Because I have 900 of them on my tree and they are quite bright!

Because I have 900 of them on my tree and they are quite bright!

On 29 Nov 2006 20:35:58 -0800, "DeanB" <deanbrown3d@yahoo.com> wrote:

Because I have 900 of them on my tree and they are quite bright!

That depends on how they are wired.

If a transformer is used, then you could use an adjustable transformer
(Variac) to reduce the voltage to the transformer.

If a transformer is not used, you could use a standard light dimmer -
check the combined wattage of your lights to get the proper capacity
dimmer.

Note that standard light dimmers will NOT work with transformer
powered lights (or not for very long...

John

It would be trivial for an electronics hobbiest, but my guess is that
you are not one.

Hobby, hobbier, hobbiest. ITYM hobbyist, but you may well be right, he

LED's are binary devices - either ON or OFF. They cannot be dimmed in
the usual sense. Their average output can be changed by the duty cycle.
If they are switched on & off fast enough, the eye will not see them
flickering, but will see a lower average output. I.e., dimmer.

A 60 Hz cycle would be flicker-free and there is a convenient 60 Hz
signal source . There may or may not be a commercially available
black box to do this. It would be trivial for an electronics hobbiest,
but my guess is that you are not one.

HTH,
Bob

On Thu, 30 Nov 2006, Bob Engelhardt wrote:

It would be trivial for an electronics hobbiest, but my guess is that
you are not one.

Hobby, hobbier, hobbiest. ITYM hobbyist, but you may well be right, he
doesn't seem to be the hobbiest of them all!

I'm not one to usually nitpick on that sort of thing, but the error

The light output from a light emitting diode is a function of the current
passing through it. Most devices will show a wide variation of brightness
from say 1 to 20 mA.

Pete Wilcox (pw2@st-andrews.ac.uk) writes:
On Thu, 30 Nov 2006, Bob Engelhardt wrote:
... hobbiest, ...
... hobbyist, ...

I'm not one to usually nitpick on that sort of thing, but the error
over "hobbyist" has always jumped out at me.

I suppose if I could figure out why it's a common error, I might
be more understanding. But I can't figure out why the mistake is
made, so it somehow seems worse.

John wrote:
On 29 Nov 2006 20:35:58 -0800, "DeanB" <deanbrown3d@yahoo.com> wrote:

Because I have 900 of them on my tree and they are quite bright!

That depends on how they are wired.

If a transformer is used, then you could use an adjustable transformer
(Variac) to reduce the voltage to the transformer.

If a transformer is not used, you could use a standard light dimmer -
check the combined wattage of your lights to get the proper capacity
dimmer.

Note that standard light dimmers will NOT work with transformer
powered lights (or not for very long...

John

I know they are 4V per bulb. If I take out one bulb, then all of them
go out so I assume they are in series and not in parallel. I can't see
any transformer.

Sorry. It won't happen again. I am annoyed by that sort of thing, too. But
let's not turn this thread into "spelling errors that annoy me".

Shouldn't have sent the correction, sorry. Thing is, it didn't annoy me,

Because I have 900 of them on my tree and they are quite bright!

"DeanB" <deanbrown3d@yahoo.com> schreef in bericht
news:1164898733.870033.297470@l39g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...

John wrote:
On 29 Nov 2006 20:35:58 -0800, "DeanB" <deanbrown3d@yahoo.com> wrote:

Because I have 900 of them on my tree and they are quite bright!

That depends on how they are wired.

If a transformer is used, then you could use an adjustable transformer
(Variac) to reduce the voltage to the transformer.

If a transformer is not used, you could use a standard light dimmer -
check the combined wattage of your lights to get the proper capacity
dimmer.

Note that standard light dimmers will NOT work with transformer
powered lights (or not for very long...

John

I know they are 4V per bulb. If I take out one bulb, then all of them
go out so I assume they are in series and not in parallel. I can't see
any transformer.


Hmm... Nine hundred LEDs in series with 4V/LED will require 3.6kV. Unlikely.

How do you now they are LEDs anyway? If they are directly connected to the
mains - so no transformer or other black box in between - I assume them to
be incandescent bulbs.

For what it's worth, I bought some LED Christmas lights (they certainly

Shouldn't have sent the correction, sorry. Thing is, it didn't annoy
me, I just thought it was amusing and I was in a silly mood.
Note to self: Do NOT post while drunk... Do NOT post while drunk...