Recessed light thermal trip

ktulu05

I bought 6 Halo H7ICT recessed cans for my breezeway remodel. After about an hour or so of having them on the last two nights, one of them shuts off (not the same one). I have 75 watt incandescent bulbs in them, on a dimmer. The insulation is installed (R49) and the ceiling is now drywalled. They appear to be rated for 75 watt bulbs, so I'm not overloading them. I temporarily put in 60 watt bulbs in the two that have been doing this, to see if that makes a difference. If it's a bad thermal unit, are those replaceable?

The other potential issue, is that the dimmer gets pretty warm. It's Lutron dimmer, rated for 600W. Also, when the bulbs are dimmed, there's a quiet, high-pitched noise emitted from the lights, which isn't too anoying, but noticable. Could it be a bad dimmer? Are there better brands I should be using?

Thanks,
Kevin

Speedy Petey

Are you sure? The lamp size goes according to the trim, not the can itself. Look at the label inside the can and look for the trim number you are using.


The humming is coming the lamps, not the dimmer. Different lamps have different filament designs. Designs with less filament supports will "hum" more when dimmed. The humming is the filament vibrating.

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Sometimes I feel like if I answer any more questions it is like someone trying to climb over a fence to jump off a bridge and me giving them a boost.

ktulu05

I located one of the trims that came with the cans (trim is not yet installed), and it says 75 watts. Using the 60 watt bulbs seems to be working (had it on for 1+ hour now), but I'm still nervous about the cans. This is my first time using them in a project.

Thanks for the info on the bulbs. I went to another fixture in the house that has a dimmer, and the GE bulbs do not appear to hum. I bought Sylvania bulbs, and that seems to be the root cause.

-Kevin

Speedy Petey

I install hundreds of H7 cans a year, mostly ICT. The only time I have an issue is with too large of a lamp.

__________________
Sometimes I feel like if I answer any more questions it is like someone trying to climb over a fence to jump off a bridge and me giving them a boost.

ktulu05

Going with 60 watt bulbs is fine...I can't even see the difference between the 60's and 75's in two adjacent lamps. Do you typically use incandescent bulbs, or do you use the halogen-type of bulbs (PAR30)?

Thanks again..
-Kevin

Speedy Petey

Typically standard R30. Sometimes PAR or CFLs.

__________________
Sometimes I feel like if I answer any more questions it is like someone trying to climb over a fence to jump off a bridge and me giving them a boost.