Electrical/Lighting guys, you are really bright

Sac Arrow

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Snorting his way across the USA
You see what we... I mean I did with that.

Okay enough of that. Here is the situation: My office was dark. There I was. Forget about that part. But the lights were out.

Fast forward. The switch is broke. It is a no-screw LED dimmer switch. The switch is broke. There is power to the office. The switch toggles like overcooked Japanese noodles. It's out. We have a spare LED dimmer switch.

Great, right?

It has six wires. SIX F*$&%)&%$)#(*ING wires. Normal switches have two. Three if you count the neutral.

Okay I aint totally worthless. I went online. Wires. Red and black are the standard hot and neutral. Green is ground. Barber pole red and white isn't used. The other two are the 12V dimmer leads.

Question... And I think it is a stupid one, but I'll ask it anyway. Is the polarity of the two LV leads an issue? The wires they connect to are hella random. Actually all the wire colors in the building are hella random.
 
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12V LED lights are DC, so yes, polarity matters. But do you have 12VDC or 110VAC lights? Your new dimmer switch sounds like it's a dimming power supply that takes 110VAC input and outputs 0-12VDC for the lights.
 
I assume 120 VAC for the lights and a separate 12v modulator, but I'm a water engineer, not an electrician.
 
12V LED lights are DC, so yes, polarity matters. But do you have 12VDC or 110VAC lights? Your new dimmer switch sounds like it's a dimming power supply that takes 110VAC input and outputs 0-12VDC for the lights.

Thought about it some more, that is the case. Moot point now since I just got word that it has been fixed.
 
I'm a water engineer, not an electrician.
But what about all those analogies that say electricity behaves just like water? Given how often people use that trope, you'd be an expert.
 
But what about all those analogies that say electricity behaves just like water? Given how often people use that trope, you'd be an expert.

Yeah, I am an expert on how people use that trope. Another scotch please? Neat, no ice?
 
White and black is standard for AC, red and black for DC 12/24v, except in aviation where they just use white (grey) wire for everything?
 
You see what we... I mean I did with that.

Okay enough of that. Here is the situation: My office was dark. There I was. Forget about that part. But the lights were out.

Fast forward. The switch is broke. It is a no-screw LED dimmer switch. The switch is broke. There is power to the office. The switch toggles like overcooked Japanese noodles. It's out. We have a spare LED dimmer switch.

Great, right?

It has six wires. SIX F*$&%)&%$)#(*ING wires. Normal switches have two. Three if you count the neutral.

Okay I aint totally worthless. I went online. Wires. Red and black are the standard hot and neutral. Green is ground. Barber pole red and white isn't used. The other two are the 12V dimmer leads.

Question... And I think it is a stupid one, but I'll ask it anyway. Is the polarity of the two LV leads an issue? The wires they connect to are hella random. Actually all the wire colors in the building are hella random.
Did this happen when you were fixing the air conditioner?
 
We only use black CAT6 cables for networking here. So, there is that.
 
White and black is standard for AC, red and black for DC 12/24v, except in aviation where they just use white (grey) wire for everything?
Red also comes into play with residential wiring when dealing with 3-way/4-way connections where you have multiple light switches for the same circuit.
 
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