Lutron dimmer 277v on 120v

[mannyb]

Customer has 277v dimmer on house lights at 120v. Would and should lights work? The dimmer for 120v reads 786mW and 277v 2.5W you even. The specs also include a distance of 150' at 120v and 100' at 277v

Customer complains lights flicker when generator is running. Utility power good

 

[LarryFine]

Customer complains lights flicker when generator is running. Utility power good

If it really bothers them, try another dimmer.


Patient: "Doc, it hurts when I do that."

Doc: "Don't do that."

 

[roger]

Or tell them not to use those lights when the generator is being used

 

[LarryFine]

Or tell them not to use those lights when the generator is being used

(That's what "Don't do that." meant. )

 

[mannyb]

If it really bothers them, try another dimmer.


Patient: "Doc, it hurts when I do that."

Doc: "Don't do that."

Another EC contractor recommending surge protection. I was just curious if the dimmer being 277 affects the lighting. Apparently the whole.house has dimmers. I recommend we replace a few dimmers with regular switches to see what's happens.

 

[LarryFine]

Just temporarily swap the offending dimmer with a polite one.

 

[AC\DC]

Customer has 277v dimmer on house lights at 120v. Would and should lights work? The dimmer for 120v reads 786mW and 277v 2.5W you even. The specs also include a distance of 150' at 120v and 100' at 277v

Customer complains lights flicker when generator is running. Utility power good

It’s crappy power from the generator on crappy led lights.

Had the same problem it’s the gen and crap led

 

[roger]

In my experience flickering under Generator power is a pretty common problem. Generally speaking they are providing dirty power and most suggest using surge protectors at the least.

 

[mannyb]

Would lights flicker if missing neutral at switch? That have dimmer

 

[curt swartz]

How about posting the dimmer model number?

 

[retirede]

Another EC contractor recommending surge protection. I was just curious if the dimmer being 277 affects the lighting. Apparently the whole.house has dimmers. I recommend we replace a few dimmers with regular switches to see what's happens.

Surge suppressors won’t help. Perhaps he meant power conditioner? That’s still not a good solution.

 

[mannyb]

Surge suppressors won’t help. Perhaps he meant power conditioner? That’s still not a good solution.

No Surge Protection.

 

[zbang]

Generally speaking they are providing dirty power

As an aside, how can a rotating AC generator provide dirty power without something "dirty-ing" it? Shouldn't it be really close to a pure sine? (Or is the assumption that the customer's gen is an inverter unit? A decent one of those should be jamming out a fairly clean wave, too.) Granted that the frequency could vary, but I don't consider that "dirty power" (spikes, surges, high harmonics, etc).

I may have to get out the isolation transformer and 'scope sometime.

 

[retirede]

No Surge Protection.

I know that. I was simply suggesting you ignore the advice you were given in the post I quoted.

 

[GoldDigger]

As an aside, how can a rotating AC generator provide dirty power without something "dirty-ing" it? Shouldn't it be really close to a pure sine? (Or is the assumption that the customer's gen is an inverter unit? A decent one of those should be jamming out a fairly clean wave, too.) Granted that the frequency could vary, but I don't consider that "dirty power" (spikes, surges, high harmonics, etc).

I may have to get out the isolation transformer and 'scope sometime.

The generator will almost always have a voltage regulator circuit that controls the excitation voltage to the generator windings. This, along with other things including core saturation, can produce a periodic waveform that is far from sinusoidal, with large harmonics. But it is not likely to produce spikes or surges.

I once had a very inexpensive portable generator that used a flywheel size and weight permanent magnet to produce the rotating magnetic field. The waveform was very nice, but you could regulate the voltage or the frequency, but not both independently, by adjusting the throttle governor, a moving vane type. One of the things it powered was a record turntable. and I adjusted the turntable speed by varying the load on the generator.

 

[LarryFine]

One of the things it powered was a record turntable. and I adjusted the turntable speed by varying the load on the generator.

<---- Also a vinyl enthusiast. Very cool.

 

[zbang]

The generator will almost always have a voltage regulator circuit that controls the excitation voltage to the generator windings. This, along with other things including core saturation, can produce a periodic waveform that is far from sinusoidal, with large harmonics.

Can it, of course; does it? Even a 20kva unit cranking out a steady 5-6 shouldn't be having issues with saturation or regulation.

Mostly, it's easy to point the finger at "dirty power" and the generators, and some certainly are terrible, but how often is this really the case? (Just like blaming "bad grounding" for audio circuits.) Without real measurements it's all just a guess.

 

[wwhitney]

Can it, of course; does it?

If you want to see some oscilloscope traces of the voltage output by small portable generators (mostly under 10 kW), see the YouTube channel of James Condon. He repairs small portable generators, and at the end of each video he typically load tests the repaired generator while checking the THD and looking at the waveform on an oscilloscope. Typically stepping up the power from 0 to near maximum rated, showing the results at each step.

Cheers, Wayne