a good Lutron dimmer may help.

 

[dwellselectric]

I use Lutron Ariadni dimmers they are a great dimmer and never have a hum coming from a light:smile:

 

[nakulak]

sometimes it can just be a bad bulb too

 

[Karl H]

I installed LV lighting in my house and when I dimmed them to MEDor LOW,the lamps would hum. I have Radio RA dimmers. So I installed a Choke in the XFERs and the hum went away. The wife bugged me for a month (at least 5 times daily) to fix the noise. These chokes are amazing not only will they stop lamps from humming, they stop wives from complaining. Anyone know how to install a choke in a dishwasher with a burnt out heating element?:grin:

 

[Lxnxjxhx]

I can't hear it but she can.

I can't hear it but she can.

Males lose their high frequency hearing before females, and since most of the intelligibility of speech is above 1500 Hz, as it gets worse you can hear speech but you cannot understand it.

The other good news is that I think the lamp filament is about to fail.

 

[ultramegabob]

If your using 120 volt lamps in the fixture, try installing 130 volt lamps, they have heavier filaments and the noise will probley stop....

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I, too, would change the bulb before I change the dimmer. Some cheap bulbs will sing--- 130volt also for other reasons and a different brand.

 

[480sparky]

Or try rough-service/appliance/ceiling fan/garage-door-opener bulbs. Their filaments are supported better.

 

[mivey]

...These chokes are amazing not only will they stop lamps from humming, they stop wives from complaining...

While choking may stop the complaining, I don't think the legal ramifications would make it worthwhile it in the long run. :grin:

 

[tonyou812]

Its funny that your young daughter hears it. Its is a known fact that young woman have far superior hearing than men. Especially when they are very young. I dont particularly remember which laboratory it was but they were experimenting with different forms of remote controls for televisions. And one the first things they tried was using sound waves from the remote to change the channels. They were basically using different forms of tunning forks in the remote to change channels and volume, and they were at frequenceis that are inaudible to most people. And one day there was a young woman in the lab, and while they were playing with the remote the girl got mad and said if you guys dont stop making that god awfull noise I am going to have to leave(or quit) I dont remember what her exact words were. Needless to say because of situations like this and many dogs howling and barking at the noise this technology never really took off.
Im sure you know how a dimmer works. It acually turns the light on and off very rapidly causing the filiment to vibrate. this is the noise that she is hearing. I would try experimenting with different bulbs and different dimmers. I would be excited to hear what you come up with.

 

[Karl H]

While choking may stop the complaining, I don't think the legal ramifications would make it worthwhile it in the long run. :grin:[/QUOTE Lutron said;"Choke" not I. I will write them a strongly worded letter instisting they change the term "Choke" to "Muzzle.":grin:

 

[Lxnxjxhx]

130v lamp on 120 v

130v lamp on 120 v

30% less brightness, 3x the service life, price ~ equal. Yeah, all around good idea.

Speaking of which, for those of us who are the first house on the pole transformer, are there any UL devices to reduce the household voltage to closer to 114v than to 126v? These probably only go on the breakers that supply the lights.

 

[480sparky]

30% less brightness, 3x the service life, price ~ equal. Yeah, all around good idea.

Speaking of which, for those of us who are the first house on the pole transformer, are there any UL devices to reduce the household voltage to closer to 114v than to 126v? These probably only go on the breakers that supply the lights.

You could get a buck-boost transformer.

Or you could call the poco and see if they'd set their transformer to another set of taps.

 

[LarryFine]

Speaking of which, for those of us who are the first house on the pole transformer, are there any UL devices to reduce the household voltage to closer to 114v than to 126v?

Personally, I'd rather have 126v coming into my house than 114v. Motors run cooler and last longer, and I can use reduced-wattage or 130v bulbs and receive the same amount of light.

 

[Lxnxjxhx]

buck-boost transformer

buck-boost transformer

I'm waiting on a quote from Dongan for a 20 A, 5 volt buck.

On the lamps, the series lamp diode that NASA used to sell that goes in the lamp socket used to catch fire, and my own 1N4004 1 A series 50 cent diode is not UL and involves some assembly and install time.

Besides Grainger, can I get these 130v bulbs at Home Despot or Lowes? I look for them when I'm there, but can't find.

 

[Podagrower]

I think lamp "sing" is caused by a variety of factors. I have had the opportunity to wire the same design building five times(community rec building which gets differant paint and light fixtures for desired effect)
They all have dimmers, and noise ranges from inaudable to intolerable. All bulbs are 130v (spec) and fixtures range from 12v recess lights to 15 bulb chandeliers. Bulb position, quantity, and fixture design all seem to play a role. Bulb pointed down, lamp reflector behind it, lots of noise. Bulb up, open design, less noise.
The first of these buildings I wired had a filter that removed the noise, but they were value engineered out in later projects. Way overkill for one fixture, but a great solution for larger projects.
www.lolcontrols.com/clientuploads/techdocs/85-0036C.pdf

 

[mivey]

I'm waiting on a quote from Dongan for a 20 A, 5 volt buck.

On the lamps, the series lamp diode that NASA used to sell that goes in the lamp socket used to catch fire, and my own 1N4004 1 A series 50 cent diode is not UL and involves some assembly and install time.

Besides Grainger, can I get these 130v bulbs at Home Despot or Lowes? I look for them when I'm there, but can't find.

You can get some standard 130 volt bulbs and floods but they don't have a large selection (at Lowes anyway).

 

[ultramegabob]

you can get 130v. lamps at any electrical supply house, or go to a regular lighting salon. another option is to change over to compact fluorescent lamps, they are available dimmable now, kinda pricey, but its another option....