Need a Dimmer for Off-road LED Lights

[LINUS]

Agree on the Rigid - the brother of my buddy has that Rigid version of the "instant rave / party light" -on his side x side they take to the dunes.

I know he got his cheap(er) as part of a package with the Rigid that holds a GoPro in it (behind the lense???) - I just know he's got that party light facing backward & the GoPro holder one facing forward.

 

[george_tlc]

Dimming wont work with a rheostat. LED drivers will compensate for voltage variations. You also have way too many watts going through the variable resistor - lots of waste heat (even if it could work).

The correct way to dim requires PWM of the LED driver - and that PWM should be a control input into the driver (not pulsing the input power on/off). I have some custom drivers that one of my customers uses that have PWM inputs. He then has a PWM dimmer (another custom design for him) that generates an optically isolated PWM signal controller by a 'rheostat' to give a good old 'volume control' style dimming user interface.

This is all specialized electronics.

Most LED drivers do not take kindly from being turned on/off quickly at the power source - lots of spike and EMI and other issues.

Quite a bit of design work went into the LED drivers I designed to minimize radio interference. The PWM dimming and LED driver work in concert to reduce EMI.

You may be able to kludge something, but a correctly designed system to provide dimming control should be implemented from the ground up.


cheers,
george.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Can you open up the light bar and change the switching so you switch only a handful of the LEDs for DRLs, then switch them all on for driving lights

 

[shocktower]

I don't want to buy new lights with a new color, I just dim the ones I have. I a agree a manual rheostat should work but I am looking for a Bluetooth enabled device.

Have/make a passenger wear a shock collar blue tooth enabled and install rheostat knobs on the passenger side, when they get shocked they dim your lights

 

[LINUS]

Have/make a passenger wear a shock collar blue tooth enabled and install rheostat knobs on the passenger side, when they get shocked they dim your lights

Reminds me of those Crank / Crank2 movies Jason Statham did -- The shock collar bit was gold!!!

Def not movies you want young kids to watch, but dang they are funny.

 

[mct75]

Most can't be dimmed because the LEDs are driven at a constant current, not constant voltage. There is a driver chip inside the light that converts your 12v input to whatever voltage is needed to supply a constant current across the diode arrays. Lowering the input voltage will just cause the driver to increase the duty cycle on the LEDs until the voltage is so low that the driver shuts down. This normally causes a flickering effect.

 

[Lumpskie]

So, I bought these D2 hi/low output lights:
D-Series Driving H/L Pair Surface Cool White Black | Rigid Industries

They came with a hi/low harness. I wonder if you can call Rigid and see if they sell just the harness or see how they control their low and high outputs. I know you can by the standard D2 harness for $25...

Because everyone likes picures. Here are the low and high outputs from my D2 lights

Low

Hi

Here's how I plan to run them on the street... low beams with lo output:

 

[Dissent]

I've got emails out to Rigid, Mictuning, Switch Pros and Neutrino about dimmable LEDs and support. I've also done some checking and many of the Chinese LED bars are dimmable, to what point I'm not sure, but let's assume that the dimmable LED question is answered. Worst case, I go Rigids and I've seen them dim in person. Very worse case, I go incandescent of some sort. Dimmable is doable.

Back to the original post question. Where might I find a dimmable controller module that can be controlled from my Android tablet that lives in the dashboard? I don't want a mechanical knob, only a software controllable Bluetooth enabled control module. The Element is $250 and the Switch Pros SP-8100 is $500. Both do exactly what I want but they are out for obvious rea$on$.

 

[Dissent]

OK, I have a firm answer on the dimmability of a given LED according to the responses from both companies who make switch/fuse/relay/Bluetooth controller systems I've had first hand experience with:

From Switch Pros for the SP-8100:
"Hi Dave



As far as we know, the SP8100 can dim any kind of led light. We have never had a complaint about not being able to dim a light.



Hope that helps.



Robert"


From Arboreal for the Neutrino Blackbox Element:
"Hello Dave,

Almost all LED lights will work fine with our system. Really the only issues are with Clearwater lights that have their own PWM controller. If you want to give it a try go ahead and buy one….and if it doesn’t work as you would like you are welcome to return it. Bottom line is that as long as the amperage requirements are within reason it should be fine.



Thx,


Dan"

Now, where's that Bluetooth only controller for those of us with Switches/Fuses/Relays in place??

 

[KC100series]

Low Volt Under Cabinet Wireless Bluetooth Dimmer Switch - #4M889 | Lamps Plus

Not sure if this would work. If you can get the right connectors or just cut off the connectors on this thing. Might be worth a shot for $15

edit: After looking more, might not withstand high enough wattage for your usage

 

[Dissent]

That's interesting, goes up to 36w. Not big enough for my 50w but would work underneath.

I found a stand alone 4x or 8x rock light setup that dims, and does fancy colors...woooohooo!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IP8W254/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1MR1C8ZW2KGPE&colid=2GVGHKUWBJCB2

 

[midfat]

Skeen Dimmers. Check out the IQ-275. What's the amperage draw on your light? The stats for the 275 are below. You can preset your dim setting in 10% increments and toggle between it and 100% With the push of a button.

Skene Design Motorcycle Visibility Lights

"The controller has two identical channels, each of which can power a 144 watt/12 amp load. The two channels can be connected in parallel to power a combined load of 288 watts/24 amps. This is the recommended configuration if unequal loads are to be driven, as it will balance the loads over both channels."

 

[Dissent]

Skeen Dimmers. Check out the IQ-275. What's the amperage draw on your light? The stats for the 275 are below. You can preset your dim setting in 10% increments and toggle between it and 100% With the push of a button.

