Dimming Packs

[LordAJ]

Hi

 

5A out put on dimmers, What can they power? I looking at par cans and scanners, but you need 12A dont you?

[Brian]

Current x Voltage = Power

 

Assuming you are in the UK then 5 x 240 = 1200 Watts.

 

If you are using 300W cans then that is 4 of them per channel, if it's 1000W cans then it's just one per channel. But don't forget that you have just 13A (probably) feeding the unit so that is 13 x 240 = 3120 Watts in total.

 

And don't feed your scanners from a dimmer. They are not meant to be run that way and you will kill them.

 

I'd suggest you sign up at http://www.mobiledjforums.com/.

[LordAJ]

ok, thanks for your help :)

[mark_s]

If you are using 300W cans then that is 4 of them per channel

 

Would it not be wise to leave some sort of 'safety' margin, as opposed to running literally as much as possible from the dimmer?

[Brian]

Would it not be wise to leave some sort of 'safety' margin, ...

That's a good question.

 

I design electronics kit for a living. If I were designing a 5A dimmer (been there, done that, got the tee-shirt) then I would design it to do 5A 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And that is the assumption that the safety standards make. And as a buyer, if I see a 5A dimmer then I expect it to do 5A not 3A. Any de-rating in the design should be done 'inside the box' that's to say, if there needs to be a safety margin then, with our example, you design the dimmers as a 7A unit but mark it at 5A.

 

As an odd example it's a bit like buying a 100W lamp for your lounge only to read on the box that you should never turn the wall dimmer up above 80% as the lamp is only good to 60W.

 

Yes, there is the whole issue of switch on surges and cold filament surges but it almost impossible to factor those in.