120V Dimmer Control

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Mike01

Senior Member
Location
MidWest
Someone asked me this and was not 100% sure how to respond, "can you use 0-10V to dim an incandescent source" I got to thinking about it and could not find a product to do such a thing, is it even possible?:?
 

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
Someone asked me this and was not 100% sure how to respond, "can you use 0-10V to dim an incandescent source" I got to thinking about it and could not find a product to do such a thing, is it even possible?:?
Yes, with an SSR that has a 0-10VDC analog input to change the output, either by changing the phase angle firing or via variable time base zero cross firing (the two options you will come across when looking for it). Either will work fine on an incandescent lamp.

The bigger issue is, where are you going to find an incandescent lamp???
 

Mike01

Senior Member
Location
MidWest
?? Why ??

?? Why ??

Not sure why, not sure why incandescent?? I was just asked if it could be done. I did not think so and when I started looking around wondered if it was possible, learned something new today. Thanks Jraef.
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
Would Halogen be an option? :cool:

Sure, that is for now an exception to the general ban.

However, keep in mind that a halogen bulb operated only at less than full intensity may have a much shorter than rated life. This happens because the internal envelope temperature may not get high enough for the halogen cycle to return tungsten to the filament.
You may be OK if you run it at full brightness for an hour or so periodically, but it still may not last as long as it would otherwise.
 

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
Not to veer too far off topic, but I was hunting for replacement CFL's for my kitchen overheads. I had located dimmable fluorescents and they worked fine with the dimmers I have. However, they exhibited horrendously short life. In service for less than three years and burning out within a month or two of each other. Original package claimed 23,000 hours of life. If I kept them on 24/7 they should last about 3 years, so not even close. Looking the other day, they now claim 4.3 year life at 3 hours per day or about 4,700 hours. The 4-pack of incandescents with the same life rating was selling for about the cost of ONE dimmable fluorescent. Wasn't a hard choice.
 
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