Skene Design Motorcycle Visibility Lights

"The controller has two identical channels, each of which can power a 144 watt/12 amp load. The two channels can be connected in parallel to power a combined load of 288 watts/24 amps. This is the recommended configuration if unequal loads are to be driven, as it will balance the loads over both channels."

Now THAT looks interesting, nice find and a great price! Why do motorcycle guys get all the cool lighting toys?

I will definitely get 1 kit for sure for the camp lights including under truck LEDs and side LEDs.

DRL/Driving Lights/Front Light Bar
This product along with a couple of those Nictuning 8" (35W) or 11" (50W), that I'm using for my left/right roof lights, in the OEM bumper slots would be a great DRL and driving lights solution for the front. The default operation of the 275 is perfect for driving lights with a preset dim setting and a three position switch would work for camping lights mode.

For DRL, I may consider their IQ-270-Alert Intelligent High Beam Controller which runs the High Beams at a dim setting when the high beams are turned off.

The single front bar I'm eyeballing is 360W, I won't use it with this product at all, keeping it for off-road only. Another option is to find a lesser wattage...need to think about this a lot more given the 288W restriction. EDIT: See notes in next post.

Remote Control and Bluetooth
Since I can use my existing hardwired switches, I don't need Bluetooth anymore!

I will just leverage a keychain remote kit for turning the lights on from the tent or anywhere on the campsite so the kids can even have control should another swarm of skunks roam through camp.

LED Compatibility
It's awesome they actually listed known incompatible lights:
LED Light Compatibility

While the great majority of aftermarket LED lights can be used with the IQ-275, a few are designed such that they will not operate properly with a dimmer. These include:

• Rigid Industries D series Lamps (D2 and Dually) and SR models manufactured after 7/2013 are no longer able to support the IQ-275 or any other dimmer. Other Rigid LEDs work with our controller.

• KTM 990 Supermoto Auxiliary LED Light Kit, part number: 62014910033.

• Denali D4: While early Denali D4 LED's were fully compatible, the current model of this lamp is no longer able to support the IQ-275 or any other dimmer due to a design change. Other Denali LEDs work with our controller.

 

[midfat]

Now THAT looks interesting, nice find and a great price! Why do motorcycle guys get all the cool lighting toys?

I will definitely get 1 kit for sure for the camp lights including under truck LEDs and side LEDs.

DRL/Driving Lights/Front Light Bar
This product along with a couple of those Nictuning 8" (35W) or 11" (50W), that I'm using for my left/right rooft lights, in the OEM bumper slots would be a great DRL and driving lights solution for the front. The default operation of the 275 is perfect for driving lights with a preset dim setting and a three position switch would work for camping lights mode.

For DRL, I may consider their IQ-270-Alert Intelligent High Beam Controller which runs the High Beams at a dim setting when the high beams are turned off.

The single front bar I'm eyeballing is 360W, I won't use it with this product at all, keeping it for off-road only. Another option is to find a lesser wattage...need to think about this a lot more given the 288W restriction.

Remote Control and Bluetooth
Since I can use my existing hardwired switches, I don't need Bluetooth anymore!

I will just leverage a keychain remote kit for turning the lights on from the tent or anywhere on the campsite so the kids can even have control should another swarm of skunks roam through camp.

LED Compatibility
It's awesome they actually listed known incompatible lights:
LED Light Compatibility

While the great majority of aftermarket LED lights can be used with the IQ-275, a few are designed such that they will not operate properly with a dimmer. These include:

• Rigid Industries D series Lamps (D2 and Dually) and SR models manufactured after 7/2013 are no longer able to support the IQ-275 or any other dimmer. Other Rigid LEDs work with our controller.

• KTM 990 Supermoto Auxiliary LED Light Kit, part number: 62014910033.

• Denali D4: While early Denali D4 LED's were fully compatible, the current model of this lamp is no longer able to support the IQ-275 or any other dimmer due to a design change. Other Denali LEDs work with our controller.

I use one on my motorcycle. I've replaced the headlight with an LED. Just wired the low beam into the dimming circuit. Hi beam run LED at full. Works brilliantly. 12v is 12v. If it can handle the amps, should work fine on a truck. And it's small. Really nice setup.

For all the different applications you list above, you should also look at the 4x4 sPod 8 Circuit SE. It can independently dim all 8 circuits. Handles up to 50A per channel and can even be outfitted with a Bluetooth chip to control from any smartphone. Not cheap, but it's brilliantly easy and effective.

8 Circuit SE System w\Touchscreen for Universal Trucks

 

[Dissent]

FYI - That 360W LED bar I referenced isn't pulling 360W. I reviewer showed the 900W 52" model pulling only 13A on 16AWG wire which is more like 163W for that model. I think the one below would work well within that 288W limit of the 275, I'll verify before connecting everything.

Amazon.com: LED Light bar Curved, Autofeel 22" 360W 36000LM 8D Quad Row Spot Flood Combo Cree Beam Lightbar Off Road Auto Work LED Light Bar for Truck Jeep ATV UTV Wrangler SUV Dodge Ram 4x4 Ford Golf: Automotive

 

[Michael K Leung]

I stumbled on this tread while looking for LED light bar dimmers.

You were looking for a bluetooth controlled dimmer. Go check out TRIGGER Accessory Control System | Home

I have installed 3 units on on my various rigs. It works great and exactly what you are looking for

 

[ccslider]

Why Bluetooth? Do you T-Rex arms?

 

[Michael K Leung]

Why Bluetooth? Do you T-Rex arms?

So I dont have get my lazy ass out of my camp chair to dim or turn off my LED lights on my rack...LOL