ok; in my foyer have two ceiling lamps; I used to have 75 watt incandescent bulbs;They, NEVER blinked... Now, I spent $30 each of two new ECO flourescent, DIMMABLE bulbs; THEY BLINK, and jitter and drives me crazy! I have to notch'the dimmer switch w/a touch, to stop severe blinking of the bulbs. IS THIS REALLY in my electrical wires, weakness..or I KNOW IT CANNOT BE THE BULBS!? maybe just a characteristic of ECO bulbs? this is insane; HELP!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rusty1978,

Change the dimmer to a reguler switch and I bet it will stop.

Sorry; NO--- That is not the answer; the dimmer is a wonderful feature; NO can do;

quote:

Originally posted by rusty1978:
Sorry; NO--- That is not the answer; the dimmer is a wonderful feature; NO can do;

Then adjust to the blinking. You could contact the manufacture of the dimmer as they may provide insight to your problem. I also wonder aloud how well the fixture is grounded.....

I installed dimmers and dimmable floods in my basement. no problems, unless you really have the cans dimmed way down, in which case some bulbs do flicker.

part of the package is that the dimmers were "CFL rated" types. I will bet your older dimmers with the incandescents were not, and have a partial-angle semiconductor that provides the output voltage.

to do CFLs right, you need a bidirectional TRIAC as well as a bidirectional trigger diode in the dimmer, otherwise you only get power to the bulbs on 1/4 of the waveform of the power line. bidirectional dimming provides up to half the waveform. less flicker.

so look for a "CFL rated" dimmer and put that in for grins.

Well thanks all;;;; Wish me luck in finding a Bidirectional TRIAC; those Leviton dimmers come the same, at Lowes and Home Depot; unless I get an electrician to fiddle w/it. I'm sure using the same dimmers, as the one that DIDN"T flicker when Incandescent bulbs used. I think the problem IS THE DIMMER: mybe a different brand I'm gonna try. Also; You are right; when put WAY UP HIGH AND BRIGHT, the DON"T FLICKER at all. It's just when turned down dim and low they flicker. whhheew!

Another thing you might want to do is trip the breaker to those two light sockets and clean the terminal at the bottom of each socket to make sure you have good contact between your bulb and house wiring.

When I do this, I just use a Q-tip dipped in hydrochloric acid based toilet bowl cleaner to clean all the accumulated crap off that bulb socket center terminal, then clean the residual acid off with another Q-tip dipped in water, and finally dry the terminal with a third Q-tip.

That'll ensure that the bulb sockets themselves aren't contributing to the problem.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nestor,

many of those cheap sockets use all aluminum now, no brass. this cleaning product would not be special here, and could cause flashovers.

I've been chasing things like battery corrosion for a long time. putting a little Mac's contact cleaner (NAPA) or De-Oxit (electronic parts houses) is a much better alternative for trying to clear light arc or oxidation corrosion.

but my best results have been replacing sockets in weak or crummy shape. they're cheap and easily changed.

ok...but to settle this dis=cussion; THE SOCKETS are 'brand-new as of last week; BOUGHT two new ones; so..it is not corrossion whatsoever. But- I have an electrical store- merchandise one block from my home;;; should I ask for a Leviton dimmer that is bi-directional and TRIAC? do they come this way? ( I can wire it myself...No problem I'm good @ this thing. I just need to know the right dimmer kind//to get.thanks.

clerks have no clue. lacking an oscilloscope, you have no clue. the parts are unlabelled.

but if the dimmer is labelled OK for CFLs, you have either a Triac or a Hexfet control element.

way old dimmers use SCRs which have only one conductive angle. that doesn't limit them to made in 1980, but dusty old designs could still be around.

these days, IMPHO, there is no good reason to buy a dimmer that does NOT have a CFL rating. sooner or later you will almost have to be using CFLs or LED bulbs. why build obsolete?

Well-- to my surprise, I don't have to 'apply a dimmer//DRIVER of CFL or Triac;; I called a electric company in Hackensack NJ
and they make, my MAESTRO" LUTRON dimmer, IN CFL //and with TRIAC:"::::: "IT's made exactly for LED and FLOURESCENT new bulbs..!
SOO happy; I ordered two;;; I just have to replace them now..NO complex electrical re-doing. THANKS LUTRON!!

most CFL/LED compatible dimmer packaging has the little "sorta-sun" logo in yellow somewhere on the front of the packaging, as well as those words.

quote:

Originally posted by Nestor:
Another thing you might want to do is trip the breaker to those two light sockets and clean the terminal at the bottom of each socket to make sure you have good contact between your bulb and house wiring.

When I do this, I just use a Q-tip dipped in hydrochloric acid based toilet bowl cleaner to clean all the accumulated crap off that bulb socket center terminal, then clean the residual acid off with another Q-tip dipped in water, and finally dry the terminal with a third Q-tip.

That'll ensure that the bulb sockets themselves aren't contributing to the problem.

I would not advise doing that in a million years. Sorry but true.

quote:

Originally posted by rusty1978:
Well-- to my surprise, I don't have to 'apply a dimmer//DRIVER of CFL or Triac;; I called a electric company in Hackensack NJ
and they make, my MAESTRO" LUTRON dimmer, IN CFL //and with TRIAC:"::::: "IT's made exactly for LED and FLOURESCENT new bulbs..!
SOO happy; I ordered two;;; I just have to replace them now..NO complex electrical re-doing. THANKS LUTRON!!

Good to hear...