ABSTRACT
Dimmers enable remote control of incandescent, LED, and certain fluorescent lights. The dimmer can be controlled directly via a control knob or slider on the dimmer or via a control protocol like DMX512. It is important to understand how the dimmer is controlling the load so that lights may be paired with a control device that works with the device and maximizes. Small 600 and 1000 W household AC dimmers (hand squeezers) are often used to control practical lamps and small fixtures. The variac is a variable transformer called an autotransformer. Dimmers, like the Strand CD80 240 V 20k SCR dimmer and RatPac's 24k dimmer (Figure 15.4), are so large that they are typically housed as stand-alone units. Forward-phase control dimmers use a very simple, reliable device called a solid-state relay (SSR) that is made up of a pair of silicon controlled rectifiers (SCR) to regulate power. In contrast to phase control dimmers, sinewave dimmers produce a full sinewave.
