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Solving high pitch noise from dimmer.

S

Sam Nickaby

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'd been having a hard time sleeping because the dimmer I use on a
lamp for a night light whistles or makes a very high pitch, continuous
noise like a Cicada. I then move the dimmer to another location but
the sound is still there. When I face the wall during sleep the sound gets
louder. I have tinnitus so it's very hard to distinguish the two sounds
until I sleep with ear muffs. I will get rid of this problem but I haven't
found a solution since I lack sleep and not in my right mind. What are
some repair solution or products I can use to dim night lights?

Thanks
 
M

Mr Fixit

Jan 1, 1970
0
Sam Nickaby said:
I'd been having a hard time sleeping because the dimmer I use on a
lamp for a night light whistles or makes a very high pitch, continuous
noise like a Cicada. I then move the dimmer to another location but
the sound is still there. When I face the wall during sleep the sound gets
louder. I have tinnitus so it's very hard to distinguish the two sounds
until I sleep with ear muffs. I will get rid of this problem but I haven't
found a solution since I lack sleep and not in my right mind. What are
some repair solution or products I can use to dim night lights?

Thanks
plug in night lights???
 
J

James Sweet

Jan 1, 1970
0
Sam said:
I'd been having a hard time sleeping because the dimmer I use on a
lamp for a night light whistles or makes a very high pitch, continuous
noise like a Cicada. I then move the dimmer to another location but
the sound is still there. When I face the wall during sleep the sound gets
louder. I have tinnitus so it's very hard to distinguish the two sounds
until I sleep with ear muffs. I will get rid of this problem but I haven't
found a solution since I lack sleep and not in my right mind. What are
some repair solution or products I can use to dim night lights?

Thanks


About the only thing I can think of that would whistle is the filter
inductor inside. You might be able to coat it in varnish to keep it from
vibrating.
 
R

Rich Grise

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'd been having a hard time sleeping because the dimmer I use on a
lamp for a night light whistles or makes a very high pitch, continuous
noise like a Cicada. I then move the dimmer to another location but
the sound is still there. When I face the wall during sleep the sound gets
louder. I have tinnitus so it's very hard to distinguish the two sounds
until I sleep with ear muffs. I will get rid of this problem but I haven't
found a solution since I lack sleep and not in my right mind. What are
some repair solution or products I can use to dim night lights?

Thanks

Buy a night light that doesn't need a dimmer.

Good Luck!
Rich
 
K

Ken Weitzel

Jan 1, 1970
0
Rich said:
Buy a night light that doesn't need a dimmer.

Good Luck!
Rich

Hi...

Or just put a 1 or two amp rectifier in series with the bulb.

Used to be able to buy small rotary switches that were easily
spliced into a lampcord that provided off, low or high positions.

Ken
 
J

JANA

Jan 1, 1970
0
Try another make of dimmer. Sometimes, some models may make some noise from
their switching effect. The lamp can sometimes also produce noise.

The other solution is to get one of these small plug-in night lamps. They
are dim, and don't require any wall dimmer for them.

--

JANA
_____


I'd been having a hard time sleeping because the dimmer I use on a
lamp for a night light whistles or makes a very high pitch, continuous
noise like a Cicada. I then move the dimmer to another location but
the sound is still there. When I face the wall during sleep the sound gets
louder. I have tinnitus so it's very hard to distinguish the two sounds
until I sleep with ear muffs. I will get rid of this problem but I haven't
found a solution since I lack sleep and not in my right mind. What are
some repair solution or products I can use to dim night lights?

Thanks
 
H

Hans

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi, I had the same problem with my lamp in the living room. This lamp
has the dimmer built into the cable and the switch/dial was remote. I
just wraped the dimmer into some old thick cloth, which perfectly
absorbed the noise. If you do the same trick, make sure the dimmer does
not get too hot, to prevent fire.
 
C

Chris

Jan 1, 1970
0
Sam said:
I'd been having a hard time sleeping because the dimmer I use on a
lamp for a night light whistles or makes a very high pitch, continuous
noise like a Cicada. I then move the dimmer to another location but
the sound is still there. When I face the wall during sleep the sound gets
louder. I have tinnitus so it's very hard to distinguish the two sounds
until I sleep with ear muffs. I will get rid of this problem but I haven't
found a solution since I lack sleep and not in my right mind. What are
some repair solution or products I can use to dim night lights?

Thanks

Hi, Sam. Sorry about the tinnitus. If you view in in terms of
productive capacity lost, tinnitus is one of the most costly diseases
to the American economy (over a million Americans have it badly enough
to be at least partially disabled, and most of those are adults who
could otherwise lead productive lives), and a lot more research could
be done to work towards a cure.

The high frequency sound is almost certainly coming from the bulb
itself rather than the dimmer. The filament and filament mount on many
bulbs are mechanically resonant at a multiple of line frequency.

The easiest thing to try is getting a different (usually a more
expensive) brand of light bulb. More expensive ones are typically
better-made, and seem to be more resistant to this effect. You can
also slow down the turn-on of the triac in the middle of the AC cycle,
to mimimize or stop this effect. In days of yore, triacs all had soft
turn-ons, and this was less of a problem. Since you can't change the
triac, you can also accomplish this by putting a small choke in series
with the line. Lutron makes these, but I'm not sure you want to play
with the electrical wiring. Either that, or get a different dimmer
that has that protection built-in (quite a bit more expensive).

To get a little more sleep at night, you might want to try one of those
"white noise generators" that make sounds like rain or waves. They're
sold separately as stand alone desktop models, and are also built into
some better alarm clocks. A friend of mine found that helped him for
some time. Try to get one that has an external connection for speakers
or headphones. That will give you more options.

If you're trying to find and isolate high-frequency sounds that are
bugging you in order to minimize their effect on your life, you might
want to buy, beg or borrow an old medical stethoscope, or use an
automotive one (that has the horn funnel at the end).

Good luck, and let's keep hoping for a cure! Anyone who's interested
in more information can check out:

http://www.ata.org/

Chris
 
A

Art

Jan 1, 1970
0
Good Info Chris: Been enduring the ringing -both ears - for longer that I
can remember, plus the hypertussis thing which aggravates hearing one
specific person when in a group, or in lots of ambient noises.<
 
S

spudnuty

Jan 1, 1970
0
Art said:
Good Info Chris: Been enduring the ringing -both ears - for longer that I
can remember, plus the hypertussis thing which aggravates hearing one
specific person when in a group, or in lots of ambient noises.<
I do relaxation and massage therapy and have had many clients with
sleep issues. Lack of sleep or inadequate sleep can be a major factor
in many physical problems. I had a client with tinnitus that went away
after she had a few weeks of good sleep. Have you tried sleeping
without a light? Not meaning to be trivial about this but there have
been studies that show melatonin levels are lower in people who sleep
with a light on. There may also be some underlying issues there. I
personally cannot sleep with a light on and I have a tiny keyboard
light because my desk lamp bothers my wife when I'm working late at
night.
As to the noise I think that the other posters have covered that quite
well.
Richard
 
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