I am looking for a way to make a 1-10v signal do dual duty as a dimming signal and relay control signal.
I know there are multiple ways to make this work and I'm willing to try something else if this is a big lift.

I have a DC push button touch switch that does on/off with dimming.

I also have a MeanWell LED driver (HLG-120H-48B) that runs on 110 VAC and has dimming functionality that can be controlled using PWM, 0-10 VDC, or 0-100 kOhm resistance.

I’m currently using a toggle switch (on the 48VDC output - i know, not ideal) and a separate 100k pot to control the dimming on the driver. I would like to use the single touch switch to switch the 110VAC power and do the dimming.

The touch switch functions on/off with a tap and hold to dim/brighten.
If I hook up a 10v power supply to the switch, the dimming function varies the measured DC output voltage from ~ 1-10 V.

I would like to switch the 110VAC neutral of the LED driver using a relay controlled by the touch switch and use the 1-10 VDC to as the dimming control signal.

The issue I’m struggling with is that when the switch turns on in the dimmest state, the voltage is too low to trip most relays.
I currently have a solid state relay that requires 3-32 VDC control.

Is there a way to use the 1-10V out from the touch switch to control the LED dimmer function and use the on/off function of the same output to control a relay?

This image is what I envision, but I don’t have the magic box.
I appreciate any insight or suggestions you can provide. The LED driver and LED strip are the only components that must remain as part of the final system.

 

Do you have access to the 10 volt DC input to the touch switch ? If so you could use the 0 - 10 volt signal to drive the base of a transistor ( via a current limiting resistor.) which would control the 10 volts to the relay. Is the negative of the 10 volts input common with the negative of the 0 - 10 volts output ? This would switch on with about 0.6 volts. If that is not low enough you could use a comparator IC.

Les.

 

Do you have access to the 10 volt DC input to the touch switch ? If so you could use the 0 - 10 volt signal to drive the base of a transistor ( via a current limiting resistor.) which would control the 10 volts to the relay. Is the negative of the 10 volts input common with the negative of the 0 - 10 volts output ? This would switch on with about 0.6 volts. If that is not low enough you could use a comparator IC.

Les.

I do have access to the 10 volt DC supply input to the touch switch.
The positive of the 10 V input is common with the positive of the 10 V output of the touch switch.
0.6 V is low enough. The lowest output I measured from the switch, with the relay in the circuit, was ~0.95 V.

 

If the positive is common then you would need to use a PNP transistor with it's emitter connected to the positive rail.

Les.

 

Thanks, Les. Does this correctly reflect what you described?

 

Yes that is what I described. Here are a few more comments. You will need to check that the 0 - 10 volt signal is not loaded down by the current through the base resistor and that the 10 volt input supply can give enough current to drive the relay. I think a relay with a 9 volt coil would be a good choice. The SSR you mentioned in your first post would be even better as it's input current will probably be less than a normal relay.

Les.

 

This is extremely helpful!
I also changed to switching hot on the driver’s power.
How will I know if the 0-10 is loaded by the base resistor - will the dimming function misbehave or is there something I can measure?

 

Set the 0 - 10 volt output to it's highest setting. Measure this voltage then connect the chosen value of base resistor across the 0 - 10 volt output and note if this has reduced the voltage reading by a significant amount. This will apply a bit more load than when it is connected to the transistor base as there will be about 0.6 volt drop across the base emitter junction. To estimate the value of the base resistor you will need to know the input current required by the SSR .Choose a base resistor that will give a base current of about a tenth of the current required by the SSR.

Les

 

Might want to pull-up the PNP transistor base with a resistor about 10x the size of R1 to ensure it turns off.