You can’t use a dimmer for fluorescent fixtures
So I was changing a lightbulb last night…
I had just finished listening to a record and decided to change a lightbulb that had gone out directly above my turntable. When I started unscrewing the bulb I noticed a faint buzz coming from my speaker. I then turned the volume way up on my amp and tried again. Turns out the buzzing was happening when my hand touched the metal light fixture, not the lightbulb.
At first I thought the tubes in my phono stage were picking up an EM field from the light fixture and out of curiosity I grabbed a piece of foil and covered the phono stage and then tried tapping the fixture again, same buzzing. Then I switched the input on my amp to my DAC and tried the tapping, no buzzing. Switched the input back to the phono stage and tapped the fixture, buzzing continued. Then I covered the tonearm with the foil and the buzzing went away almost completely.
So it appears my tonearm is picking up some sort of signal from the light fixture but only when I touch the fixture. If I turn the lights off there is no buzzing when I tap the fixture. The setup is in the basement and I use LED lights that are recessed in the ceiling and wired to an “LED” dimmer switch. The audio gear is on a dedicated circuit.
Any of the knowledgeable folk on here have an explanation for what’s going on? Doesn’t effect SQ AFAIK since the buzzing only occurs when I touch the metal fixture. Seems odd but I thought it was interesting and maybe a chance for me to learn something from the members.
I uploaded a video of this happening to Imgur that I’ll try pasting here:
Cheers
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- 44 posts total
For AC filtering of the light something of this nature might work. They need to be wired inline to the dimmer switch. These particular ones are way more current then you need but I was looking up units that would cover at least 2-1/2 amps for my needs. Or this:
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@vinylandtubes Yes I do but I haven’t noticed any issues there compared to when it was placed further from the speaker. Are you thinking from vibrations or something else? |
If it was magnetic field I would agree, but I suspect that this is either voltage field, or noise coming in on the ground or neutral side. It could take an O-Scope to figure it out. Since the foil wrapping ameliorated the effect, then we can probably rule out the ground (and any added capacitance added in when it was touched.) which leaver us with whether the tonearm tube is metal, plastic, wood, etc.? What is the tonearm made out of? And if the arm is not conductive, then maybe the wires inside are not twisted at all. But I am not sure if is any concern.
While it is pretty interesting, I am not sure if it is a problem that begs a solution? |
- 44 posts total