In Search Of 12V Switch and Dimmer Control

[ChooChooMan74]

Just as it sounds. I found this on eBay for $42.99 :E And RV stores online wanted LOTS MORE!!! Maybe some of you have seen something similar, maybe closer to the $20 range???

Here is what I want to do. My LED upgrade in my bathroom is great, except for the night time bathroom use, I think they are too bright. I want to be able to dim them for night time use, just enough to aim at the bullseye.

2nd option would be an LED courtesy light, mounted higher than normal.

FYI, I did the whole trailer in LEDs. I replaced many of the switches on the fixtures with DPDT switches so I can use either 1 or both sides of the light. I could do that for the bathroom, but it will still be too bright.

[BarneyS]

2oldman wrote:
Are all 12v LEDs dimmable? 120v ones are not.

We have several of these LED bulbs in our fixtures at home and they are fully dimmable. I have seen many others that say they are also.
Barney

[ChooChooMan74]

2oldman wrote:
Are all 12v LEDs dimmable? 120v ones are not.

My LEDs from Home Depot in my Poloymer Products 6 Globe Awning lights are sure dimable. I use a regular in line house lamp dimmer on those. Bright for eating and cooking (DGF has vision issues), dim evening.

[MrWizard]

2oldman wrote:
Are all 12v LEDs dimmable? 120v ones are not.

The 120vac LED's candlelabra bulbs in my dining room fixture are dimmable

[Chris_Bryant]

I've been looking at This touch dimmer
.
Only does 3 amps though, but $14 is a winner.

[ChooChooMan74]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions sonfar. 🙂

[Class_A_DP_1]

I did just what you are speaking of for the bathroom. I used this one... http://www.ebay.com/itm/330833060377?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I only have a few hours use on it so far but it does seem to work fine for my ebay Chinese LED's.

[Need-A-Vacation]

What about a LED "puck" light? Just enough light to see but not blinding. We use a couple for the boys to have a little light if needed, 1 near the bunks, and the other in the bathroom.

Good luck if you choose the dimmer!

[myredracer]

What about this one on ebay for $19?

RV LED dimmer

[GordonThree]

If you bought your LEDs off ebay, chances are you can dim them, as they have no onboard regulator. If you bought LEDs from M4 or SuperBright, they have on-board regulators, and are either non dimmable, or require something special to dim them.

easiest solution might be an LED night light, the kind that plugs in. I have an outlet right above the head, so a tiny eyeball shaped LED night light plugged in there lights the bullseye as you call it, easy peasy. of course, my 120v is always powered, whether I'm plugged in or not, so your mileage may vary with this solution.

[JaxDad]

I used a twin LED licence plate light, but snipped the wire between them and soldered in a third lead, 2 x positive, 1 x negative, wired to a 3 position rocker switch with LED pilot light. Center is off and switch lit, up is both LED's, down is a single LED.

The light was $6, the switch and wire was already in 'inventory.

[doughere]

You could put a resistor in the line that feeds the first lamp in your two position switch, first position to bulb with resistor which would be dimmed, second position to other bulb. Adding a diode from second bulb to first would bring first bulb up to full output.

Cheap and easy.

Doug

[Corkey05]

The Ebay control you link to is a PWM (pulse width modulation) dimmer control. It basically pulses current to the light in controlled frequency to control the amount of time the light is in an on/off cycle. Great for incandescent and halogen bulbs, but not so good for LED's

Here is a link to a wealth of 12v LED dimmer controls.

12v Dimmer Controls

You'll love the LED's ... I sure do. 🙂

[2oldman]

Are all 12v LEDs dimmable? 120v ones are not.

[Mandalay_Parr]

I did a Google search and found several for under $20.
Maybe Lowe's or Home Depot or the such.