Jump to content

1K dimmers


Guest matt0032

Recommended Posts

Guest matt0032

Surely this has been posted repeatedly but I am new to this board. Wondering if someone knows a website that can tell me how to make a 1K dimmer. How much material cost would I be looking at?

 

Thanks

Matt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...
Surely this has been posted repeatedly but I am new to this board. Wondering if someone knows a website that can tell me how to make a 1K dimmer.  How much material cost would I be looking at?

 

Thanks

Matt

 

 

A 1K dimmer? Get an aluminum heatsink and bond it to the face of a standard 650 watt dimmer. That should work fine, and make sure you don't put the thing in a sealed housing. It's got to radiate the extra heat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Jeff DiMambro

It's pretty simple. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and pick up:

1. A regular 1k dimmer like you would to replace a light switch. You?ll probably find the Lutron brand name is one of the only one's available in a 1k. Get the slide versions as they're easier to mark with a piece of tape. ($30-$50)

 

2. Find the cheapest face plate to put over it, something you can write on with a dry erase. ($2-$5)

 

3. A gang/switch box, just a small plastic box (if you use metal make sure there are no loose or frayed wires inside when you're done). This is to house the dimmer and all the wiring. ($1)

 

4. To put all this together to create an inline dimmer you'll need power cord. Buy a heavy duty extension cord (15a) to cut into. After making the first dimmer you will have used up the male and female plugs on the extension cord. You can go buy more plugs for about $5-$10.

 

Follow the instructions that come with the dimmer. You?ll find the same color wires inside that heavy duty extension cord that you would in you're house wiring. Make sure the ground (green wire) follows through everything so that it ends up wherever you plug this thing in. Make sure everything is rated for 15 amps or more (1500w).

 

Do some research and know the difference between an incandescent, magnetic, and other electronic dimmers if you want to dim different types of lights.

 

Hope that explains some things. Good luck,

Jeff DiMambro

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Do remember that SCR or Triac dimmers reduce the power by "chopping" the AC waveform. Can cause flicker or buzzing, expecially with lamps having thinner filaments. A resistive dimmer or variable transformer ("Variac") maintains a sinusoidal waveform.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Hello,

 

Also keep in mind that dimming can drop the kelvins. Lights radically drop thier blue end off the top of the voltage. Consider using scrims and ND gels in frames to control your footcandles. Most tech-documentation recommends avoiding more than a 3 to 5 volt drop. Of course you can gel to compensate for the added red but you'll need a color meter to do that dependably.

 

Just a thought.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...