Electronics > Repair
European Lamp in the US Stopped Working
mgwalker95:
I am trying to Repair the PCB if it is broken, I do not need to replace the whole thing. Hence why I am posting in the "Repair" forum.
If you have any ideas on what component I should check or replace that would be great!
IanB:
You used a 110 volt bulb in a 240 volt lamp. That shows a significant lack of electrical knowledge.
We can now suspect that the bulb died from overvoltage, and may have shorted out due to exceeding the voltage ratings of internal bulb components. It possibly blew up one or more components inside the dimmer as a result of that. This makes the dimmer electrically unsafe and in need of disposal. Any or all of the components in the dimmer could be damaged. If you lack the knowledge to use the correct voltage bulb in a lamp, you lack the knowledge to conduct a safe repair on a mains voltage appliance.
You should cut your losses, put the lamp in the recycling, and replace it.
IanB:
FYI, what I might do is to replace the broken dimmer circuit with a new 120 V dimmer circuit designed for the North American market, and fit the new dimmer inside the same lamp housing. it looks like a linear slide dimmer. You should be able to get one of those from a hardware store, perhaps by cannibalizing a lamp dimmer with a similar slide control.
Haenk:
--- Quote from: IanB on August 30, 2024, 09:54:11 pm ---It possibly blew up one or more components inside the dimmer as a result of that. This makes the dimmer electrically unsafe and in need of disposal.
--- End quote ---
Obviously, there are not a lot of parts in there. The caps are unlikely to fail, that leaves only the thermal fuse (easy to test) and the TRIAC - easy to replace. If this thing has been constructed OK, the fuse should have protected the TRIAC.
Still might be a good idea to have someone check it for you, if you don't know what you are doing.
IanB:
--- Quote from: Haenk on August 31, 2024, 07:38:20 am ---
--- Quote from: IanB on August 30, 2024, 09:54:11 pm ---It possibly blew up one or more components inside the dimmer as a result of that. This makes the dimmer electrically unsafe and in need of disposal.
--- End quote ---
Obviously, there are not a lot of parts in there. The caps are unlikely to fail, that leaves only the thermal fuse (easy to test) and the TRIAC - easy to replace. If this thing has been constructed OK, the fuse should have protected the TRIAC.
Still might be a good idea to have someone check it for you, if you don't know what you are doing.
--- End quote ---
Indeed, it's most likely a semiconductor has failed. I think it more likely that TRIAC failed to protect the fuse, rather then the other way around.
Diagnostic steps would be to reverse engineer the PCB, draw out the schematic, identify the possibly failing components, replace them, and see if it starts working again.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[*] Previous page
Go to full version