What would cause a dimmer to work and then cut off and then it will turn the lights back on in about 20 to 30 minutes

car drives find, RIGHT, (not told ) and PRNDL lamps work DRIVING?

no told at all what engine is doing and the key switch.
most modern cars cut this stuff all off key off after 10 minutes key off, the delayed power features. on modern cars explained in the users guide.

if that knob works on all lamps it runs,(lots) then it is OKAY..
check all fuses yet,?
turn the dimmer to max and you tell us?
so all else works car drives, heater blower works on high.
all that works and does not work both matter, in all complex electrical things.
point a flash light to the cluster PRNDd21 display does that work when failed.
the PRNDL lamps in the dash for sure are oldskool lamp and is wired to a dimmer module in the cluster
fuse F9 kills dead this cluster device.
the F9 path is dead, key off
then 2 current steering diodes in said IP cluster, get power from
a special relay. key on or ACC key mode
Accessory Power Socket Relay
and may have delay.

Hi Vera
You're asking for a detailed proceedure. Vehicles vary dramatically on this proceedure depending on what it is. Without knowing the year, make and model of your car- all one can offer is some general guidance.
First, I think you're on the right track replacing the dimmer switch from your description of the symptoms. Now, regarding the issue of fitment- did you try to put the old one back in?? Also it might not be a bad idea to verify that you have the correct part. I say this because certain cars may have a different type of dimmer mechanism based on lighting options from the factory- specifically fog/driving lights. The dimmer switch may differ on a driving light equipped car opposed to the same car without the driving light option. Your turn..........

Hi Frederick,

I'm an electrician and would like to help you solve this problem. I have several questions to ask to help narrow down the cause.

Is this switch installed in the same box as another dimmer switch?

Did you need to modify the heat sync fins to fit the switch into the box?

Was this dimmer recently installed to replace a switch or old dimmer? If so, what was there before?

How many bulbs and their correscponding wattage and type (incandescent, compact fluorescent, etc.) are being controlled by the dimmer?

Is there any non-lighting load connected (paddle fan, etc.)?

Can you provide the dimmer manufacturer's name & model of the dimmer? You said you have a "2 way" dimmer and there is no such beast - I suspect that you have a 3 way dimmer.

Without answers to the above - I suspect either an excessive heat issue due to overloading or ganging of several dimmers in one large box or improper use of the dimmer controlling a motor or other non-lighting or non-dimmable load.

Leave a comment with the answers and I can help pinpoint the problem.

The problem is most likely not the dimmer or the wiring, but rather the existing 3-way switch.

First of all, the Aspire smart dimmer does not work in conjunction with traditional, 3-way, on/off toggle switches. When the 3-way switch is in one-position, it lets the dimmer work, but in the other position, it cuts power to the entire lighting circuit - and the smart dimmer is NOT going to be able to override that. You instead need to get the corresponding remote dimmer (sometimes called a slave, or a companion dimmer), and use that to replace the standard 3-way switch.

That may also solve your "mystery turn-on" issue. Even though those dimmers can use the existing 3-way switch wiring, you have to REALLY pay attention to the instruction sheets to see how the master and the slave wire up to each individual electrical box. I vaguely remember that even if you were to use the product in a single-pole application, those two wires that, I assume, you attached to the traveller wires in the house needed to be shorted together in order to work - and since you have them running into a 3-way switch, the errors that you're seeing are bound to happen.

Long story short, get the slave dimmer, install it according to the instructions, and all these problems should go away.

The headlamp switch will cause the lamps to turn off. The switch heats up and turns the headlamps off. It will cool down and work for about 10 minutes and cut out,

I'm no expert, I recently purchased a 2003 vibe. I noticed the automatic headlight's sensors can be super-sensitive, about an hour hours before dusk they'll kick my headlights on (when the sun is still shining!), or sometimes when I go into an underpass, and then sometimes they'll realize it's light enough and turn themselves off. This would cause your dash lights to go to the 'headlights on' mode and turn the headlamp signal on, the intensity is controlled by the dimmer/dome light control on the left side of the dash. Check to see if the dimmer is down too far, as this could cause the lights to dim when the automatic headlights turn on. It's also possible that the dimmer is not working, thus no power is getting to the dash lights through the dimmer. Try testing it by starting the car in daylight, then manually turn on the headlights, then adjust the dimmer. Like I say, I'm no expert, just guessing because I've noticed it happen similarly on my Vibe, but my dimmer was at half-way, as I like it for night driving. Someday, I'd like to disable the automatic sensors and DRL.

Black wires are the hot side the power line, white is the neutral, and green is ground. On your dimmer, the black wire is for the AC input and the red wire is the output to the lamp you want to control.

If you are replacing an old switch with the dimmer, the two black wires will be connected to the screw terminals on the switch. One of those black wires is the AC feed to the switch, the other black is the one that goes to the light fixture. You'll need to determine which is which so you can hook the dimmer up correctly.

For a few dollars you can pick up a tester that lights and chirps when it's near a hot wire. Turn off power to the light circuit at your circuit breaker or fuse panel. Remove the old switch and disconnect the wires. Make sure the bare ends are not touching anything and turn the power back on. Hold the tester near each of the black wires. One of them will cause the tester to light up and the other one will not. The unpowered wire is the one going to the light fixture. This one connects to the red wire on the new dimmer. The hot wire is the feed that connects to the dimmer black wire. The green wire on the dimmer connects to the other green wires already in the box. Turn the power off again and make your connections using UL approved twist-on connectors (wire nuts), which probably came with the dimmer. Fit the wires and dimmer back into the switch box, secure it with the mounting screws, replace the cover plate and turn the power back on.

Voila! You'll have a working dimmer. A Google search for "installing dimmers" will turn up several links to sites with good pictures.

A dimmer switch may blow the fuse. The high beams may be causing to much of an energy drain and therefore they shut off.

It's not the dimmer causing the problem it's the bulbs. They are like mini florescent lights and are not dimable. You will need to either change them to regular incandescent lights or purchase the dimable type of energy efficient bulbs. They are a bit pricey but they will work. Let me know and don't forget to rate me. Thanks

I had intermittent instrument light problem that went dark for months, until today. :o) I read somewhere that it could be the dimmer switch and didn't think that was my problem as the dimmer worked (dimmed the radio and transmission indicator light) and playing with it never seemed to help with the problem. I did find it odd that dimmer was not completely linear, as it would get brighter up to a certain point and get slightly dimmer with the last little bit of travel.

Today, I took the instrument cluster apart to fix a broken clock, sticking gas & voltage gauges, and to explore the instrument light problem. I took apart the dimmer switch, and to my surprise (was expecting a simple POT), it was a very complicated PCB with some IC's, resistors, transistors, etc. I thought, "all this just to dim the light???" Anyway, I found the POT (potentiometer) and gave a few squirts of WD-40 and found it turning smoother. After putting it back together, the instrument light came back and the dimmer is now perfectly linear. Apparently, less than perfect POT causes some sort of funny logic through the network of IC's and transistors and can cause the instrument light to go on or off randomly at certain intervals.

Anyway, I'm so happy to have the light back along with a working clock and not having to punch the instrument cluster to see how much fuel I have. Not really a posting type, but wanted to help someone else out there with a similar problem with same cause.

1989 740 Turbo