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	Subject - Explosive Dimmer Switch - Help Needed! glinkrod I could use a little help. We recently had a professional electrician do the electrical work for a home addition. He finished 98% of the work (the hard 98%). I've been taking care of the other 2% that he apparently overlooked (installing a couple receptable cover plates, installing a couple light fixtures, etc.). In one room, the electrician installed junction boxes in the ceiling for two Juno monopoint mounts that I bought. Recently I went ahead and installed the mounts, then connected a line voltage Juno track light to each. The two lights are controlled by a single, dedicated dimmer switch. After installing the first mount and light, I turned my circuit back on and turned on my light switch. The light worked fine. I then installed the second mount and light, restored power once again, and turned on the light switch. This time the light switch immediately made a loud popping sound, and I could see a spark or bright light from its back side. Neither light turned on after that. I described this to a guy at Home Depot, who suggested I had a defective switch. I bought an identical dimmer switch, installed it, and experienced the same thing. So now I'm satisfied that this is not a matter of defective switches. I'm focusing on the second monopoint mount, since the first light worked okay. I've installed yet another new switch, un-installed the second monopoint mount, and the first light works fine again. When I uninstalled the mount, I noted some fraying on the wire insulation (the wires are covered in fabric rather than plastic). I can't actually see any exposed wire, but I wonder if this could be the problem. The other possibility (I think) is that I somehow screwed up the wiring for the mount. But it's pretty basic -- the junction box has a ground wire and two black wires. I connected the mount's white wire to one of them, the black to the other, and the ground to the green screw on the mount plate. All wires twisted in the right direction, capped, etc., etc. I've done enough other small electrical work to know my wiring technique is okay. Now that I've spit all that out... my questions are: 1) are either of these problems consistent with a switch box blowing? 2) does it matter which black wire in the box I connect to which wire in the mount? (I thought not, but now I wonder) I'm not going to re-install the second mount & light until I understand what went wrong before. Three light switches is enough! Much thanks to anyone who can illuminate me. - Steve David Hyatt I think you may have a problem in the wire coming to the 2nd track, either at the connection at the first track are at the 2nd. Also you may have a bad track light. Either way something is shorting back and blowing your dimmer. wireman glinkrod, It gets pretty expensive to keep experimenting and blowing up dimmer switches. The electrician that originally did the job should come back and finish for a reasonable price. Check to make sure your neutrals are wired properly and use a voltage tester before you blow up more switches. Electricman The light fixtures that you are installing? Do they have a ballast? In other words if you are using a dimmer that is used for incadesent lighting and the fixtures have a ballast its possible to burn up the dimmer. Also if the fixtures have a ballast you have to know if its magnetic or electronic and then purchase the correct dimmer. Let me know if I am barkin up the right tree. tony thrower My guess is the lighting track is defective because you did not have a problem until installing the second track and after disconnecting that track the problem was no longer there. Just a guess! glinkrod Much thanks to those who offered help. With your different ideas, I was able to isolate the problem to a faulty monpoint mount. Everything works now... thanks again.