Another electrical question- ground switch?

[Doc]

I recently bought 3 large bookcases from Costco. Each bookcase has 2 small 'puck style' halogen lights in the top. The lights are switched on (3 phase brightness) by touching a small silver dollar sized metal disk.

I'm assuming this is a ground type switch. (IE- your body acts as the ground and switches the lights as you touch it?) Big guess here on my part.

Question is:

Can I wire all three touch pads together and use one touch pad to activate all six lights? Is it as simple as splicing in a wire to connect all three pads?

The three bookcases are stacked end-to-end-to-end, so proximity is not an issue.

 

[Doc]

Well, Okay- it's not a ground switch. I just did a little reading on it and they are probobly capacitance switched.

Still no info on wether or not I can tie them together though.

 

[Doc]

Never mind, the answer is no- you can't.

 

[Rambrush]

Some of those you can wire in a separate switch that controls power to those. Thus you leave them in the on position and control via standard switch. But does not sound like those would work that way.

 

[-Spike-]

Seems to me you could eliminate two of the pads and just use one to control all the lights, but that depends on the amperage capacity of the pad.

 

[Doc]

Seems to me you could eliminate two of the pads and just use one to control all the lights, but that depends on the amperage capacity of the pad.

That's what I thought too.

I pulled one pad, wired it to the second bookcases' pad and tried it, the weren't sync'd up. One would be on low, the other still off, one would go to high, and the other would blink off and on...

anyway. I'm back to three pads for now.

Ta-daa! Instant Library.

 

[Rambrush]

Very nice!

 

[Doc]

Thanks- I guess I need to paint that room a different color now... and maybe restain the coffee table!