Quote Originally Posted by Dennis View Post
Gee suddenly this thread has quietened down :-(

There were no explosions, no loud bangs , nothing that went bump in the night...
Gee, that's kind of anticlimactic after all the DANGER warnings, now isn't it?
No conflagrations = Congratulations.

The questions now are :
1.Is it the TRIAC gate resistor causing the flicker ?
Maybe. Honestly, I think I'd use an opto-isolator to drive the triac. But that's just the way I am...

2. Are there any suggestions for the the value for R3 ? (Check earlier posts for BT-139 gate current values and specs.
Refer to answer #1...

3.Cap C1 value is 275V and I'm thinking rather to use a 400V rated X2 instead, any thoughts on this ?
If your mains is 220V, then I 'd use a 400V rated cap. No way, on the 275V.

4. What's a concern is in times of NO LOAD , what will life be like for the PIC control PIN and the TRIAC gate ?
Not quite sure of the question here, but I think it goes back to answer #1

5.Other options include using an opto-isolator (possibly a MOC3023 or 30XX) in conjunction with or stand-alone ..any thoughts ?
Hmmm. Yeah, I think an opto-isolator would be good.


Steve ... are you ready to measure ? ;-)
Rat's, and I just sent my nomex suit to the cleaners and loaned my 10' insulated pole to my neighbor.


Say, don't you think it might be a good idea to put a small 5 volt zener from pin 5 to ground? I know that 1M is a pretty high value resistor and the PIC pins have some protection against over-voltage, but there's something kind of creepy about just connecting a PIC port pin to that high of a voltage, even through a big resistor. Probably no big deal, but it makes me nervous connecting that pin to 220v with just a resistor.


steve