DocBrown86 Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 I need an alternative to the incandescent night lights to eliminate LED glow when the dimmer is at 0%. My LED strings have no problems with fading/dimming (which seems like most of the other related topics are about), they just do not turn completely off when at 0. They look like they are almost still at half brightness.The 47k, 1W resistor seems to only be for fading issues?The night lights are polarized plugs, which will not hook in to my light strings, which is why I am seeking another alternative, so I do not need to have 2 outlets available per channel. American DJ makes a really nice dummy load for $15, but that is wayyyy too pricey...What else could I do?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 Does this happen on EVERY channel or just one/some? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocBrown86 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 Every channel with LED strings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 When you say " ... the dimmer is at 0%", do you mean the command is OFF or do you mean you have the intensity tool active, but set to 0%? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocBrown86 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) Intensity tool at 0%. So if I have my show sitting idle, or that channel at 0%, they will glow very noticeably. If I add a night light, the glow goes away completely (and there is no visable glow in the night light bulb). Edited November 25, 2014 by DocBrown86 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) What happens if you use an OFF command rather than 0% intensity? And do you have turn lights off at end of sequence selected? If adding a night light makes the glow go away, the snubber you mentioned above will be your answer. Edited November 25, 2014 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocBrown86 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 Yeah turn off at end is selected. Off command still causes the glow. I tried the snubber, but it didn't eliminate the glow as the night light did, the resistor actually didn't seem to have any effect on the lights at all. Not sure if this is helpful, but the strands are 50ct, with lamps rated at 3.8V, 0.076 watt. Perhaps with that the resistor size is not correct...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) That's odd - the snubber should do the same job as the night light. Are you using something like this? http://forums.planetchristmas.com/index.php?/topic/36988-easiest-terminatorssnubbers-to-make/?hl=terminators Maybe we're coming at this from the wrong angle. What's the brand or source of the lights? Edited November 25, 2014 by George Simmons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocBrown86 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 Lights are just regular Menards stuff. The snubber is actually removing about 25% of my extra glow, so it is working, just nowhere near what it needs to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocBrown86 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 Night light bulb is 4 WattsSorry I can't edit from my phone so I keep adding posts!The thread you posted is actually where I got the idea from. Read through all 13 pages -_-Using the exact plugs too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 If the issue follows the lights around, meaning if you unplugged one set of lights and plugged it in elsewhere and it still glows in the new location, it sure sounds like something with the lights. I've not used big box store LED's so I'm of no help there. But the only time(s) I've had that same issue it was because of a failing triac. The snubbers did indeed solve any fading issues, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocBrown86 Posted November 25, 2014 Author Share Posted November 25, 2014 (edited) I do have some commercial strands, tried those with the 47K resistor and still hardly any removal of the glow. It happens in various types of dimmers that I have as they are not all LOR.Only thing I can think of at this point is maybe they resistor isn't powerful enough. I've also tried 36K, and 28K, all 1 Watt. I don't wanna do something that will burn up, and I guess I don't know enough about resistors to know if going to 2 Watt would do any better, or be more hazardous. Edited November 25, 2014 by DocBrown86 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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