Low voltage Track lights

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finster1

Member
Location
New Jersey
A customer has 27 track lights on a 1000w dimmer and he is complaining that the lights keep going dim and bright.....and that he has a real tough time adjusting the level of the lighting. I am going to assume that he has the 50watt bulbs in the fixtures of this restaurant and is over the rating of the dimming switch. I am curious if anyone knows if there is a specific type of dimmer to use for these low voltage track lights. I know flourescent has one and incandescent has a different one and there are 1500w dimmers...even magnetic low voltage.......Is this magnetic low voltage the right one to use for this aplication?

Jimmy

Licensed Electrical Contractor NJ
 
Dennis Alwon

Dennis Alwon

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
There are magnetic LV dimmers and electronic low voltages dimmers. If the track lights have electronic transformers then you need an electronic dimmer. Some of the magnetic transformers say you can dim them with the standard dimmers.

Your wattage is definitely over so that may be adding to the problem.

The other problem is that magnetic low voltage dimmers are only good for 1000 watts (really only 800)and electronic ones are only good for 300 watts
 
e57

e57

Senior Member
Location
San Francisco, CA
Sounds like he needs some 2 circuit track if not 3 circuit - as he is probably over the track rating as well and needs some splanin' on just because you can add 27 fixtures to a track run - there are reasons you shouldn't - like fire..... :cool:

Then I would suggest a dimmer booster for this new bank of dimmers.... And a few circuits to power it all.

A while back I went into a store with a 60' single circuit track that stopped working - it had 30 100w lamps on it - the circuit breaker held, and it took weeks for the feed fitting on the track to self destruct.... (Violently from what I understand!)

Also "Dim and Bright" lighting can be the symtoms of something else that may need immediate attention! Lost neutral.....
 
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Fred Bay

Member
When looking for the appropriate dimmer, I have found it helpful just to call Lutron. Their products are great and they have excellent customer service.
 
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