Vans Light Dimmers

[pvalovich]

On the road without access to the shop to check this myself - and finalizing panel design with John Stark.

I have two Vans light dimmers in each cockpit (RV-8A). Flood Lights and Inst. Lights.

Does anyone know if the full dim position of those dimmers is actually "Off" - or do I need a separate On-Off switch for each circuit?

Thanks in advance for anyone's quick reply. Another of those cases where hours of panel planning produced a "I have this figured out" feeling - but once again, there's always something else to consider.

[lucky333]

Power the dimmers from the NAV light switch. That way off is OFF.

If you are using the little cheapies with a single linear regulator (LM317) you'll find that the min voltage out is about 1.2V. Also, it will dissipate max power with min lights and the heat sinks on some of them are undersized.

I've not seen the others (PWM ones) so can't comment.

John

[gmcjetpilot]

Originally Posted by pvalovich

On the road without access to the shop to check this myself - and finalizing panel design with John Stark.

I have two Vans light dimmers in each cockpit (RV-8A). Flood Lights and Inst. Lights.

Does anyone know if the full dim position of those dimmers is actually "Off" - or do I need a separate On-Off switch for each circuit?

Thanks in advance for anyone's quick reply. Another of those cases where hours of panel planning produced a "I have this figured out" feeling - but once again, there's always something else to consider.

Having a little trickle voltage to incandescent bulbs makes them last longer. Keeps the filament a little warm and more resistant to vibration. So set the rheostat to min or low will be off. The voltage will be to low to glow but it helps the bulbs. If you want a switch anyway, you can buy rheostats with a SPST switch piggybacked off the pot, click.

[FredMagare]

Originally Posted by lucky333

Power the dimmers from the NAV light switch. That way off is OFF.

If you are using the little cheapies with a single linear regulator (LM317) you'll find that the min voltage out is about 1.2V. Also, it will dissipate max power with min lights and the heat sinks on some of them are undersized.

I've not seen the others (PWM ones) so can't comment.

John

I ABSOLUTELY love this idea! If it's dark enough to need panel lights, it's dark enough to turn-on your NAV lights!