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With the global need to conserve energy we have seen a shift from incandescent bulbs to LED technology. The quality
and efficiency of LED lighting is rapidly improving and its brightness has increased to the point where dimming
becomes a necessity. Fundamentally LED is a DC low voltage device, therefore all the related dimmers, controls and
wiring, should be low voltage as well.
There are many approaches to dimming LED's, but probably the best is PWM (Pulse Width Modulation). Like triac based
AC dimming, the PWM approach turns the current to the LED module On and Off at certain frequency. A longer On time
will result in a brighter LED output, while a shorter On time will result in a dimmer LED output.
AC dimmers work at the established 60Hz cycle of the national electrical grid. With PWM dimming manufacturers are
free to choose any frequency of the duty cycle. We have chosen 390Hz as we find this frequency to have an optimal
balance between efficiency and eye comfort. There is no visual flicker, even at minimum brightness, and the color
shift of white LED's is virtually non-existent.
The electronic circuitry of the DMS-500-X is well protected with features such as No-load, short circuit, overload
and overheat protection. The standby consumption of the unit is only 7 mA.
The ABS housing of our PWM dimmer DMS-500-X is small enough to fit into tight spaces such as a LED fixture housing.
Two mounting holes are generously sized to allow for various affixing options.
The screw terminals can securely accommodate any size of wire leads up to AWG 16.
With the DMS-500X, there are several ways to control the brightness of the LED's:
- 0-10V control: This is an established and proven way of controlling the output level and is often used with
dimmable fluorescent ballasts. Most home automation systems have a 0-10V control option as well as some wall box
dimmers such as the Lutron Nova and Nova T.
(* See List of compatible 0-10V controls)
- Contact closure: The DMS-500-X has two Contact closure inputs, so a momentary single pole double throw (SPDT)
'Decora style' switch such as Leviton 56082-2A can be used to control the brightness. Pressing briefly upon the
upper part of the switch will turn the lights On, pressing the bottom part will turn them Off. Depressing either
part of the switch longer than one second will activate dimming, either up or down. After release, the switch
returns to the non-active central position.
As an alternative, a single pole single throw momentary switch (SPST) can be used. Each time the switch is pressed
it will reverse the previous action.
- Open Collector: Any control with a single or double Open Collector output can be used in the same fashion as
the Contact Closure. We recommend using our Touchless unit with double output such as SEM-001-2A. This unit installs
in a standard wall box and can be finished with a blank Decora look or with a variety of our decorative plates.
The SEM-001-2A functions just like the SPDT mechanical switch, but it also detects the direction of the hand
movement, so to turn the lights On just wave your hand in upward motion, to turn them Off wave in downward motion.
- 300K potentiometer: Any 300K Ohm potentiometer can be used to control a full range of dimming.
The minimum brightness can be adjusted with a potentiometer located on the side of the unit. This feature makes a
full range of dimming possible with any type of LED regardless of the manufacturer.
The DMS-500-X is designed for the flicker-free dimming of any 12/24V DC constant voltage LED module such as:
Flexible and Rigid Strips, Rope Light, Rigid Light Bars, Under-cabinet Lights, Wall and Ceiling Fixtures and also
AC/DC MR16 bulbs.
This unit meets all UL1310 requirements.
Call us for DMX, DALI and wireless options.
Compatible 0-10V controls:
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