MeanWell LED Drivers: 3 in 1 Dimming Function.

Professor Plons said:

If you have a b version meanwell driver you can use a transistor as switch between the dim+ and dim- wire. Use a PWM signal from an arduino or wahatever to drive the transistor.

Make sure to use a transistor with fast switching capabilitys like a 2n3904.

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thx! Can I use that transistor as a relay? I mean: can I also switch off the lamp?

Technically yes, but meanwell drivers are not supposed to be dimmed bellow 10%. You'd be better off using a timer, or a relay to do the switching, and the transistor to provide the dimming function

Timothypaul26 said:

Technically yes, but meanwell drivers are not supposed to be dimmed bellow 10%. You'd be better off using a timer, or a relay to do the switching, and the transistor to provide the dimming function

Click to expand...

This way in my hypothetical control box if I want to dim and control a driver I should have 1 socket with a relay for on/off control of ac current and another socket or plug to attach dim+ and dim- with a transistor. Am I right?

Correct. You can use an analog pin for the relay and pwm for the transistor

There are several (newer) Mean Well drivers that do go into idle mode when you go below 10%. These have 0-10V "dim-to-off" dimming as opposed to their old style 1-10V dimming. For instance the ELG drivers and the HLG-H480-C

wietefras said:

There are several (newer) Mean Well drivers that do go into idle mode when you go below 10%. These have 0-10V "dim-to-off" dimming as opposed to their old style 1-10V dimming. For instance the ELG drivers and the HLG-H480-C

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How does this differ to the old dimming, im away to buy a couple drivers and want to know if ill need to redo my code
Cheers

SSR said:

How does this differ to the old dimming, im away to buy a couple drivers and want to know if ill need to redo my code
Cheers

Click to expand...

The difference is that those "dim-to-off" drivers don't need a relay to switch them completely off. Advantage is that you won't have that power surge when the driver starts up and the capacitors charge. Although that is more an issue for bigger installations and not so much for DIY I guess.

wietefras said:

The difference is that those "dim-to-off" drivers don't need a relay to switch them completely off. Advantage is that you won't have that power surge when the driver starts up and the capacitors charge. Although that is more an issue for bigger installations and not so much for DIY I guess.

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Thanks sir, not too much rewriting to get a better solution.
Sounds like win win to me

Both of the HLG 320 drivers I bought last year have dim-to-off while the HLG 240 I just bought uses the 10-100%.

I believe the two smaller meanwell hlg 185 and 240 do not dim below 10% meaning no resistor before the potentiometer. What I don't know is this new dim to off, is it still required to use a resistor?

I was under the impression you put resistor on them all ,I put it on 185,240,480,600, am I wrong too have done this ,

I'm not 100% but pretty sure. I'm still learning myself as I just got 3 hlg480-c1400b and it's dim to off and wondering if I need resistors!!

The resistor is there to ensure your pot goes *over* 100k ohms so you get full power out. Pots can vary quite a bit and if it only goes to 90K then you'll only get 90% power.

nfhiggs said:

The resistor is there to ensure your pot goes *over* 100k ohms so you get full power out. Pots can vary quite a bit and if it only goes to 90K then you'll only get 90% power.

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Right!! But I've also hear to put one on the negative side as well, so the driver doesn't go below 10% dimm from what meanwell states, it can cause problems!! But like I said I'm not 100%

I have a problem with the rapid led 1-10 v dimmers, after about 4 months they begin to fail. control 2 meanwell hlg240H-C1400b I have already bought back 10 and little by little everyone is breaking up some advice to give me thanks

Kenpark said:

I have a problem with the rapid led 1-10 v dimmers, after about 4 months they begin to fail. control 2 meanwell hlg240H-C1400b I have already bought back 10 and little by little everyone is breaking up some advice to give me thanks

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Try a 100k potentiometer. I have no experience with the rapid dimmers, but 100k pots work well. Just watch you dont dim too low, or add a resistor in line with dim- and negative leg of your pot, that will keep you around 1v. I think around 10k ohms should be right. It will also bring your max resistance up to 110k, and assure you'll get max brigtness.

like this ?
https://www.ebay.it/itm/POTENZIOMETRO-100K-LINEARE-MONOGIRO-100KOHM-B100K-trimmer-potentiometer-15mm/322583758696?hash=item4b1b7d8768&enc=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&checksum=3225837586962f6fa9d1a36f4716a511f6564220bd26

Yes, that should be good.

Timothypaul26 said:

Yes, that should be good.

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OK thanks ...
but if I wanted to check 10 of these drivers all with a single potentiometer is possible ?

I use it on 4, I see no reason why it wouldn't work. You'll want to check voltage sweep with a volt meter if you have one. Just make sure you're getting full brightness 10+ volts. The pot will be the limiting factor, but the dim output is pretty weak, I wouldn't think you'd overcome its capacity.