Dimming 40x 6 watt LED BULBS ON ONE DIMMER

[aaelectric]

Hi all,
i am installing a varilight 12 way grid switch panel for shop fitters who are putting around 40 6 watt mega man dimmable bulbs in a shelving unit. Client wants them on one switch so 40x6 is 240 watts but can i use a trailing edge 400w dimmer from varilight. I know dimming led are different to halogen. What are your thoughts?

 

[Octopus]

will the MCB handle the start up current if they are all switched on at once?

 

[aaelectric]

Well it will be a type c but how can i work out start up power??

 

[aaelectric]

10amp mcb and dimmer is soft start. Its just about 1 amp of power

 

[Octopus]

Well it will be a type c but how can i work out start up power??

Ask the manufacturer? I would be wary of having so many on 1 switch!

Imagine it was 50w lamps and 40 of them it would be 2Kw - so from a design point of view you have too many on one circuit to begin with IMHO

 

[aaelectric]

Yea i know what your saying but if they were 50w they would have to be on different circuits but there 6 watts

 

[Octopus]

I'd wait for more responses but putting 40 LED's on one dimmer is bound to end in tears...

 

[SJD]

I often use Varilight V-Pro dimmers for LEDs, just looking at the instruction sheet that comes with them. While rated at 400W (1-gang) or 250W (2-gang) for incandescants, for LEDs it says to derate and suggests max 10 per gang, or max 100W, whichever is lower, in the absence of LED-manufacturer-specific instructions.

Now I've occasionally exceeded this a little, e.g. I did one room with 11 LEDs (totalling 77W) on one of these dimmers, but I really think trying to get away with 40 LEDs is asking for trouble. In theory they turn off with overload, but in practice I've found they sometimes blow up.

 

[aaelectric]

Ok so if 20 even on one switch is 120 watts you still think that would be too much. I am going to ring mega man and varilight on monday and see what they say.

 

[shanky887614]

cant you swap them to fittings that have a network cable to dim them?

then could power up via contactor