# Dimmer for TITAN 1



## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Well first the "weird" type of dimmer.
Apparently they PWM the AC line to the power supply.. AFAICT.

Secondly. PWM motor speed controls "should" work..
Generally their PWM frequency is just a lot higher than normal LED light dimmers but "shouldn't" be an issue.
https://www.dhgate.com/product/6v-60v-20a-pulse-width-modulator-pwm-dc-motor/265422138.html
Like your flea bay one.153640107950



Third:
Pending..  but yea.. like that one..183491521938


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## alphabeta (Jul 14, 2014)

jeffkrol, thanks for clarifying the matter! very helpful. Initially it crossed my mind that a light-switch from hardware store is what they have in mind, but they proposing this for $$$ light would be silly  Apparently not! Anyway, I would avoid this road, at least for now. 

Good to hear that I was going into correct direction. We will try it out with one of those dimmers, and update later with the outcome. 
Thanks!

well, since we are here, jeffkrol do you happen to know or identify for me what kind of sockets are used in this light, between the power supply and the light? It would make sense to match the existing ones, rather than cutting the cables etc.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

no idea.. prob not as fancy as it looks though.. 









Could be this but ???
https://www.jaycar.us/waterproof-2-1mm-dc-connector-set/p/PS0785









Pretty standard..


> This is the same connector set fitted to our waterproof flexible LED strip lights, which features a standard 2.1(ID) x 5.5(OD)mm DC connection


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## alphabeta (Jul 14, 2014)

thanks jeffkrol for the lead. It has two pins inside. picture below. Looks like 12 mm diameter.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

alphabeta said:


> thanks jeffkrol for the lead. It has two pins inside. picture below. Looks like 12 mm diameter.


Doesn't look to be "standard" (if there is such a thing)









https://www.onlumi.com/products/power-connector-and-dc-connector/


Sorry not much help The small one in the lower right corner looks "D" shaped.
Didn't thoroughly search that site though..


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

A hack isn't going to come easy for this light. Just hang it higher imo. I still need to fab a "lamp shade" on mine the spillover is insane on this thing.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

Jeffww said:


> A hack isn't going to come easy for this light. Just hang it higher imo. I still need to fab a "lamp shade" on mine the spillover is insane on this thing.



Hmm, I don't know about that..
I can see the possibility of brass rod and tube to make a custom plug.
As to dimming.. do need to look a bit into it.. 

They are putting more constant current drivers on boards nowadays..


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## EdWiser (Jul 14, 2015)

Only place you see non dimmable LED lighting is in the Freshwater lighting space. You never see this in a reef tank lighting they would not even think about shipping an expensive LED fixture without dimming and WiFi app control. It would not even sale.


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## Fujiija (Feb 24, 2012)

JeffWW - do you think the ADA RGB shades would fit on a Titan 1 light? The shapes are very similar although I know it would be a leap of faith and a wild assumption to think they are exactly the same.


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## alphabeta (Jul 14, 2014)

Jeffww, did you try to hack it with the above proposed methods and it did not work? Or maybe somebody else tried? I looked around and could not find any info on this.


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## alphabeta (Jul 14, 2014)

update: no luck with dimming this light. Tried to run through "PWM motor speed controls" and while it dims, the color temperature changes from daylight to a very warm one. So, it will not work. Tried also a regular dimmer from hardware store, and this method does not work at all; it will not react to the dimmer till half way, then it will turn off completely. 

The positive side: the light looks very nice, and it is very well build. Just bad that for $$$ light, the manufacture could not chip in a dimmer.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

alphabeta said:


> update: no luck with dimming this light. Tried to run through "PWM motor speed controls" and while it dims, the color temperature changes from daylight to a very warm one. So, it will not work. Tried also a regular dimmer from hardware store, and this method does not work at all; it will not react to the dimmer till half way, then it will turn off completely.
> 
> The positive side: the light looks very nice, and it is very well build. Just bad that for $$$ light, the manufacture could not chip in a dimmer.



Well that warm to cool look would be good for a sunrise/sunset effect.. 
Sort of odd. normally when RGB stuff is globally dimmed it gets bluer or magenta...


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## billb (May 29, 2009)

Looks like the manufacturer makes a dimmer for this light

https://buceplant.com/collections/a...ducts/led-light-dimmer?variant=12385028866129

only $11

Edit - I may have been too hasty. Not sure if this model works with it Sorry


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

billb said:


> Looks like the manufacturer makes a dimmer for this light
> 
> https://buceplant.com/collections/a...ducts/led-light-dimmer?variant=12385028866129
> 
> ...



Yea you followed that link like I did originally.. Trickery.. 
Twinstar, Orion and a host of other "strip light" LED fixtures..


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## alphabeta (Jul 14, 2014)

update 2: tried to use a dimmer from the local hardware store. Nope, it did not work. It would just turn off the light mid way while dimming from the switch. I was suspicious about this idea from the very beginning. 
Bottom line, no easy dimming solution for this light. I would be curious to hear if somebody eventually can find/build a dimmer for it.


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## TDL4LIFE (Jul 31, 2019)

Thanks for the update. I've been following. 
If I come across something I'll add it here.


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## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

alphabeta said:


> update: no luck with dimming this light. Tried to run through "PWM motor speed controls" and while it dims, the color temperature changes from daylight to a very warm one. So, it will not work.





Am I the only one that would consider this a feature not a bug?


Besides the tone change any other anomalies or is dimming relatively stable?


Linear dimming is a bit tricky for the eye.. little will appear to change initially then towards the end it will be more .err dramatic.. That's sort of normal.
Can you do a vid?


And if you have the light near a white surface what is the "tone"? 

Calculated, it should have a sort of light cyan tone to it.


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

For me, the light has a green-blue cast to it. Renders oranges,greens and yellow very well but reds are a little muddy/dark compared to twinstar for example.


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## alphabeta (Jul 14, 2014)

jeffkrol said:


> Am I the only one that would consider this a feature not a bug?
> 
> Besides the tone change any other anomalies or is dimming relatively stable?
> 
> ...


Sorry for late reply. Just noticed it. Did not get any notifications! 
I do not have the light with me, nor video sorry. Maybe behaved as "expected", but definitely not as i would accept. It was way too visible change in color temperature/rendering to be usable. 
Comparative to any other LED light that came across my hands, the dimming I got with this light was bad. 

Maybe somebody will take the dive and open it up, and hack properly with adequate hardware at hand. Let's hope for this!


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## supert (Jun 16, 2011)

Anybody was able to get the dimmer for the light?


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