RE: Re: Linking x10, LD11 Dimmers

["Keith Doxey" <ukha@xxxxxxx>]

Martin,

As I said in my posting yesterday, component tolerances will mean that the
two units are not exactly identical. Whilst it may appear to be working
perfectly OK the distribution of power may not be even between them. One
could be running at 800W the other at 600W. There will be a small safety
margin built into the dimmers but even if you split the load in two,
running
a 700W load on a dimmer rated at 700W is asking for a reduced life.

The biggest killer of electronic equipment is heat. Anything driven flat
out
will die a lot sooner than something that has a greater capability than
required. This also applies to computers and amplifiers as well.

How long did you try them for?

I suggest you carefully monitor the temperature of them and ensure there is
adequate ventilation. How will you know if one unit fails?

A mains glitch could cause one to stop responding to any signals at which
point the total load will fall upon the other unit causing it to run at
200%
of its capability. If this happens, I hope the fuse fails before the dimmer
fails or worst case, catches fire.

WHAT YOU HAVE DONE IS NOT TO BE RECOMMENDED.

By all means control then from the same switch but for safety's sake, split
the loads. I know you said you have already cabled the lights but I would
explore every possibility of splitting the circuit in two. Presumably this
circuit has its own MCB as 1400W is almost the limit for a 6A MCB on a
lighting ciruit.

I sincerely hope you heed this warning because the consequences of a
failure
could result in a tragedy.

The actions taken are yours.....the responsibility is YOURS !!

Keith

-----Original Message-----
From: marty55_99 [mailto:m1234@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 12 December 2001 20:31
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: [ukha_d] Re: Linking x10, LD11 Dimmers


>From my question posted to the group yesterday.
Linking 2 x LD11 dimmers to feed one circuit DOES work, I have only
been using it as a dimmer though, from a switch and not by sending
X10 commands.

It got over my problem, thanks for everyones help.

Martin