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Thread: Dimmable LED tube - warm white....

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    Dimmable LED tube - warm white....

    Hi all

    Just finished a restaurant. They requested all LED lamps in all the fittings but a day before hand over the designer rocks up with a fluorescent fitting with a Tridonic dimmable ballast.

    Never in my 20+ years have I dimmed a fluorescent (except with a DALI system once but that's another story)

    Now we wired just a 2 core and earth dimmable supply to the fittings via a Shuttle dimmer and Crabtree bell push.

    After Googling a bit I find the only way for that fluorescent ballast to dim is if it has a permanent live, a switched live (bell push) neutral and earth.

    At this point the cable is buried under very expensive tiles so no way of installing a 3 core and earth cable.

    My only solution is to bypass the tridonic dimmable ballast and install some dimmable LED's

    I saw ACDC do 6000K dimmable T8's but designer being designer wants warm white.

    Anyone come across any 3000K dimmable T8's.

    Just trying to get them out of a fix, they did spec all LED so I'm covered.

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    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
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    Are the tubes visible or are they concealed by a diffuser?

    If they're concealed then convert the entire fitting by ditching the ballast etc and fit some 24V 5050 SMD LED tape then supply the fitting with 24v DC via a remote PWM dimmable driver.

    If the tubes are visible I guess you could take 2 of the cool white dimmables, open them up and manually replace the internal tape to the same in warm white. Definately not ideal but possible if you're in a corner.
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    Hi

    If I could not get 220V there from a different route than the quickest and easiest solution would be Quickswitch.
    I would use the present circuit to switch/permanently power onto the fitting and install a 5 amp pulse relay across Live and Dim and then loop out to the balance of fittings
    We used in a glass office environment and it will set you back around R 750.00
    It was readily available and seemed to work perfectly
    It was a simply set up and I think they have a module/transmitter that can fit in a 4x2 box.

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    Hi Skating sparks

    I was grinning when I came across your post as I was called to repair dimmable fluorescents two weeks back and this was the first time I came across this. With the light switch off I still got 230 volts when safety testing so I isolated the lighting circuit in the DB. Replaced two faulty dimmable ballast turned the MCB on and to my surprise the two lights I had fixed came on and the others were off. I then figured out that you need to program them again with the dimmer switch which I did and then hey presto!

    Do you by any chance have a wiring diagram for the dimmable fluorescents?

  5. #5
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    I installed some about ten years ago in a mushroom greenhouse. Got it from Voltex after I told the guy flouresants can't dim.

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