Opinions on Cheap LED Lights, Please.

[EdSavoie]

The problem is that the per-channel limit on one of those dimmers is lower. Normally something the 5A

 

[sk8rsdad]

AFAIK, there's nobody manufacturing a 15A dimmer pack with the individual SSRs, SCRs, or Triacs rated for 10A each.

Engineering-wise, it's not difficult to design and build a system you are seeking but production costs climb when using the higher capacity components. The $100 dimmer pack market is aimed at a different consumer where squeezing out the cost is everything. The next step up in dmmers assumes you want to run more than 1 1kW light at a time.

 

[RonHebbard]

AFAIK, there's nobody manufacturing a 15A dimmer pack with the individual SSRs, SCRs, or Triacs rated for 10A each.

Engineering-wise, it's not difficult to design and build a system you are seeking but production costs climb when using the higher capacity components. The $100 dimmer pack market is aimed at a different consumer where squeezing out the cost is everything. The next step up in dmmers assumes you want to run more than 1 1kW light at a time.

@Stevens R. Miller @EdSavoie @sk8rsdad Leprecon used to, and possibly still do, offer four and six dimmer shoe-box dimmers with the higher ratings you're seeking but their prices will exceed your expectations. In the U.S., they offer packs with dual 20 Amp mains cords and dual 20 Amp magnetic trip breakers although the same packs are only legally sold in Canada with 15 Amp magnetic breakers and 15 Amp mains connectors. Amateur groups I've worked with have often purchased the Leprecon packs when rental houses retired them from rental stock and sold them off at excellent prices. I'm aware of 4 x six dimmer packs purchased this way that have been running strong and problem free for approximately 10 years. One of the first shows our shop built for Broadway specified a number of Leprecon shoe-box packs contained within a touring two story mansion. I wasn't familiar with Leprecon at that point and was surprised to see them spec'ed into an otherwise totally Strand rig. The support I received from Leprecon was top notch, they cheerfully and quickly answered ALL of my dumb questions. I have no qualms whatsoever in recommending Leprecon's shoe-box four and six dimmer packs although I'll admit to personally feeling better about their older packs with the thumb-wheel style addressing switches rather than the newer push-button soft switches.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.

 

[Stevens R. Miller]

The next step up in dmmers assumes you want to run more than 1 1kW light at a time.

Okay, that makes sense. There's a gap in the market continuum where people like me reach a price ceiling before the marketplace can offer us a 10A circuit, and the point where those who can afford it will be demanding more than what I am asking for. No incentive for the manufacturers to make a thing that only those who can't afford it want, and one that those who can afford it wouldn't want.

So what's the lowest-cost option look like? That is, regardless of by how much it exceeds my needs, what's the least expensive thing I can buy that will let me plug into an ordinary AC outlet, and use my DMX system to control at least one kilowatt light? (Or is the answer, "There isn't one as kilowatt lights rarely need to be driven by ordinary AC outlets?")

 

[Mac Hosehead]

Here are a couple options. Of course, they are more than $150.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...MI9emBqJS81wIVz2F-Ch028ACTEAAYASAAEgLvPPD_BwE
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...on_N6000_D00_DDS6000_Dimmer_Relay_System.html

 

[Stevens R. Miller]

Here are a couple options. Of course, they are more than $150.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/503021-REG/Strand_Lighting_71310_Light_Pack_1200W_Dimmer.html?c3api=0980,144904813854&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9emBqJS81wIVz2F-Ch028ACTEAAYASAAEgLvPPD_BwE
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...on_N6000_D00_DDS6000_Dimmer_Relay_System.html

Yeah, those are more than $150, but they meet my spec and aren't so expensive that we couldn't start a fund for a few.

Thanks!

 

[Stevens R. Miller]

What do you folks think of these two? I've heard good things about them:

https://www.gearsource.com/catalog/stockitem/elation-uni-bar-1-channel-dimmer

https://www.gearsource.com/catalog/stockitem/american-dj-uni-pak-ii-dimmer-pack

 

[dbaxter]

We've used a UniPak II for our house lights since the theater was built - 8 years now. It is especially handy with the HTP external slider. Mounted next to the lighting computer, the house can be raised, if need be, without the computer. With DMX it can be controlled by a cue. Works great for us.