Dimmable LED tube - warm white....

[skatingsparks]

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.

[AndyD]

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.

[GCE]

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.

[SeanM]

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?

[Tang]

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