Can you adjust brightness of a LED Strip with giving it lower power

[I'm Batman]

im basiclly asking will i be able to adjust (lower) the brightness of my LED Strip by using this;

[SuperOwnJK]

No, they look like timers anyway.

[I'm Batman]

No, they look like timers anyway.

i dont know what they are called in english but no they are not timers they basicly lower the amount of V that the plug outputs

[M-ursu]

Yeah, these are timers, but sure they will lower the voltage to 0%.

[M-ursu]

i dont know what they are called in english but no they are not timers they basicly lower the amount of V that the plug outputs

Then why does that have clock in it.

[I'm Batman]

Then why does that have clock in it.

seriosly? i used those things to make my lights dimmer?

 

im sure they are not timers  :huh:

[chaozbandit]

You can lower the brightness of LED devices by supplying them with lower voltage, yes. If you don't want to limit it at the power source, you can also solder in-line resisters to achieve the same effect.

[s3ns3]

no. if you lower the voltage it will just turn off. you need this remote thingy that will keep the tension http://www.ebay.com/itm/5M-RGB-5050-SMD-150-LED-Strips-24Key-High-Quality-China-/201000653559?pt=US_String_Lights_Fairy_Lights&hash=item2ecc9292f7

 

THIS http://www.ebay.com/itm/44-Key-IR-Remote-Controller-For-LED-RGB-5050-3528-SMD-LED-Strip-Lights-12V-DC-/121232894827?pt=US_Lighting_Parts_and_Accessories&hash=item1c3a0b2b6b

 

You can lower the brightness of LED devices by supplying them with lower voltage, yes. If you don't want to limit it at the power source, you can also solder in-line resisters to achieve the same effect.

 

no

Edited December 14, 2013 by s3ns3

[mr moose]

You can't really lower the voltage of an LED with a switchmode PSU, these units need current draw in order to operate and LED don't typically draw enough for them to work properly.  Other wise simply reducing the voltage will drop the brightness of leds.

[Skeletonfish]

you should be able to lower the voltage using either a potentiometer or a resistor. that would dim them 

[Hirad123]

no

Answer this for me then, I used to have some blue LED fans attached to the integrated fan controller on my define R4, and whenever I would lower the voltage, the LED's would become less bright. How come?

[gylmir]

if you want lower voltages on the leds use the yellow and black wire of the molex instead of red/black.

you can also ad a switch to it so you can change at any point from 5v to 12v.

[s3ns3]

Answer this for me then, I used to have some blue LED fans attached to the integrated fan controller on my define R4, and whenever I would lower the voltage, the LED's would become less bright. How come?

i tried 7V and 9V.doesn`t work. i think it depends on the lenght of the strip.

[_wky]

Solder a variable resistor in-line with the +ive lead from the LED strip. Adjusting the variable resistor will limit the current and as long as an LED has enough potential difference across it to light it brightness is determined by current.

 

If you were to switch the molex leads around to provide the LED strip with 7v that would limit current but it could cause problems since the LED's are probably in series-parallel. Reducing the voltage would mean the LED's at the end of the strip might not have enough potential difference across them to light.

 

V=IR people!

 

Just get a 10K thumb adjustable resistor off ebay and solder it in.

[jezza39]

 

 

V=IR people!

 

 

V= IR only applies to ohmic loads on a circuit. Diodes are not ohmic, halogen bulbs are though. LED's have a 'switch on voltage' of about 1.5-3V from memory depending on the colour the diode is outputting. I believe Pulse Width Modulation (PWM, like in fans) is how you 'dim' and LED, you turn it on and off fast enough that it appears to be slightly dimmer. 

[_wky]

V= IR only applies to ohmic loads on a circuit. Diodes are not ohmic, halogen bulbs are though. LED's have a 'switch on voltage' of about 1.5-3V from memory depending on the colour the diode is outputting. I believe Pulse Width Modulation (PWM, like in fans) is how you 'dim' and LED, you turn it on and off fast enough that it appears to be slightly dimmer. 

Well, thanks for that. Learn something every day!

I believe that limiting current is the easiest way to reduce brightness, when not dealing with microcontrollers etc though.

 

I've done this with many LED projects and it's worked fine for me.

[kirashi]

Usually I just attach as many tongues as I need in series to increase resistance for LED's. Unfortunately it's difficult to acquire tongues and dispose of the remains afterwards, so going with what @chaozbandit said about soldering in resistors might be a better idea.

[Blackterror25]

It really depends on the led strips that you are using, most leds are controled by current thought and not by volts. So you'll need a current power supply and not a voltage power supple, but I can't say for sure without knowing what kind of LED strips that you are using.

[HiddenFox]

even if you did drop the voltage by 20v the psu would just draw more AMPs from AC so it costs more hehe.

I think ur looking for a 5v voltage regulator

[W-L]

The most efficient way you could use a 12V PWM power controller or an in-line switch like this (This is assuming your LED strip is running off 12 volt power):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2PC-Mini-12V-LED-DIMMER-SWITCH-MODULE-W-ON-OFF-DIMMER-FLASH-MODE-IN-LINE-/190833715834

 

The in-line switch also has some other functions like blinking along with dimmer functions.

[Scheer]

The voltage controls the brightness, yes.

 

Throw a POT switch in-line and you are good to go.

[TheProfosist]

Leds brightness can be controlled via voltage to a point but its going to have nothing to do with what you have posted.

[mr moose]

You cannot just solder a pot in line with your leds, it will most likely burn out as they are barely rated for a few milliwatts.  If those device you pictured are not timers and do indeed lower the voltage, can you tell us what the led strips are that you want to run?  are they 12vdc? are they 240/120vac?  are they designed for an rv?  or are they specifically pc lighting?

[LordGarth6]

saw this, it basically guides you how to put a strip of LEDs throught a fan controller and then u can change the light intensity to anything from 0 to fully on

 

[TheProfosist]

That is not a very good quality video lol.