# 0-10 volt or 1-10 volt dimming



## Easy

This is similar to what I have for fixtures.


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## macmikeman

Lutron Diva has a 0-10 model. I have used it a couple of times. I works. 

I prefer straight dimming though. No need to run two sets of wires. Or pay higher cost for dimmers. But some jobs come spec with 0-10 fixtures on the schedule so no avoiding it.










Edit to add: I don't know/remember if it works for 277v. 120 only?


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## splatz

I thought 1-10V was the European standard, and the driver provided the power for the 1-10V signal, so the dimmer does not need a power supply. With 0-10V there's going to be a separate power supply for the dimmers, the dimmer will take the 10V from the power supply and supply 0-10V to the driver dim inputs. I not sure about paralleling the 1-10V, I'd be surprised if it wasn't OK.


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## Easy

splatz said:


> I thought 1-10V was the European standard, and the driver provided the power for the 1-10V signal, so the dimmer does not need a power supply. With 0-10V there's going to be a separate power supply for the dimmers, the dimmer will take the 10V from the power supply and supply 0-10V to the driver dim inputs. I not sure about paralleling the 1-10V, I'd be surprised if it wasn't OK.


Thanks Splatz .. From my limited research on the subject .. "0-10V is mostly used for entertainment lighting, 1-10V is more common for general lighting. 
1-10V is a standard so any 1-10V dimmer switch should work for a 1-10V dimmable driver. 1-10V dimming systems require a switch that controls the mains supply on/off and the separate 1-10V dimming signal." 
I'm not really sure how many lights can go on one dimmer (potentiometer) I may go with 2 because somewhere in my research I found a statement that you can only max out at 5 fixtures.


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## Easy

macmikeman said:


> Lutron Diva has a 0-10 model. I have used it a couple of times. I works.
> 
> I prefer straight dimming though. No need to run two sets of wires. Or pay higher cost for dimmers. But some jobs come spec with 0-10 fixtures on the schedule so no avoiding it.
> 
> 
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> 
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> 
> 
> 
> Edit to add: I don't know/remember if it works for 277v. 120 only?


Thanks Macmikeman .. The fixtures are already in place and line voltage is connected to the driver and from there they are just connected to an on off switch. I don't really feel like rewiring the fixtures. I just wanted to run a shielded 2 wire to the dimming leads and be done with it.


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## Easy

My thought now is to run 6 of these and then for sure I'll be set. Not sure how it would fly with the customer. Once the desired level is set they wont be used according to the customer.


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## Forge Boyz

I believe you could use a simple potentiometer. Ivan already dimmed a single fixture with a resistor. Used a speed pot I had laying around to find the resistance and put in a resistor at that value. You could just use the potentiometer.

ETA I assume that is a stand alone 0-10v dimmer? You should be able to use just one for 6 fixtures

Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk


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## Lightsmith

A "simple potentiometer' is not likely to work with an electronic dimmer and the lamp's driver module. A problem with DC of course is that the voltage drops with the length of the run and there may be problems from not getting the expected voltage at all of the lights as well as voltage differences between individual lights resulting in different amounts of dimming. 

Lighting salespeople do not have to do the installation or deal with callbacks from an unhappy homeowner and so there are many fixtures sold that are not appropriate for home use.


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## Easy

Lightsmith said:


> A "simple potentiometer' is not likely to work with an electronic dimmer and the lamp's driver module. A problem with DC of course is that the voltage drops with the length of the run and there may be problems from not getting the expected voltage at all of the lights as well as voltage differences between individual lights resulting in different amounts of dimming.
> 
> Lighting salespeople do not have to do the installation or deal with callbacks from an unhappy homeowner and so there are many fixtures sold that are not appropriate for home use.


I think you might be correct about voltage drop on the 0-10 volt dimming. I have the pot's now so if I get a chance I will try them out today. This is an industrial application in a high bay and I was going to only put 3 fixtures per potentiometer and the overall run to the last fixture is about 125 ft. I will try to get back with an update on how it works out. Thanks in advance...


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## CoolWill

Lightsmith said:


> A "simple potentiometer' is not likely to work with an electronic dimmer and the lamp's driver module. A problem with DC of course is that the voltage drops with the length of the run and there may be problems from not getting the expected voltage at all of the lights as well as voltage differences between individual lights resulting in different amounts of dimming.
> 
> Lighting salespeople do not have to do the installation or deal with callbacks from an unhappy homeowner and so there are many fixtures sold that are not appropriate for home use.


Just to be a nit picker, voltage drop isn't a problem unique to DC. And it is dependent on both length and load. A dimming circuit probably sees so little current that you could ignore the length in most cases.


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## MikeFL

With some dimmable LED drivers, you have to drive a non-zero voltage to attain OFF state (like 0.25VDC). 

If it's zero or not connected, the light goes to 100%.


