# Wiring Low Voltage Dimmer to LED



## A Little Short

I have some LED wrap lights to wire. They look like a regular wrap light but LED strips instead of florescent tubes. They can be wired to straight 120V/277V, 0-10V dimmer, or LED control system. According to the label they are 50W.

If these are wired to the 0-10V dimmer do you just run line voltage to the dimmer and smaller gauge wire to the lights?
Then can you either pig tail at the light or from a junction box to other lights?
How many 50W lights can be on a typical 0-10V dimmer.

What type connector would you use on the low voltage wire?
The lights just have the typical 1/2" KO.

Here is a picture of the driver in the lights.



These sound like DIY questions but I have never wired lights to a low voltage dimmer. I've wired thousands of line voltage lights to dimmers just no low voltage.


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## B-Nabs

You need to run 120V (unswitched) to the lights, then run a pair of wires from the lights to the switch. The 120V gets connected to the black & white wires on the drivers, and the wires going to the switch get connected to the grey & purple wires. So between the lights you would have two sets of conductors daisy chained, then you would have a 120V home run to the panel, and a low voltage drop to the switch. We often use armoured fire alarm cable for the low voltage portion, with the appropriate connectors. I've heard of cable that contains both the line voltage and low voltage conductors in one assembly, but haven't used that myself.


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## A Little Short

B-Nabs said:


> You need to run 120V (unswitched) to the lights, then run a pair of wires from the lights to the switch. The 120V gets connected to the black & white wires on the drivers, and the wires going to the switch get connected to the grey & purple wires. So between the lights you would have two sets of conductors daisy chained, then you would have a 120V home run to the panel, and a low voltage drop to the switch. We often use armoured fire alarm cable for the low voltage portion, with the appropriate connectors. I've heard of cable that contains both the line voltage and low voltage conductors in one assembly, but haven't used that myself.



Glad I asked, I was totally off base!:001_huh:
I wired one up to straight line voltage just to show the customer what the lights look like. Being I just used the B&W wires and the light came on, how does the low voltage (grey & purple) turn them off or dim them?
Does the low voltage over ride the line voltage as far as the lights not staying on all the time?


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## A Little Short

Bump


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## emtnut

A Little Short said:


> Glad I asked, I was totally off base!:001_huh:
> I wired one up to straight line voltage just to show the customer what the lights look like. Being I just used the B&W wires and the light came on, how does the low voltage (grey & purple) turn them off or dim them?
> Does the low voltage over ride the line voltage as far as the lights not staying on all the time?


The 0-10V controls the LED output (0 - 55V)


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## Aegis

I just talked to a manufacturer about the same kind of setup and he said the 120 turns the light on and off, the 0-10 is the dim.

He said you need a dimmer switch that takes 120v and a low voltage 0-10. 

So find out if your 120v goes directly to the lights like B-nabs said, or if it needs to be switched.


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## Service Call

The resi ones I've done also required a line voltage switch and low volt dimmer. I used the Leviton models that have both capabilities. I've only done a couple so there might be other ways.


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## B-Nabs

I've seen 0-10V dimmers that can do the on-off as well, Lutron Diva comes to mind. But there are probably others that need to switch the 120V as well. I've also done it with a "room controller" type setup, where there is a controller with a relay built into it, then low voltage switches, occ sensors, daylight sensors, whatever you want, all wired to the controller with Cat5. I even did one install where I had two 0-10V dimmable pot lights in a room, wired to a dimming interface (Lutron Grafik Eye), which then wired to a 3-wire fluorescent dimmer. I don't know how much all the different components cost, but it seemed to me a very complicated way to dim two lights. As with everything in LED (and lighting in general), there are many ways to skin the cat. Basically you (or your client) need to choose all the components and design the wiring around that.


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## A Little Short

B-Nabs said:


> I've seen 0-10V dimmers that can do the on-off as well, Lutron Diva comes to mind. But there are probably others that need to switch the 120V as well. I've also done it with a "room controller" type setup, where there is a controller with a relay built into it, then low voltage switches, occ sensors, daylight sensors, whatever you want, all wired to the controller with Cat5. I even did one install where I had two 0-10V dimmable pot lights in a room, wired to a dimming interface (Lutron Grafik Eye), which then wired to a 3-wire fluorescent dimmer. I don't know how much all the different components cost, but it seemed to me a very complicated way to dim two lights. As with everything in LED (and lighting in general), there are many ways to skin the cat. Basically you (or your client) need to choose all the components and design the wiring around that.


These lights/drivers can be run on 0-10V or what they call LEDcode. The LEDcode requires something called a "toolbox pro" and some software.
I think the customers just want the 0-10V.
They provide a list of dimmers that work with this and Diva was on the list. Actually two different Diva types. So we ordered the Diva.
I have no idea if the Diva will turn the lights on/off or just dim.Guess I'll wait and see when the dimmers get here.


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## Arc'n'Spark

Run your power through the switch location and plan on it being switched (you can always splice it through if it doesn't need to be.) Take an 18/2 from the switch to the light. These 0-10V drivers dim based on the inverse of the dimming reference - ie. open dimming circuit is full brightness and 10V dimming reference is fully dimmed.


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## JoeAPinkley

Thanks for sharing such information. It's really appreciated.


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## Sparky Girl

I installed a dimmer rated for 12v LED and blew the driver. So I went on a mission to find out why.

Every LED driver manufacturer I contacted said the dimmer must be matched to their drivers or their warranty is void. Some dimmer manufacturers made claims their dimmers are approved for certain drivers but the driver manufacturer said no. 

So make sure the dimmer and driver are compatible. You should also be able to get a wiring diagram, too.


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## JoeAPinkley

Really useful information. Thanks for sharing.


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## A Little Short

*Update*

So, it turns out the dimmers I installed required a hot at the switch along with the low voltage wire.


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## AU Facilities

0-10 v is not derived at the driver (in this case) or ballast. The 0-10v comes from whatever your using to control it. As you found out you need 110v at the dimmer to power it and the dimmer create the 0-10v.


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