Yes, I'm using a copper-iron transformer.A mains voltage dimmer will dim low-voltage filament lamps supplied via a transformer. That's a proper copper-iron transformer not the so-called "electronic" transformer.
It might buzz, but otherwise it should work OK.Yes, I'm using a copper-iron transformer.
Thank you sir.It might buzz, but otherwise it should work OK.
Thank you for the details. I am a novice when it comes to electricity but what I hear you say is a commercial dimmer won't work well because there is not enough power in the 12vac input to permit the dimming. Thanks for the reply.It is unlikely to work using a commercial because of one got-ya': All of them that I have seen use a diac that triggers the triac when there is 30 to 36 volts DC across the timing capacitor. With a 12 VAC (RMS) input voltage you cannot get enough voltage for the diac to avalanche and trigger the triac (or other thyristor).
With such a low AC voltage it would be difficult or more presicely impossible to find a diac or pair of transistors to substitute as a diac with a breakdown voltage low enough so that you would still have plenty of dimming range.
Last month a person in a developing country asked me to show how to make a lamp dimmer using the 12 volt VAC winding on a transformer to dim a 12 VAC tungsten bulb. The circuit generates a trigger pulse for the NE555. By adjusting R7 the fraction of each half cycle waveform can be adjusted. Yeah, this uses a lot of transistors and other discreet components because very few integrated circuits are available where he lives. When I checked back with him he said it works "perfectly". Electric power where he lives in 50 Hz. Just a thought.
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I see... I didn't understand that. I'll have to think about it. That arrangement may not work since I have multiple 12v circuits on the low voltage side of the transformer.Just to clarify what I said in post #2. You connect the primary of the transformer to the output of the dimmer and the lamps to the secondary. The dimmer is supplied by mains voltage.
by Duane Benson
by Aaron Carman
by Duane Benson