Touch light dimmer problem

About 2 years ago I bought a plug in touch dimmer for a bed side lamp. It worked fine for over a year. Then one day the lamp began coming on by itself, at random times. Usually twice a day. So I bought a new plug in touch dimmer. It did the same thing. I tried different outlets throughout the house. I put it on a surge supressor. Nothing helped. I changed lamps, and it did NOT come on, so I figure it is the lamp. The lamp has 3 bulbs, so I replaced them with all new ones. That did not help. I don't know what else to do. My wife loves the lamp and does not want to change it for any other one. Having the touch was a great convienance. Any ideas how to make it less sensative or otherwise keep it from turning on by itself?

TIA.

Reply to
borne
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Your situation seems to be the norm for those dimmers. If you like the lamp you can get an inline standard dimmer like this:

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Reply to
RBM

My guess is you have something on that circuit that is triggering it, maybe something that cycles, maybe an Air Conditioner. It may even be outside your home.

Some dimmers are less sensitive than others, even two of the same kind. I have lights on either side of the bed. Each are the same and a quick outage or a power blip, maybe lightning close by will trigger them, some times both some times only one, usually the same one.

I have chosen to live with it. It does not happen often to me,

Reply to
jmeehan

When I was a kid we had a florescent desk lamp in our bedroom. If I hit the switch just lightly enough it would come on halfway, which was just enough light to see by when my brothers were asleep.

Late one night, still a bit shaky from just seeing the Exorcist (the original) I walked into the room and as I reached for the light it came on - halfway - before I even touched it.

My scream woke my brothers up.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I have one that does the same thing when there is a momentary power interruption. These power glitches are more numerous during the summer months around here.

[8~{} Uncle Monster
Reply to
Uncle Monster

Just another symptom concerning all these cheap 'extra' bits of consumer electronics that are available today. Usually to lowest price possible, most likely manufactured in some third world country struggling to improve the day to day living standards of its citizens!

So, at Wal Mart or Costco etc. , we buy the cute lamp or the wall mounted dimmer/touch switch, or the cheap smoke detector and one may interfere with the other, or create RFI (Radio Frequency interference) or the cheap phone attachment won't work after a power outage; notice how cheap microwaves have to be reset each time there is a power glitch? Why? Because they don't have memory backup!

Outdoor motion sensor lights that come on intermittently! Some so sensitive that the cat coming around the corner triggers them. Other that won't come on even if you park a hot motor vehicle right under them. And then the following week they work fine!

Ever had to reprogramme the TV remote after the batteries ran down? The cordless phone that conks out just as someone says 'Love you'! There is one place in our bathroom where our cordless doesn't work properly! And we have, again a supposedly 'good' brand' of non- rechargeable shaver, that clicks on the radio if left plugged in! Ridiculous!

Thunderstorms, very humid weather, power outage, power glitches/ momentary hits, lightning, low voltage are all factors that here have been seen to affect various forms of these gadgets.

Easiest way is keep things simple, basic and rugged. For example screw in bulb type lamps work best and longest if the socket are ceramic, not plastic and also if one does not put in too big a bulb, e.g. a say

100 watt incandescent in a plastic socket rated for a maximum of 60 watts. But who checks the little heat sensitive sticky label that fell off years ago anyway!

It's like the d**n last vehicle we bought; it has a number of options, none of which have failed btw, perhaps because it is Japanese design manufactured in the USA, which are unnecessary are never used and add unnecessary weight. These include; Cruise control, extra speakers, several speed wipers, a slot in the radio which apparently can take a CD, interior light that stay on after you get out of the cab, and then just die away! Remote locks (fortunately you can still use the key on the driver's door anyway). But you can't push/roll or bump start this vehicle if the battery goes low 'darn-it'. Which one could with every other manual vehicle we ever owned.

Anyway just read this rant as plea for simplicity. Everything is getting, as one of my technology instructors of over 50 years ago, used to say, "Too bl**dy clever by half"!

Also btw the simpler something is usually the easier (and cheaper) it is to maintain it!

Reply to
terry

Well, think of it this way as far as my touch lamp goes. If I come in and see the touch lamp on dim and I didn't leave it that way, I know that the power has been off. If there is a power outage at night, and the manual start fluorescent lights are out, the touch lamp lights the way.

[8~{} Uncle Monster
Reply to
Uncle Monster

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