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## phamousgrey

i hate it when the customer specs a certain type of surface mounted led/flourescent style fixture... and the specs they give for the fixture dont add up to what they want for switching..ie good fixtures etc..but they arent "inline" dimmable, they like the OP's question, they require a seperate 1-10v or 5-20v line interconnected with a switch ... either of which neither were spec'd to the electrician... pffft. etc, lol


lmfao.. that has happened to me before. i was just an apprentice back then and i tried to explain to my boss that simply switching some wires on the ballast wasnt gonna work. a new set of wires of low voltage were suppose to be installed, but the specs on the plan didnt specifiy. so we werent at fault, but we tried to make it work... lmfao, i knew more than my boss and he never did get it. "we" [not i] ended up just telling the customers this is what you got etc. etc./


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## macmikeman

The problem as I see it, is the little turd sales showroom floor people , usually working on commission at lighting dealers. The customer goes in to look at lights and walks out with Ikea fixtures that have 0-10 volt leads , and customer hasn't the slightest clue that anything is somewhat out of the ordinary , they just know their wallets are considerably lighter now all of a sudden, and the damn electrician better make them work good. Oh , and the drywall is completed and painted by that time, but the little turd sales showroom floor people never ever ask the customer : "is your drywall done and painted yet?" "Cause this type of fixture if you wan't it dimmed properly needs an extra cable run to it....."


The same little turd sales showroom floor people who upsell the owners an under sink 30 amp water heater without mentioning that there needs to be some special extra wiring run before the walls are closed up.. Little turds is what they are.


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## paulengr

The problem is there isn’t much in the way of good cheap 0-10 V dimmers with options. I mean you can easily buy parts and make one but even the Leviton one is so so.


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## latestgood

paulengr said:


> The problem is there isn’t much in the way of good cheap 0-10 V dimmers with options. I mean you can easily buy parts and make one but even the Leviton one is so so.


Did you try amazon?


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## Easy

I finally got back to try out the 100k Ohm potentiometer on my UFO fixtures. They only dimmed down to about 50%. If I connect the 2 dimming leads together they still only go down to 50%. Maybe 50% dimming is the best I can do. I can a Lutron DIVA 0-10V DIMMER and see what happens.


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## Easy

Easy said:


> I finally got back to try out the 100k Ohm potentiometer on my UFO fixtures. They only dimmed down to about 50%. If I connect the 2 dimming leads together they still only go down to 50%. Maybe 50% dimming is the best I can do. I can a Lutron DIVA 0-10V DIMMER and see what happens.


Perhaps they have a virus ?:smile:


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## wcord

Easy said:


> I finally got back to try out the 100k Ohm potentiometer on my UFO fixtures. They only dimmed down to about 50%. If I connect the 2 dimming leads together they still only go down to 50%. Maybe 50% dimming is the best I can do. I can a Lutron DIVA 0-10V DIMMER and see what happens.



The fixtures should at least dim to 10%. You may a wiring problem interconnecting the fixtures. I would check each fixture to find out if there is a defective driver, or you didn't mix up the purple and gray 

Install a Lutron DVTV


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## Easy

wcord said:


> The fixtures should at least dim to 10%. You may a wiring problem interconnecting the fixtures. I would check each fixture to find out if there is a defective driver, or you didn't mix up the purple and gray
> 
> Install a Lutron DVTV


I have 2 rows of fixtures with 3 fixtures per row. 3 fixtures are on one switch and 3 fixtures are on another switch. Both rows react the same. Only get about 50% dimming. I will for sure check my low voltage wiring as you suggested and perhaps just try to dim one fixture with a 100k pot. 
see attached diagram.


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## wcord

This may be an incredibly dumb question, but are these the type of fixture that can be remotely programmed with a handheld unit?
If so, could they have been programmed to dim to a maximum of 50%?


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## Easy

wcord said:


> This may be an incredibly dumb question, but are these the type of fixture that can be remotely programmed with a handheld unit?
> If so, could they have been programmed to dim to a maximum of 50%?


Actually it's a good question. There was no paper work with them and I cant find anything on the web about them. 50% is probably acceptable for the area they are in. They would probably only be on at night time anyways because the skylights provide good light on a sunny day.


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## kartracer087

I don't think a standard potentiometer will work for 0-10V dimming if you have multiple fixtures. Generally each of drivers in the fixtures supply a fixed 10V voltage and the dimmer itself needs to sync its level to the voltage being supplied otherwise the control voltage sent back will not be correct. The more fixtures you have connected in parallel the more this becomes true as the overall circuit resistance changes with how many of the fixtures have been connected (knowing each provides another 10V power supply for the dimming!)

I think the Lutron 0-10V dimmers which have been suggested are the best way to go. I believe they have an integrated circuit which accomplishes the correct syncing of the voltage so that you get even dimming.


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## Easy

kartracer087 said:


> I don't think a standard potentiometer will work for 0-10V dimming if you have multiple fixtures. Generally each of drivers in the fixtures supply a fixed 10V voltage and the dimmer itself needs to sync its level to the voltage being supplied otherwise the control voltage sent back will not be correct. The more fixtures you have connected in parallel the more this becomes true as the overall circuit resistance changes with how many of the fixtures have been connected (knowing each provides another 10V power supply for the dimming!)
> 
> I think the Lutron 0-10V dimmers which have been suggested are the best way to go. I believe they have an integrated circuit which accomplishes the correct syncing of the voltage so that you get even dimming.


Thanks for explaining this in a way that is easy to understand.


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