Srobo512 Posted November 13, 2017 Share Posted November 13, 2017 Hello all, been asked by the director of a Panto I'm involved with to com up with a pair of 12V LED dimmable birdies to attach on the front of a stage block. now my initial thought was 2 x dimmable led mr16 birdies, 12 volt dimmer and then battery on the floor or mounted to the deck. But part of me is thinking led mr16's wont dim from a led 12v dimmer unless I'm just being thick? the other solution is 230v dimmed birdies and a longer length of TRS running off stage to the dimmer cupboard, this also alleviates the possibility of stage crew forgetting to turn the fixtures on. any advice/solutions welcome Thanks,Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted November 13, 2017 Share Posted November 13, 2017 if they're 12v led bulbs then yes they will dim. Wireless remote control 12v dimmers are available on fleabay surprisingly cheap and well worth considering so that someone offstage can turn the lights on/off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 if they're 12v led bulbs then yes they will dim. Wireless remote control 12v dimmers are available on fleabay surprisingly cheap and well worth considering so that someone offstage can turn the lights on/off Not all 12V LED birdie lamps are dimmable. Some that are dimmable don't dim all that well, they'll go down to 20% or 10% and then snap off very noticeably. It depends how the driver electronics within the lamp is configured. Allow time for experiments to find a combination that works well. Mains birdies off a conventional dimmer will give much better dimming, if you can handle the cabling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 I was going to say, if anyone has found a source of MR16s that dim properly on a PWM dimmer I'd be very interested to know of them. My experiments so far have been unsatisfactory for the reasonsTim gives - either snappy dimming or not dimming at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 I've had some cheap LED G4 capsule lamps that are resistor based only, these dim quite nicely on PWM LED tape drivers. Handy for practicals where being able to use thinner cable makes life a lot easier. The key is finding the cheap ones that only use resistors to control LED current, rather than the fancier ones that use switching chips. A lot of the fancier MR16 LED lamps use larger bodies that won't fit into a PAR16 birdie either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 The key is finding the cheap ones that only use resistors to control LED current That is indeed the key. Sadly, it's a process of hit and miss, suck it and see I think, or recommendation by word of mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 The key is finding the cheap ones that only use resistors to control LED current, rather than the fancier ones that use switching chips. A lot of the fancier MR16 LED lamps use larger bodies that won't fit into a PAR16 birdie either. This is true but the trouble is resistor-based MR16 lamps tend to use an array of LEDs with no optics and are therefore very wide beam - not great for a birdie as most of it will be lost in the sides of the can and they won't seem very bright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImagineerTom Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 I stand corrected, however the crappy maplin own brand ones we use have always behaved as expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 I stand corrected, however the crappy maplin own brand ones we use have always behaved as expected. Which ones are they, just out of interest? Would be handy to have a known model that works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 Yup, I'd buy some to keep in stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theatretechie Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 Does it have to be LED? Why not a Halogen MR16 and an RC4 Wireless Dimmer System? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 Already been down that route myself many times, and given the power requirements of a 55W halogen (plus the heat) I can see what would make an LED solution preferable. 5W (even 7W5) against 55W helps with battery life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srobo512 Posted November 14, 2017 Author Share Posted November 14, 2017 Does it have to be LED? Why not a Halogen MR16 and an RC4 Wireless Dimmer System? Yea it does have to be led, as the power requirements for 100w at 12V is 8 amps. Meaning it would need to be a beefed battery to handle 5/6 minutes in a show over a week of performances. I think mains birdies and a long length of try will be easier, after reading about compatibility issues of mr16's and dimmers! Thanks for all the advice chaps! Cheers,Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theatretechie Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 Hey Sam, I've used 2x 50w MR16 12v Birdies in a Delorean for a show. They were on for arund 20-25minutes at a time. The battery was a 12v 7.2AH Fire Alarm battery. Was charged maybe 3 times in the 7 night run. All was RC4 Wireless Dimmers. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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