Dimmer switch for 2wire LED's

[beemerguy]

Read the post from Lifecamper on dimmer for LED's. I have 2 LED's being feed from 15A fuse panel with 2 wires. Have found two on/off & Dimmer switch from 1. Diamond Group D3215 and 2. American Tech. Components AH-SLD-2-001. Would anybody know if these are PWM unit?

thanks,ron

[JRTJH]

LED's aren't "controlled" or "dimmed" the same way incandescent lighting is "dimmed" Incandescent lights are "dimmed" by increasing or decreasing the voltage so the filament "glows" brighter or dimmer.

LED's are "dimmed" by rapidly switching them on and off so there is less "light" emitted which effectively "dims" them.

The dimmer you asked about is for incandescent lighting and will not work for LED's (other than as an off/on switch).
D3201 . . . . . . . White
D3218 . . . . . . . Brown
D3215 . . . . . . . Black

In order to "dim" LED's you'll need a 3 wire "pulse modulater"

The P/N for the LED dimmer switches is
LDSDIM01 . . . . White
LDSDIM25 . . . . Black

You can find them at CW: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/led-strip-lighting-light-dimmer-black/77564

The "good news" (if there is any) is that they aren't $100 each like the incandescent dimmers, but only cost $60.

You can find LED dimmer controls for 12 volt applications much cheaper, but don't be "fooled" into thinking that any 12 volt dimmer will work, you need to read the "Fine print" to be sure whatever you choose is a PM dimmer designed to work with LED's.

The same holds true for the American Tech. Components AH-SLD-2-001 dimmer. It is not designed for use with LED's

[beemerguy]

WOW! Thanks John, both of those units were on Ebay and the sellers never would answer back. Thanks so much for your quick reply, you saved me alot of returns.
Thanks again,ron

[beemerguy]

John, one other question, as I stated I only have 2-wires coming from the fuse panel. Will I have to run a 3rd wire to the switch and if so from were?
Thanks again,ron
This is also coming from a slide out, running a wire could be a bear, but used to work for MaBell so have run a few in my life time.

[JRTJH]

I don't have access to the wiring diagram for that dimmer, but "I believe" that the 3 wires are: 12 VDC input, Ground and Pulse Modulated output to the light fixture. So, you should be "OK" with the power in and power out (to the LED's) and both grounds connected together. That makes it essentially a "2 wire" hookup with the grounds being the same for "in and out".

I don't think you'll need to run any wires, just follow the installation diagram and you'll be OK.

[beemerguy]

Thanks John, will do
ron

[Hamops]

Since an LED is a current device, you need to control the current that is flowing through it. If the maximum current for maximum light is say, 10ma, the inline resistor would be about 1200 ohms. If you double the resistance, current will drop to 5ma. This extra resistance will dim the amount of light that the LED puts out. I'm not sure if doubling the resistance will half the amount of light from the LED, but it will certainly dim it.
I would suggest that if you want to dim the LED's, install a small potentiometer in series with the built in current limiting resistor.

[mikell]

FYI

http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-Wireless-Remote-LED-Light-Dimmer-Controller-p-25337.html

[beemerguy]

I just wired the dimmer switch from Camping World that John talked about. I waited till I got home from a long trip because they said it would take 4 to 6 weeks to arrive. Took about a week.
On my 2015 Fusion in the living room slide are 2wires that control 2 LED's, they are both green/white so you need to check polarity. The RED from the Dimmer wired to the postive fused lead from the converter. The White & Black wire from the Dimmer went to the negative lead (system ground).
Everything works great, thanks for all the help.

ron













world

[dwayneb236]

FYI

http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-Wireless-Remote-LED-Light-Dimmer-Controller-p-25337.html

Yep, these work and are very easy to deal with. I ordered two for my reading lights on either side of bed. Sadly they were the same channel and there appears to be no way to change it. I just ordered another unit, crossing my fingers that it would be a different channel. It was and now both lights are controlled by their own remote.

[MN-Clark]

Yes this is an old thread but . . .

I just changed the switch to the overhead sink light to a switch with a dimmer slide. Wired it like beemerguy (Ron) said above. Works great. I'm getting a second dimmer switch for the over the sofa lights.

So much nicer. Thanks guys.