10 volt dimming

[stew]

Been off the forum for a long while due to health issues. Back in the saddle again.
Just did a large retrofit of 30 year old troffers.120 units.
The technology has ran past this old fart. Does anyone know of an inexpensive way to dim these buggers. The normal way of course woukd be a driver on the first fixture of 6 in a room and low voltage wiring. With a retro and Mc feeds to all the switches it's a bugger. Any ideas besides 175 $ worth of parts? No real way to feed the low voltage. No emt. .only eat is the feed to the first j box in the array.

 

[AC\DC]

If you have access, Lutron makes a power pack that you can dim that way

 

[stew]

Yes but they are very spendy and in a retrofit without emt to the switch there is not a good way to get the low voltage wire up to the dimmer driver.

 

[stew]

Gonna call lutron am.

 

[AC\DC]

Yes but they are very spendy and in a retrofit without emt to the switch there is not a good way to get the low voltage wire up to the dimmer driver.

I have a power pack in my office that you just run the dimming 10 V to each fixture and you just pico control the dimmer so you don’t need to run a cable from the controller to the power pack. It’s all wireless.

 

[stew]

These are in classrooms. We now have just set them to thier lowest lumens and wattage. Should be simple to control a circuit that only draws about 300 watts per classroom without having to use Bluetooth to do.it. cmon lutron. Figure this out for less than around 220$ per room! Lol

 

[stew]

Just seems that electronically a wireless controller of a triac type power supply using a wireless dimmervand an on off switch in each room should be simple
NOT!

 

[hbiss]

Figure this out for less than around 220$ per room!

You are asking for magic but don't want to pay for it! Why do you have to dim them anyway?

-Hal

 

[stew]

They are in small classrooms.some teachers have a problem with the stark brightness. The simpler fix was to drop the lumens down to min and the wattage down min. Most of the rooms have nice overhead projectors. In some rooms ther are 2 panels about 4 ft in front of the projector. At full brightness it washes out the images..doing what we did worked! More easy electrical magic thank heavens.lolol

 

[hbiss]

doing what we did worked!

What did you do, select the lowest lumen level on each fixture? That's why I said why do you need a dimmer control on the wall?

As a side note, 5000k LED lighting in classrooms has been shown to be very detrimental to learning aside from being annoying and causing headaches. Change it down to 4000k and kids do much better.

-Hal

 

[Flicker Index]

What did you do, select the lowest lumen level on each fixture? That's why I said why do you need a dimmer control on the wall?

As a side note, 5000k LED lighting in classrooms has been shown to be very detrimental to learning aside from being annoying and causing headaches. Change it down to 4000k and kids do much better.

-Hal

According to who?

Real "color temperature" is only relevant for true black body radiator or something damn close, like filament. The kelvin temperature used in lighting in modern world is what's called correlated color temperature and it's just one of the many parameters of light quality.

Electronically ballasted F40D suspended from the ceiling upside down is actually not bad as it provides indirect lighting that produces soft light with minimal shadow despite having a CRI of like 70. This would be better than 95 4000K CRI L.E.D. type spotlights that produces extremely hard shadow ballasted with electrolytic capacitor free LED ballast.

 

[hbiss]

According to who?

I believe it was a school district that just relaced all their lighting with LED.

-Hal

 

[Flicker Index]

You gotta be realistic in your expectations. The cost expectations you've voiced is like...

I want 45 mpg... 1/4 in 9 seconds... and towing capacity of 10,000 lbs. Not happening.

 

[hillbilly1]

According to who?

Real "color temperature" is only relevant for true black body radiator or something damn close, like filament. The kelvin temperature used in lighting in modern world is what's called correlated color temperature and it's just one of the many parameters of light quality.

Electronically ballasted F40D suspended from the ceiling upside down is actually not bad as it provides indirect lighting that produces soft light with minimal shadow despite having a CRI of like 70. This would be better than 95 4000K CRI L.E.D. type spotlights that produces extremely hard shadow ballasted with electrolytic capacitor free LED ballast.

That explains the fixtures I installed in an elementary school in 1982. They were 27’ long, fluorescent lamp shining upward to a Sheetrock ceiling. Cable hung. Cable layout through the Sheetrock was critical. They said the architect had the same fixtures in his office.