[simpits-tech] AC dimmer weirdness...a blessing?

[dabigboy at cox.net]

I took some time out of wire-tracing to focus on the AC lighting system tonight on the Sabreliner. I discovered that my 50a power supply just *barely* runs the massive 400hz rotary inverter *IF* I have nothing connected to it.....so much for that. :)

But more importantly, I played with the dimmer controls. I have discovered the following:

1. If I just put 5vDC to the output side of the dimmers, my backlighting etc comes on at full brightness, as expected. HOWEVER.......

2. ...if I put that 5vDC supply to the INPUT side of the dimmers, guess what? THEY WORK!!!!! Not only do the lights on the 5vAC circuit come on, but the dimmers actually dim! BUT......

3. ...to make the AC lights work in this fashion, I have to isolate the AC lighting circuits by pulling their respective breakers. Soon as I push in the breakers, the lights go out. I assume there is something down the line of the AC circuit that causes grief with DC, but I am having trouble envisioning what this might be (AC voltage regulator, perhaps?).

4. It's worth mentioning that my dimmers have only two terminals. Could it be that I am blessed with a bunch of simple variable resistors?

Anyways, now I am faced with a choice: if I can source a static inverter that is a drop-in replacement for the big rotary rig I have now, I can keep all the original wiring and CBs untouched. Or, I could re-wire the lighting circuit to 5vDC. It might not be that bad....if I can find whatever device is killing my DC power with the breakers in, I think everything would just start working as-is.

Matt