Dummy Load for LED lights / eliminate flickering

Other Devices & Integrations Lighting & Load Control
41

A Capacitor will react with circuit similar to an inductor since it runs on AC…The resistors are non reactive and seem to work fine!
Regards
Tim Alls

42

Inductor tend to keep the current flowing when the circuit is turn off and cause large voltage spike when the circuit is turn offr which damage the switch (arcing on dry switch and short on semiconductors). Capacitor keep the voltage the same which actually protects the switch. I did some calculations and came out with 35micro F as equivalent to 5W bulb. To be safe you need 600V peak. At Digikey they cost about $15. It will take about 15 years to recover the cost of electricity saved but it also avoid the issue of local heating.

43

between the electronics and the led bulbs i may not live long enough to see the savings, lol :stuck_out_tongue:

44
between the electronics and the led bulbs i may not live long enough to see the savings, lol :P
On our yachts we are switching from 40 watt halogen bulbs (in 4 inch cans) to an LED replacement from the Home Depot.....$10.00 per LED bulb. The halogens ran $5.00 per bulb and we have been spending way too much time changing bulbs! A typical room has 10 bulbs so the return is very quick and even quicker if your labor to go get bulbs and change them is taken in to consideration! ;D It doesn't take a lifetime to pay for the LED's .... but it is a bit of trouble to add the dummy loads. No one is calculating the reduction in HVAC as well....that is the biggest saver. Regards Tim Alls AllSeas Yachts

P.S. the temperature of a 1K resistor is 170 degrees…the surrounding heatsink in my photo never gets above 85 degrees even after running days at full power.

45

Thanks again for your solid R&D, despite my jest I’m excited to begin conversion to led at the house this weekend. Cheers!
Paul

46

[quote=“pgrover516, post:45, topic:170342”]Thanks again for your solid R&D, despite my jest I’m excited to begin conversion to led at the house this weekend. Cheers!
Paul[/quote]
Thanks for the feedback. You have to have a sense of humor with all that goes on in the home tecky department. ;D
For example, I am working on code as we speak that will drive my neighbors dog crazy! He never stops barking at night…arggggggg. So I will be generating high pitch sounds on random intervals to annoy him during the day…but only when I am at work…maybe then the neighbors will actually do something about it! ha
Regards
Tim Alls

47

Very interesting post. I am also in the process of changing my halogen lights to LED lamps, but interestingly enough I do not see any of the flickering effects you are all describing. I am using the following:

The LED lights pull a less than 9W when they are ON (full brightness) and I am able to drive 3 - 4 LED lamps on a Leviton dimmer without any flickering. The only thing I change was the ramp up values, instead of 5 seconds, I made it instant so the LEDs come on instantly after you touch the switch. Dimming works properly anywhere above 10% - 15%, any lower than that the LED’s will turn off.

Just in case, I have no association with any of the companies above.

48

[quote=“markiper, post:47, topic:170342”]The LED lights pull a less than 9W when they are ON (full brightness) and I am able to drive 3 - 4 LED lamps on a Leviton dimmer without any flickering. The only thing I change was the ramp up values, instead of 5 seconds, I made it instant so the LEDs come on instantly after you touch the switch. Dimming works properly anywhere above 10% - 15%, any lower than that the LED’s will turn off.
Just in case, I have no association with any of the companies above.[/quote]
Thanks for the information! The flickering is different with different LED’s…I have used several different ones and found that each behaves differently. I know it is just a matter of time before the dimmers and LED manufacturer’s figure out how to get the job done without us having to install dummy loads! I only found one of my lights that didn’t flicker and oddly enough it has the GU10 base as well. That is good price on the bulb you posted…how is the color and the spread (pattern on wall if used for accent)?
Keep the information coming in…it will help us all choose the best LED’s for the job!
Regards
Tim Alls

49

[quote=“markiper, post:47, topic:170342”]Very interesting post. I am also in the process of changing my halogen lights to LED lamps, but interestingly enough I do not see any of the flickering effects you are all describing. I am using the following:

The LED lights pull a less than 9W when they are ON (full brightness) and I am able to drive 3 - 4 LED lamps on a Leviton dimmer without any flickering. The only thing I change was the ramp up values, instead of 5 seconds, I made it instant so the LEDs come on instantly after you touch the switch. Dimming works properly anywhere above 10% - 15%, any lower than that the LED’s will turn off.

Just in case, I have no association with any of the companies above.[/quote]

What I have found with my Leviton dimmers is that any aggregate load above 22W with LEDs doesn’t have any issues. I have a couple circuits with two CREE CR6s on them (21W) --both waffle a lot before stabilizing. Another with three (31.5W) is rock solid. My office overhead has a pair of Philips AmbientLED 60W-eq (12W each)…perfectly stable. YMMV.

