Lets talk about RFI

Not what I want to hear but I was aspect that… Them are have some protection for overpower…

The switch itself has a fuse in it, so if it gets over powered them the fuse will pop

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If you have a variable transformer (EG Variac) they can output anything from 0 VAC to about 140 AC, given 120 VAC input. They cost about $100 US. But I doubt it would change your LED current. Those lights all have switching power supplies that can take about 90-135 VAC or even 90-250 VAC and step it down to a precise current. If you get the input too far out of bounds either the lights will not work at all or the power supply section will blow up.

They just are not designed for changing the input voltage. They probably have a current sense resistor that the LED current flows through. It drops just a few volts and the voltage supplies the feedback for the current regulator. If you are good enough with electronics you could find this resistor and lower it’s resistance a little for more current or raise it’s resistance for less current. Or maybe install a switch with different resistances for different currents. These are very special resistors! You won’t find them easily. I use Digikey and have used 0.62 Ohm 2 Watt for mine. (Yes, less than 1 Ohm.) Change it at your own risk: If you pull too much current you will probably blow up another part of the circuit.

Do not attempt this unless you are an electronics tech or engineer! These things can kill you and they may have capacitors that hold a charge long after the light is unplugged. In building my DIY driver I measured over 100 volts on a capacitor a whole day after I unplugged it.

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@TDubWilly have you used that on a fan? Curious if if all the way down what the output range is? Like we stated earlier, there is a little bit of room in most of them. If all the way down is something like 70 volts, then it makes sense that you would see some level of dimming.

I agree with you on not being able to produce an over-voltage scenario. But you do need to be careful. Depending on the type of driver and how it’s built, it may try to compensate lack of voltage by ramping current. Which can lead to an equally bad result. I would worry more about fire than ruining the light. Not sure of the probability, but it’s probably high enough that I wouldn’t leave it dimmed unattended.

Can’t you offset this by lowering the current yourself?

The voltage only fluctuates from 115v to 119v when I put it on a volt meter. I have amperage and a voltage change if I put a 100’ extension cord in the mix to try and alter current.

I can’t find any left over charge in either my resistor switch or in any capacitors in the light with my volt meter. This is just one small light though @1BigFella my other lights might continue to hold the charge, and I’m truly not arguing anything you say, my problem is that I just can’t sit down and watch TV in the evenings :slightly_smiling_face: I have to be trying to build or improve something even if I have to face failure, it’s the way I’m programmed and can’t help it.
If I face to much failure then the Everlast bag gets my wrath lol

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So the swing on the speed controller only drops the voltage to 115 volts on low? Otherwise I may not be following you 100%.

What are you seeing with the extension cord, and more importantly what are you looking for by purposely installing the cord? A long enough cord of small enough wire will act as a resistor. Enough that the nec gives tables on how to calculate for the voltage drop based on size and length of conductor. So you see a drop in voltage and increase in current?

You are a farmer now! Sometimes you have to hold yourself back and just let the crop grow. Do too much and you will hurt the plants.

A triac dimmer will just turn off the current during a variable part of each half cycle. Like at half setting the first half of the AC half cycle will be normal and the second half will be zero volts. The negative half cycle will start out normal and then drop to zero volts at it’s half way point. When you measure it with a volt meter it may say 120 volts or it may say 60 volts or anywhere between. AC volt meters assume a perfect AC sine wave. When you feed them something else, all bets are off. In fact they are really measuring RMS voltage, so it’s really 172 volts peak when it says “120 VAC”.

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Lol I would never put this light over my plant. I’m just experimenting.

nope your read right, that’s it

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Simply seeing what alterations I could make in current. I was trying to take the wattage equation A x V = W and see what other fluctuations in dimming I could come up with

Your right, cutting amps acts as a resistor :wink:

Huh, I thought they had a lot more swing than that is all. I bought one years back and it made my fan scream. Threw it in the garbage and have been using dc fans since.

I know one thing for certain, you’re not channeling your tinkering in the right direction lol. You should be building your lights!

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Rofl, this one had 1 foot in the trash before this convo got started :joy:

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I appreciate that :slightly_smiling_face: That day will come. I got all the lights I need right now though. Trying to cut my wattage right now by installing a light mover tomorrow. Maybe with the money I save by cutting cost with the mover I can build a light with :sunglasses:

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And then you can cut them more using stuff with high par level per watt. It’s like double whammy, but going into your pocket instead of coming out as usual.

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dbrn32 ,Im looking at KIND XL 1000, They are designed in California and assembled over seas.Do you think these new LEDs are low RF?, I’ve had trouble with Digital Ballasts in the past and had to go Magnetic, Thanks, Beetle

I have a question for anyone that has the info or experience. I am looking into The Kind brand LED XL 1000 . They are designed in Santa Rosa Calif. and assembled over seas. Would anyone know if they put out a noticeable amount of RF noise. I’ve had many problems with Digital Ballasts,and had to go Magnetic… Thanks for any help anyone can feed me,

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You can probably buy a better light for same or cheaper money. I think leds will all have some rf noise, but I wouldn’t expect it to be as bad as digital hid ballast. I grew with magnetic too until switching to leds.