mikelx Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 HiWhat is the best way to do this please?I presume that I would have to put a dimmable led driver in the circuit somewhere.I hope to use a "plain" light string without ebuilt in refinements of 8 chases/col changing etcThanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musht Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Probably wont dim to zero, usually get a bit of a glow with leak across the snubber, some sort of resistive load across the dimmer as well helps, multidim with a 15W pygmy lamp in other socket has worked for me in past. If they are transformer fed LV strings might be possible to use a LED driver in place of the dimmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 As Musht suggests, best results will be with a 12v led string using a low voltage DMX dimmer. I do not think you will successfully dim them using a mains dimmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam2 Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Do they HAVE to be LED ? Series wired incandescent Christmas lights are very cheap from poundland and the like and dim just fine from a standard dimmer. I would connect them via a 13 amp plug with a 3 amp fuse and not directly to a 15 amp dimmed outlet, these cheap lights have very thin wire and I would prefer them on a 3 amp or smaller fuse. If the lights do have to be LED, then the standard mains ones that use a wall wart will dim to an extent, but not very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikelx Posted November 17, 2014 Author Share Posted November 17, 2014 Thanks for your repliesNot sure what you mean Tim by a low voltage DMX dimmer? No they don't have to be LED. I have dimmed tungsten lights with a dummy load in the circuit before.Just trying to anticipate the situation when tungsten is no more as well as a designer wanting to be "up to date" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Not sure what you mean Tim by a low voltage DMX dimmer? Instead of taking a mains (240V) input, the dimmer takes a lower voltage input, usually 12V, so it can be supplied either by a transformer or a battery. Like a mains dimmer it is controlled by a regular DMX signal. You can also get low voltage dimmers that are controlled wirelessly, so if you need to truck the tree on and off this means you don't have a load of cables trailing across the stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted November 17, 2014 Share Posted November 17, 2014 Thanks for your repliesNot sure what you mean Tim by a low voltage DMX dimmer? No they don't have to be LED. I have dimmed tungsten lights with a dummy load in the circuit before.Just trying to anticipate the situation when tungsten is no more as well as a designer wanting to be "up to date" LV DMX dimmer, you put a permanently powered 12V power supply on one end and it outputs PWM (chopped) power to the LEDs. It's the only way to get proper 0-100% dimming of LEDs.Random example from ebay:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/261607542439 However if you can stick to old-style incandescent fairy lights on a conventional dimmer, I'd do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmxtothemax Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 You can use one of these- http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=200002276&initiative_id=AS_20141117172143&SearchText=DMX+driver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikelx Posted November 18, 2014 Author Share Posted November 18, 2014 Thanks for all your helpmikelx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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