–Richard

50

[quote=“TimAlls, post:46, topic:170342”]You have to have a sense of humor with all that goes on in the home tecky department. ;D
For example, I am working on code as we speak that will drive my neighbors dog crazy! He never stops barking at night…arggggggg. So I will be generating high pitch sounds on random intervals to annoy him during the day…but only when I am at work…maybe then the neighbors will actually do something about it! ha
Regards
Tim Alls[/quote]
hahaha, man I never wanna be your enemy ;D

51

You wouldn’t be his enemy if:

  1. You didn’t wake him and his family up, which is something everyone needs.
  2. He followed the commonly accepted approach for neighbors to resolve conflict: He approached his neighbor to talk about the issue. Ignoring this request for something people need, have the right to, and are entitled to is what creates the issue.

It’s unfortunate that someone has to even ask for permission from his/her neighbor to do something basic such as sleeping on his own property. Yes, the noise level of a single barking dog can exceed 100 decibels. Our ears interpret that as being 16 time louder than normal conversation and 128 times louder than a whisper.

Its sad that some dog owners can’t have even cordial relationships with other people.

Brian

52

@TimAlls

how is the color and the spread (pattern on wall if used for accent)?

Color is whiter than halogen light, so it took a little for me to adjust to the change, but the light is much better. I would say the led bulbs provide about 35 - 45 degree light pattern, so narrower than halogen lights. My personal opinion, great halogen replacement for the price (biggest advantage, minimum heat being generated - almost zero I must say)

53

[quote=“markiper, post:52, topic:170342”]@TimAlls

how is the color and the spread (pattern on wall if used for accent)?

Color is whiter than halogen light, so it took a little for me to adjust to the change, but the light is much better. I would say the led bulbs provide about 35 - 45 degree light pattern, so narrower than halogen lights. My personal opinion, great halogen replacement for the price (biggest advantage, minimum heat being generated - almost zero I must say)[/quote]
Ok…I’m sold! I will order some in. We use almost 50 of them for accent lights on our 92 foot expedition yachts!
Regards
Tim Alls
AllSeas Yachts

54
Ok....I'm sold! I will order some in. We use almost 50 of them for accent lights on our 92 foot expedition yachts!

Please let us know how it works for your application, glad I was able to help ;D

55

A little off topic here but I thought I would share some LED purchasing info.
I have replaced about 85% of my regular bulbs with a variety of LED lights including 10w, 20w and 50w outdoor floodlights, GU10 (9w and 6w dimmable), MR16 and a variety of ceiling down lights up to 18W each. I was purchasing them like most people from local suppliers but soon found that my budget was quickly exhausted. I started to look into purchasing from suppliers directly from China and found that many of them have ebay stores. Some use CREE LEDS while others don’t but so far my cost has been cut down by 70%. I can even specify the beam angle of the lens from 30 to 120 degrees depending on how high the light is going to be mounted. I was skeptical at first but after 13 months none of my LED lights has failed so far. The best part is so far I have not paid any taxes or duty since the declared value is too low and my packages just pass through customs. As an example I purchased 9w GU10 dimmables for $4.95 US each including shipping. If you don’t mind waiting about 30 days for delivery IMHO this is a great option.

56

Hello,

I’m suffering similar flicker problems with Toshiba LED lamps and plan on trying to put 25W resistors in parallel with my lighting load (8x 6.5W LED lamps). As my brain is refusing to help me today, would someone who knows what they’re talking about mind confirming that a 1.5kOhm, 25W resistor is the right thing to go for in the UK at 230V?

Thanks,

Jon.

57

[quote=“jon798, post:56, topic:170342”]Hello,
I’m suffering similar flicker problems with Toshiba LED lamps and plan on trying to put 25W resistors in parallel with my lighting load (8x 6.5W LED lamps). As my brain is refusing to help me today, would someone who knows what they’re talking about mind confirming that a 1.5kOhm, 25W resistor is the right thing to go for in the UK at 230V?
Thanks,
Jon.[/quote]
My resistors are running on 110 volts…to duplicate the effect on 220 just double the resistor…@3.0K
We are getting interesting feedback on the LEDs…some brands are better than others in regards to flickering, so read all the options in this thread…might save you some time!
Also…I never mentioned this but some LED lights such as under counter lights cannot be dimmed! Make sure they say “dimmable”.
Regards
Tim Alls

58

Quadrapul the resistor W = V^2/R

59

Watts = Volts*Amps
I don’t follow you

60

If you want to dissipate the same power in the resistor when you change the voltage then quadruple the resistor value.

Amps = Volt / Resistance
Hence Watts = V^2 / R

If you want to maintain the same current then just double the resistor. But you will need a higher wattage rated resistor (by a factor of 2).

I am not sure but I think the intention is to dissipate the same power.

The wattage of your resistors should be greater than the generated wattage computed above.

The rating of the resistor if greater should be OK as long as you dissipate the heat generated by the resistor. Otherwise the resistor will resist no more!