Re: Making an X-10 lamp module immune to dimming

[isw <isw@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

In article <VtCdnaFcKJIC0NfVnZ2dnUVZ_rPinZ2d@xxxxxxx>,
 "Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

--snip--

> OK.  That explains what I thought was happening elsewhere in the support
> circuitry.  Is it correct to say the triac just goes off when the ZC is
> reached (because no current flows at that point in an AC waveform) and then
> the gate pulse turns it back on again for another cycle?

Precisely. Now, to complicate things a bit, there are loads for which
the zero-current point does not coincide with the zero-voltage point
(reactive loads like electric motors, for example). In that case, the
triac may not turn off at all. There are tricks to deal with that
circumstance.

> (Thanks for taking the time to explain this stuff.  Hopefully, it will also
> be helpful to others.  I was a little hesitant to even discuss triacs since
> the great "Triac Thread War" of a while back!)

My pleasure.

Isaac