"Loading them below their maximum rating meant that the lamp(s) could not be dimmed completely out (unless a "phantom load" was connected somewhere to fill it out)."
I remember seeing that. My father was a set & costume designer and when up in NYC for rehersals he would let me hang out with the master electrician. Lucky him - I was only about 9 years old! Anyway the electrician once showed me a concrete room with many stage lights set up and there were two huge 48in fans installed in the walls. He said these were to balance the dimmers. This BTW was in the late 1960s. Not until many years later while in EE courses did I understand what he meant.
[This message has been edited by Gus1999 (edited 05-09-2003).]
