Question for electrician/electronics experts

[Krodad]

I am installing lights in my new kitchen... in one area in particular, I just wired some 120v puck lights that are switched with their own included 3 level touch dimmer, then I also have a flourescent task light, switched in it's own case, wired into the same junction box. The touch dimmer control is a unit that came with the lights, and I hard wired that into the junction box, then the puck lights are plugged into that dimmer unit.

My problem is, whenever I switch the flourescent light on, it toggles the puck lights through a dimmer cycle..for example, switch on the flourescent, the pucks come on dim, turn it off then back on, they come on middle dim, do it again, they come on bright, then turn off the flourescent and the pucks go off. Just for grins, I wired an incandescent lamp into the circuit and unwired the flourescent...no problems or anything weird happens.

Obviously it has something to do with the fact that the light is flourescent. So, does anyone know if there is a way to "filter" out or "isolate" this effect? It is going to be somewhat difficult to get either of the lights on a separate circuit for various reasons.

Thanks.

 

[ChucksCrib]

Did you pigtail the hot(black wire) going into the box?

 

[Krodad]

No...everything is brought together with a single wire nut direct to the source wire. There are actually two dimmer controls and one flourescent fixture connected together. I hooked up an incandesent lamp to the other dimmer, and they seem to mess with each other as well. It's hard to explain what happens, but it's irregular. The dimmers obviously have a little circuit board in each module, and they don't like being interconnected.

Could it be because there is no ground on these modules? I have no idea what to do about it, becuase now I need more than just one separate circuit...I would actually need a total of 3 sources...1 for each of the two dimmers, and one for the flourescent, unless there is some kind of solution or filter, etc.

 

[rockwithjason]

you are getting feedback on the neutral wire. you need to isolate the fluorecent from the dimmer controls

 

[Krodad]

you are getting feedback on the neutral wire. you need to isolate the fluorecent from the dimmer controls

Does this need to be done by way of finding a separate circuit, or is there a way to do it off the same circuit?

The additional problem is that the two dimmer modules are messing each other up as well. In order to get to a different circuit, I'm going to have to do some pretty major stuff...the cabinets are all custom, and they are now installed...I had to get the wiring in place before they were brought in, and now I'm kind of stuck.

 

[fefarms]

What's the brand/ part number on the puck lights and dimmer modules?
Look closely at one of the dimmer modules and see if there is a rotary dial on them -- they may be some sort of X10 module and the "remote control" effect is a "feature". Turning the dial on the modules to some other position may fix the problem. Set each module differently, and different from the default.

Another option is to ditch the built in dimmers, which are evidently defective in the sense of being overly sensitive to RFI. You can buy all sorts of dimmers at the big box stores -- buy one you like and replace one of the two built-in dimmers, and try out the system again.

 

[rockwithjason]

dimmers are very picky about neutrals. for example I had a job where the owners wanted the ceiling fan lights dimmed. there are two leads, one for the fan and one for the lights so that was not a problem but the neutral was shared. I pulled an additional neutral thru the fan and ran a separate circuit for the dimmers. I am not aware of any way to isolate the dimmers without running new wire back to the panel. I suppose you could try to find an isolation transformer but that carries it's own set of problems.