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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 939
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Member
i was talking with few guys in the chat room and this question came up about using the undercabent strip light it is low voltage type and what i did on one jobsite i did add a twistlock rep to advoid getting mixed up with straght blade devices and i did check the codes i know they dont allow it on straght blades on dimmer circuit but say noting about using twist lock.

if the code do show please do post it here

many thanks for your time

Merci , Marc


Pas de problme,il marche n'est-ce pas?"(No problem, it works doesn't it?)

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,391
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Moderator
Marc it may be a violation of 404.14(E)

Quote
(E) Dimmer Switches. General-use dimmer switches shall be used only to control permanently installed incandescent luminaires (lighting fixtures) unless listed for the control of other loads and installed accordingly.
2002

I think it is Leviton that makes a special purpose outlet for this kind of application.

Bob


Bob Badger
Construction & Maintenance Electrician
Massachusetts
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 39
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Member
I ran into this issue a few months back when a customer wanted dimmable under cabinet lighting. 406.3(F) says that if you start changing voltages, frequencies, etc. you need to use a unique plug so that other devices can’t be used, for obvious reasons. My initial thought was to use a twist-lock or some other NEMA configuration that no one would ever find on a household appliance. I wasn’t too keen on that idea and a bit more investigating brought me to 404.14(E) says that dimmers can only be use for permanently installed fixtures unless listed otherwise.

The answer is comes from Lutron, which makes a dimmer/receptacle combo. The receptacle looks like your ordinary 5-20R but it has a little “bump” between the flat blades, which prevents use by anything but their plugs.

They’re not cheap and it was more than this customer wanted to spend. Apparently her cousin had dimmed his lights for $20. Okay, what's next.
http://www.lutron.com/pdfspecs/novatb.pdf

Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 939
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Thanks Bob and Mike for pointing it out with perment mounted lumiaires with dimmers devices


Merci, Marc

sorry for delay to repsonde here i got busy for while


Pas de problme,il marche n'est-ce pas?"(No problem, it works doesn't it?)

Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 60
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I've seen crystal chandeliers in a huge mansion plugged into (discreet) dimmer-controlled receptacles in a beamed ceiling... Granted, these were about 18' above the floor... Is that still a problem though?

Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 625
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Member
The X-10, Insteon, and Radio-RA systems all have listed "lamp dimmers" that plug into a standard receptacle, have provide a receptacle for plugging in a standard lamp cord. There are also plug-in dimmers that are locally controlled. These all provide solutions for plug-in lamps. Although, I don't know if any are designed for low-voltage lighting--I suspect not. For that, I think you're pretty much stuck with the Lutron dimmer/receptacle setup if you need a listed and NEC-compliant solution. If the AHJ is OK with a common-sense approach, I'd think any low-voltage dimmer in conjunction with either a twist-lock or Lutron receptacle would be a safe way to do things.

On the other hand, for undercabinet strip lighting, my approach, if possible, would be to replace the plug-and-cord connected lights with hard-wired fixtures, thereby eliminating a whole host of issues.


[This message has been edited by SolarPowered (edited 02-08-2006).]


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