Dimmer for LED strip with remote control
LED tapes are increasingly used in thethe design of various objects, both inside and outside the room. They help to create both partial and basic lighting, highlighting the details. Connection takes place in a special way. For this, a dimmer is used for the LED strip. It controls the intensity of the lighting and can be connected at home. To mount it on a tape, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the technology of its installation in the electrical circuit.
Features of LED strip management
To understand how to set the dimmer onLED tape, you need to familiarize yourself with the principle of operation of such a system. LED strip is a semiconductor and has a number of specific qualities. One of them is a significant nonlinear current-voltage characteristic (I-V characteristic). The current flowing along the belt grows quite strongly, beginning with a certain threshold. This may cause the lighting device to burn out. Even with a slight drop in voltage on it, the tape may fail. Therefore, you can not connect directly to the network. Dimmer for LED tape is one of the possible solutions to this problem.
In the control circuit,limiting the electric current, making it stable and corresponding in meaning to the connected device. Sometimes powerful resistors are used for such purposes. But in this case, it will be wasted a lot of electrical power. In order for the circuit to work effectively, it is necessary to use a low-voltage stable current source, which is a dimmer, when connecting the LED strip with your own hands.
How the dimmer works
The dimmer for LED strips is made as a separate module with an input voltage of 12, 24 Volts.
Manufacturers produce such lightingdevices of a certain length, which usually does not exceed 5 m. If necessary, the tape is shortened by cutting it at certain points. But if you need to extend it, the next piece is not connected in parallel, but to the appropriate power supply or amplifier. Dimmer does not only enable and disable the lighting device, but also control the brightness of its luminescence.
Types of dimmers by control method
In addition to the fact that the control devices differ in power (there is a dimmer for LED tapes of 12 volts and 24 volts), they differ and the way they are controlled. They come in the following types:
- with remote control;
- with remote control push-button;
- without a remote control;
- built-in touch control;
- Setup on Wi-Fi from your phone.
To properly select a control system,it is necessary to take into account the type of the dimmer, its remoteness from the console (it is necessary to calculate the distance from the frequent control point to the brightness adjustment device). The number of devices in the range of the remote control is also important. There are models in which it is possible to connect up to 10 dimmers. The overall dimensions of the remote also play an important role. Mini dimmer for LED strip is sometimes the most convenient among all types of adjustment.
Depending on the preferences for the level of comfort, choose a touch, push-button or portable control devices.
Management Characteristics
The dimmer without the remote control is adjusted by means of a mechanism built into its housing.
Dimmer with remote control for LED strip allows you to control the brightness of the product from a distance. This is a convenient method, especially in the case of finding the tape high under the ceiling, on the cornice, etc.
If the design of the control device is selectedfor a high-tech style or its appearance is especially attractive for the user, the built-in touch panels are purchased. They are comparable in size to a light switch. But often have a set of additional functions.
To control the luminescence brightness at a significantdistance, use special software that is installed on the phone or tablet. This is very convenient for objects that have a large number of tapes, located at a significant height, on the facades of the building, advertising signs.
Types of dimmers by the method of voltage control
By the method of adjusting the voltage variation, dimmers controlling the current through the load are distinguished, and others by the pulse-width modulation (PWM).
More expensive andControl devices that change the voltage on the load. They are very rarely used for LED strips, since they are not able to work at low voltage.
Most often the scheme uses dimmers based onPWM. They are compact and manage their tasks quite effectively. At home, it's quite easy to implement LED control on the PWM principle. Even a person without special experience will be able to do this. For this, microcircuits of a small degree of integration are used.
Dimension matching of tape type
Dimmer for LED tapes is connected inaccording to the type of device. There are single-channel and multichannel circuits for connecting the cord, which correspond to the tasks of lighting. To create different light effects, three- and two-channel dimmers are used.
For a RGB type tape, a three-channelcontrol device. This type of cord has LEDs of three different colors, which when mixed give a glow of white. For multi-colored lighting, they can work separately. Two-channel dimmers are used for phosphor ribbons. In them, a special yellow layer is mixed with a powerful blue LED.
In monocrystalline white glow strips, single-channel brightness controls are used, which are included in the circuit after the power supply.
Advantages and disadvantages of PWM controllers
In order to understand how to connect the dimmer to the LED strip, you need to familiarize yourself with the features of PWM controllers.
After all, this type of control device is most often used for self-connection of cords.
The disadvantage of this type of dimmer is considered to beincreased flickering at low brightness levels. The eye in this mode captures the oscillation of the glow. Such an effect can cause a headache and a poor psychophysiological state, a deterioration in vision.
To avoid such a problem, it is necessary to use special microcontrollers in the circuit. They work in analog-digital mode.
Mounting the dimmer at home
To properly connect the dimmer for the LED strip with your own hands, you need to use a printed circuit board that is made of fiberglass with a foil. It measures 35x50 mm.
The connector for externalcircuits, as well as resistors. After that, diodes, capacitors, a microcircuit are connected to the circuit. At the end of the process, it is necessary to solder the field effect transistor. After this, it is necessary to remove the jumper, which is located on the terminals of the transistor. Otherwise, the entire system will burn immediately after power-up!
The dimmer is conveniently placed in a special plastic housing. For these purposes, a soap box is used, in which holes for the cable and a variable resistor are drilled.
Application
Assembled self dimmer for LED strip can be used for various purposes.
In emergency lighting of the object, when the power is supplied from the battery, the muffling of the glow of the tape makes it possible to significantly increase the operating time of the generator.
For RGB-tapes three different devices are mademanagement. This will create any shade to give the object an original appearance. This will replace, for example, a broken old controller.
After acquainting with such a device as a dimmer forLED tape, you can easily assemble it at home. Based on the recommendations listed in the article, it will be easy to create unique lighting effects for any object outside or inside the room.
