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

[isw <isw@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

In article <Bu2dnWpN2JYTmtTVnZ2dnUVZ_jydnZ2d@xxxxxxx>,
 "Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

--snippety-snip--

> From what I had read here and elsewhere, it sounded very much like triacs
> were solid state switches that could pass large amounts of current via the
> input of very much small current.

That is precisely why they are so useful.

>  They also appear to be able to switch
> incredibly quickly compared to mechanical switches.

Sort of; they can turn on very rapidly, but getting them off again can
be a bit tricky.

> But a practical
> application like this makes the theory easier to understand.  When I read
> that they were bidirectional, I thought it meant passing AC freely, but it's
> a lot more complex than that.

They pass AC freely, in both directions, from when a trigger pulse
arrives until the next zero crossing.

Isaac