3 ms·

I am a big fan of LEDs but the strobe effect is maddening and it only gets worse as they are dimmed. AC power crosses zero volts with every cycle so you need a

I am a big fan of LEDs but the strobe effect is maddening and it only gets worse as they are dimmed. AC power crosses zero volts with every cycle so you need a driver circuit that can compensate. Most don't do a good job and I have replaced bulbs and dimmers multiple times to come up with something acceptable. At the family camp, I retired my kerosene and propane mantle lamps in favor of solar battery powered LEDs many years ago. It was a matter of safety and convenience at the time, especially with children everywhere. The LEDs are powered directly from DC and I have no problem at all with them. https://imgur.com/gallery/bqS6uSV https://imgur.com/gallery/bqS6uSV https://imgur.com/gallery/YEa3V63 https://imgur.com/gallery/YEa3V63

grvdrm 4y ago
Interesting comment. I have a number of MR16 bulbs in my house that were previously halogen and are now mostly LED. They are a near constant source of frustration with bulbs burning out way too soon, some with what seems like wiring issues, a mix of incompatible switches, etc. Curious to hear what acceptable solution you derived?
- Paianni 4y ago
  Are they low-voltage lamps? (usually have a GU5.3 base). If they are powered by old transformers intended for halogen lamps it might be worth changing the transformers to ones meant for LEDs. Incidentally if there are dimmer switches in the circuits then those might have to be changed too.
  - grvdrm 4y ago
    Yea, 5.3 base. Any thoughts on how to check the transformers? Is it as annoying as I assume because the transformer is hiding somewhere in the ceiling? I've otherwise tried switch changes, but as you point out with the transformer, it might be that more than one component needs a change. And maybe it's worth changing everything back to halogen!?
- jakedata 4y ago
  https://www.lamps-on-line.com/leading-trailing-edge-led-dimmers https://www.lamps-on-line.com/leading-trailing-edge-led-dimm... Good dimmable LED bulbs from quality manufacturers like Philips dim very well with many incandescent (leading edge) dimmers. Usually these bulbs are larger and have space in the base for a driver circuit that derives a brightness signal from the waveform rather than passing through the chopped current. Smaller bulbs with no built-in driver are much more suited to dimming using a trailing edge dimmer or dedicated LED driver. These strobe like mad on a traditional dimmer switch but may benefit from having a single incandescent bulb on the same circuit to round off the waveform a bit. For one difficult circuit I put a 5w ceramic resistor in parallel with the lighting to smooth out the dimming response between two different fixtures.

grvdrm 4y ago

Interesting comment. I have a number of MR16 bulbs in my house that were previously halogen and are now mostly LED. They are a near constant source of frustration with bulbs burning out way too soon, some with what seems like wiring issues, a mix of incompatible switches, etc. Curious to hear what acceptable solution you derived?

Paianni 4y ago
Are they low-voltage lamps? (usually have a GU5.3 base). If they are powered by old transformers intended for halogen lamps it might be worth changing the transformers to ones meant for LEDs. Incidentally if there are dimmer switches in the circuits then those might have to be changed too.
- grvdrm 4y ago
  Yea, 5.3 base. Any thoughts on how to check the transformers? Is it as annoying as I assume because the transformer is hiding somewhere in the ceiling? I've otherwise tried switch changes, but as you point out with the transformer, it might be that more than one component needs a change. And maybe it's worth changing everything back to halogen!?
jakedata 4y ago
https://www.lamps-on-line.com/leading-trailing-edge-led-dimmers https://www.lamps-on-line.com/leading-trailing-edge-led-dimm... Good dimmable LED bulbs from quality manufacturers like Philips dim very well with many incandescent (leading edge) dimmers. Usually these bulbs are larger and have space in the base for a driver circuit that derives a brightness signal from the waveform rather than passing through the chopped current. Smaller bulbs with no built-in driver are much more suited to dimming using a trailing edge dimmer or dedicated LED driver. These strobe like mad on a traditional dimmer switch but may benefit from having a single incandescent bulb on the same circuit to round off the waveform a bit. For one difficult circuit I put a 5w ceramic resistor in parallel with the lighting to smooth out the dimming response between two different fixtures.