Halo l1742mb track light fixtures make loud humming noise. is this a dimmer problem or do i need to switch from an intergral magnetic transformer unit to an electrical one?

Transformers make noise..
If transformer is buzzing, then it has probably gone bad.
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Gene

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Those lights are bad news for sending out interference especially if you are on the AM band with the radio. There is not a lot that you can do about it. IF the antenna is the cord and there is no other connections on the radio, you have to change light types ( and you can get LED ) that replace those you have, or you can switch to FM band or use disks. The ballast in those lights is a huge magnetic field

4 possibilities:
1) ground loop or open connection on input.
2) close proximity to a CFL, or other flourescent fixture.
3) bad filter caps in the sub.
4) bad coax to the sub.

in any event, check wire routing. You can also track down the noise sources by using a portable AM radio tuned off station. it will pick all manner of RF noise around the house. Light dimmers are notorius noise makers.

Your issue is that the dimmer is not rated to handle the type of fixture/lamps its controlling.

From a lighting control standpoint, the 12V-lamps classify as "low-voltage halogen" and, somewhere in that circuit, have a transformer(s) converting the 120V~ down to 12V~. Using incandescent dimmers (like the one you are using) can cause compatibility issues with those transformers. What I suspect is happening is that the incompatibily is either throwing voltage spikes or current spikes on the line which are causing the dimmer to enter some sort of "safety" mode to shut everything down before any problems occur.

My recommendation is to first figure out what type of transformer it is: Either magnetic low-voltage, or electronic low-voltage. Ideally you would contact the transformer manufacturer (or look up their specs online) to figure that out. Other rules of thumb: if the transformer's big & bulky, it's probably magnetic - conversely if its lightweight, it's probably electronic. If its only one transformer controlling all of the lamps together, it's probably magnetic - conversely if its one of those transformers where the transformer and light bulb come togheter as one assembled unit and then snap into the track, it's probably electronic.

Then make sure the dimmer is rated for magnetic low-voltage, or electronic low-voltage (depending upon what the transformer is).

I am going to stick my neck out a little with this one although I agree with BoomerP. The clue of halogen bulbs is feeding my answer. Halogen bulbs require a high voltage transformer to operate and won't normally work with a dimmer but I never tried it. Bypassing the switch should bring them on though. If you have the proper voltage at the switch and they don't work with the switch bypassed, its probably a bad transformer in the fixture. Good Luck. Be careful.

Sounds like the transformer in your track light. In the box where the green light is, the voltage is converted by a small transformer from 120v to 12v for the halogen lights. With the breaker off, try jumping out the dimmer going to the track light (disconnect the dimmer and connect the two loose wires from box together). With the breaker back on, if you have 120v power on the wires (black/white) going into the track light transformer (measured at the track light), and the green light won't come on, I'd say it's the track light transformer. You may have to replace the whole track if you can't get the transformer as a part.

The switch has gon bad on you. You need to replace the dimmer switch

If you are showing power at the switches, have you checked at the light fixture itself? You will need to read from the black to the white make sure that you have 120 volts if you do then hook up wires to light fixture and read again. If you no longer read 120 volts then you have what I would think is a lost neutral. That is the white wire. You will then have to do a little back tracking to find where your hot feed is coming from. Check this for now and reply back if you need further help. Good luck!

If each fixture has an individual transformer, the chace is that they are electronic (about the size of a matchbox car) If so, you have the wrong dimmer installed. You will need to install a MAELV (Electronic Low Voltage) Dimmer. The regular dimmers are set up for Magnetic Low Voltage and incandescent which work differently. http://www.lutron.com/TechnicalDocumentLibrary/362219.pdf

Here is a link to the difference in how they work. Also, if they are a Low Wattage light like an LED, the dimmer may not have enough resistance to bleed off the excess voltage. The MAW-600 has a minimum load of either 25 or 40 watts. If you are operating LED's you may also need a Low Wattage Interface to act as a simulated load that wires in series with your lights. (lut-lbx)

If it gets too anoying until you get the proper dimmer, you can switch the Air Gap switch at the bottom to the off position. This completely disconnects the power to the load side of the dimmer.

Good Luck

If this is an electric resistance heater then there is no power supply or transformer. I had a baseboard heater that would hum loudly and I found there's a wire that runs along the bottom to connect the far end of the heat element to the electrical wiring at the supply end. This wire becomes magnetized from the current flowing through it and vibrates in the channel it runs through. I was able to open this channel and squirt a bit of silicone caulk in to keep the wire from vibrating and the hum is gone.