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  #1  
Old 04-15-2019, 01:28 PM
dmat dmat is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Union County, NJ
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Default Dimming a Rigid LED light?

I installed a set of Rigid lights to replace my old halogen lights. I tested them and they are super bright (which is a great thing!) but since I do care for all other pilots on the airport, I'm wondering if there is a way to dim them for taxi?

If not, I think I could use a 3 way switch to have one light on for taxi and both on for take-off & landing.

Thanks,
D
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  #2  
Old 04-15-2019, 06:28 PM
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fl-mike fl-mike is offline
 
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Default

You could try wiring them in series for the taxi position. This will only work if they are using simple current limiting. If the circuit is ?smart?, they might not work at all, so bench trial first.
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  #3  
Old 04-15-2019, 08:15 PM
rocketman1988 rocketman1988 is offline
 
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Default or...

possibly a PWM controller...
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  #4  
Old 04-15-2019, 08:50 PM
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Brantel Brantel is offline
 
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Location: Newport, TN
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Default

Depends on what is inside the rigid light. If it has a built in constant current driver, it will likely not be dimmable.
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  #5  
Old 04-15-2019, 08:57 PM
lawnboy lawnboy is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: miles city
Posts: 22
Default

They are not dimmable, they run on between I believe it's 9 and 36 volts give or take, but trying to run it below that will burn up the power supply circuit.
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  #6  
Old 04-16-2019, 05:40 AM
leok leok is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Clarkston, MI
Posts: 375
Default Possible solutions

Pretty much all flashlights have a PWM circuit to drive the LEDs and are not dimmable by variation of voltage. This is primarily to get long life out of the batteries.

You might be able to dim them by layering over a dimmable Buckpuck over the top, or a 555 timer chip set up in astabile mode driving a transistor power supply. It would take some tinkering to see if this would work. These parts are cheap and fun to play with.


You can Google the terms above for descriptions if you are not familiar with them.
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  #7  
Old 04-16-2019, 06:03 AM
rocketman1988 rocketman1988 is offline
 
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Default Maybe

https://www.amazon.com/Lighting-Cont...dimmer&sr=8-42
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  #8  
Old 04-16-2019, 07:30 AM
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fl-mike fl-mike is offline
 
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Default

Sounds like a call to their technical support is in order.
"Are these lights dimmable?"
We look forward to hearing the "official" answer!
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  #9  
Old 04-16-2019, 01:03 PM
Richard@Langair Richard@Langair is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Scappoose
Posts: 119
Default

Your best bet is to probably figure out a mechanical flapper of sorts to cover half the light when you want it dim.

I played with some HID headlights one time that used a system like that to provide high beams and low beams from the same projector style light. The light always stayed full brightness, but the flapper covered a portion of the light to provide the low beam.

I cant remember the light, otherwise I would show examples.
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