DISCOVERED SEVERAL OF MY DIMMERED SWITCH PLATES ARE RIGHT SMART WARM. IS THIS NORMAL? ITS NOT ALL OF THEM. DON’T HAVE THE MAKE AND MODEL. THE SWITCHES HAVE A +/- 1″ WIDE BY 3″ ON/OFF SWITCH BAR THAT YOU HIT TO OPERATE, WITH A SLIDE BAR DIMMER ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SWITCH.
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Sandy, yes this is normal. Some may be warmer than others because of the wattage of the fixtures they dim. Common dimmers are rated for 600 watts, but 1000 watt dimmers are also available.
Please note too, that it is considered "shouting" to write in all capital letters.
steve
Steve:
Thanks for the info, I'll be able to zzzzz tonight.
Sorry about the shouting. Had the caplock key down, didn't realize it. Haven't been here in awhile and thought that it was part of the new format.
I agree with Steve G. I wish to add a few small tips for anyone who finds this thread on a search.
A widely used guide for general reference is touch. Electrical equipment, especially residential equipment, should stay cool enough to keep your hand on without great pain or damage. With few exceptions equipment that gets too hot during operation to put your hand on should be looked at more closely. Use care and common sense making this test. Avoid live components and moving parts.
Other clues to keep in mind are smell, erratic behavior and unusual noises. The smell of overheated electrical equipment is typically acrid and quite distinctive. Switches that sometimes need to be flipped more than once or wiggled to work are typical of inconsistent functioning as are motors, commonly kitchen or bathroom exhaust fan, that hum before slowly coming to life. I have seen a few fires caused by these units. Unusual noises, snapping, popping or the sound of frying bacon should be obvious clues to a problem. All these should be, IMHO, common sense but sadly some people ignore these until much greater damage is done.
" Other clues to keep in mind are smell, erratic behavior and unusual noises. "
Better avoid this crowd on Fri nite at the tavern...
Many years ago as a Ma Bell employee they taught us to touch all power poles with the BACK of your hand. This advice should be followed when approaching any potential electrical source.
When hit with juice your muscles contract. Back of hand = no problem. Normal grip; it may be your last.
My dad always gives the same advice.....he picked that up along the way wiring railroad switch boxes and working around lived wires. Jeff.......Sometimes on the toll road of life.....a handful of change is good.......
Don't let on I did this, but as a kid I used to sit in on the vinyl floor and grab an outlet that was hanging out of the wall to get a charge.... Wow, if the dog had peed on me about then I'd been a goner. I don't conduct as well as some folks and my uncle that died of cancer a couple years back conducted but didn't feel it so much. He'd put his arm around you and grab an electric fence with his free hand just to see if we were paying attention. Got burned last week when HO switched breaker back on where I was replacing a fried dimmer switch. She was showing how it was 'funny' by wiggling it and making it crackle before I replaced it! I popped off the breaker, but by God I'll pull it out next time I'm there! It didn't 'shock' as much as just bury in and burn the skin on the back of my hand.
Using the back of your hand is good advice. One other thing that I can't stress enough is never trust a GFI. Especially on a temporary pole. I've tested quite a few of them that didn't work. I never worried about it until a builder friend was telling me about a friend of his who was killed rolling up a cord,that was plugged into a temporary pole. He was walking along wet muddy ground when he got it. Two things I learned from that was. Never trust your life to a GFI and always walk to the pole and unplug before rolling up the cords. I automaticaly do that with any cord now. Same for unrolling.It isn't that big of a hassle to unroll the cord then go back and plug it in.