Regular dimmer downstream from dimmer rack

[Photovor]

Hey all, is it possible to put a standard light dimmer downstream from a solid state dimmer rack? I have a Chauvet TFX6D dimmer that uses SSRs and if I run it at 100% brightness would a standard incandescent light dimmer still work? Talking about using with standard incandescent it halogen light bulbs.

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Well I once asked Steve Terry what would happen to the ES750 if powered by a dimmer. Iirc he said the ES750 died a quick death or something to that effect. Maybe it just went up in smoke.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Like a rotary wall dimmer?

 

[Photovor]

Like a rotary wall dimmer?

Yes. I could see issues if the dimmer supplied voltage TO the dmx dimmer, but I thought if the wall dimmer was in the output side of the DMX dimmer, worst case scenario would be if the wall dimmer was down too far, the SSR wouldn’t be able to control it.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

I'm curious, what is the purpose of doing this?

 

[Photovor]

I'm curious, what is the purpose of doing this?

Much cheaper to locate dimmer in mechanical run and use existing electrical wiring and just run back a DMX cable to the control point. I could just wire past the switches and put a cover over them, but it would be good to keep local control at the control point for volunteer staff since they won’t have access to the dmx controllers. Unless there is a cheap dmx controller that is as friendly as a wall switch.

 

[DAVID hADDOCK]

There is no reason why you cannot put a DPDT switch on the dmx line to the dimmers,
One position can go to the main lighting consol,
The other position can go to a simple basic dmx desk located where normal people can control the house lights.

 

[AudJ]

I can buy this and agree it would be a cheap solution. I don't feel it helps the anyone from avoiding the DMX board, as both controls have to be "on" to operate the lights. My concern would be the unfamiliar operator, who comes in and tries to determine whether the system is HTP or LTP. That person may have to resort to WTF logic.

 

[Chris15]

Triac and SCR based dimmers rely on accurate zero cross to be able to time their dimming, and a dimmed waveform, particularly once harmonics get involved, does not always have a reliable cross. After that all bets are off as to how the second dimmer will respond, smoke is one option...

 

[Chris Pflieger]

Wouldn't a Doug Fleener wall station be a better solution?

You're asking for a lot of trouble by daisy-chaining dimmers. And I pity the next guy who has to try and figure out how the place is wired.

 

[Photovor]

I'm at the point where I think I'd remove the original dimmer switches and just put blanks over them, and run everything directly from the dimmer itself. For the local control, I'd either look into getting an easy to use dmx console, or, this dimmer has 0-10v inputs for each channel, so in place of where the switches once were, I can basically put in a bank of potentiometers and feed that back through low voltage cabling.

I agree that keeping the existing switches introduces additional complexities I don't want to have to trouble shoot later.

 

[JD]

Dimmer in series with a dimmer? Not recommended but possible, would require the primary dimmer to have a ghost load in order for it's firing circuit to work correctly, even if parked at 100%. Both dimmers want to have access to line voltage in order for their firing circuits to work correctly. If the primary dimmer became un-parked, the LV transformer in dimmer #2 would fry. As with all electronics, dimmer #2's electronics want to see a sine wave input. Since the chances of damaging equipment are so high, I would NOT recommend doing it!
Full Disclosure- I had to do it once.

 

[David Ashton]

Dimmer in series with a dimmer? Not recommended but possible, would require the primary dimmer to have a ghost load in order for it's firing circuit to work correctly, even if parked at 100%. Both dimmers want to have access to line voltage in order for their firing circuits to work correctly. If the primary dimmer became un-parked, the LV transformer in dimmer #2 would fry. As with all electronics, dimmer #2's electronics want to see a sine wave input. Since the chances of damaging equipment are so high, I would NOT recommend doing it!
Full Disclosure- I had to do it once.

This is correct, I've done it too, it worked but not best practice.