{"id":612,"date":"2024-02-03T19:33:20","date_gmt":"2024-02-03T18:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/invar.nl\/?page_id=612"},"modified":"2024-02-03T19:33:20","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T18:33:20","slug":"quieting-led-dimmers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/invar.nl\/?page_id=612","title":{"rendered":"Quieting LED dimmers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Fixing my cheap and very noisy little Aliexpress triac LED dimmers.<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list has-dates wp-block-latest-posts\"><li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/invar.nl\/?p=617\">Quieting LED dimmers, done for now<\/a><time datetime=\"2024-02-03T22:01:46+01:00\" class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-date\">3 February 2024<\/time><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-full-content\"><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I managed to fit the small inductor into the other dimmer. It fits, but only just. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":619,\"width\":\"558px\",\"height\":\"auto\",\"sizeSlug\":\"full\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"562\" src=\"https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_212331.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-619\" style=\"width:558px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_212331.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_212331-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_212331-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_212331-210x118.jpg 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p><sub><sup>Please don&#8217;t look at my shoddy soldering job. Also, I did tape it up to be safer.<\/sup><\/sub><br><br>This definitely lessened the chopping noise from my speakers, but unlike with the other dimmer, the noise is not gone entirely. I guess it&#8217;s because I tested the specific inductor with the other dimmer and lights, and because this dimmer runs right next to the amplifier. <\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Still, the noise is much less than before and only noticeable because I know it&#8217;s there, and even then I can only hear it when I turn the volume way down. I might revisit this in the future, but for now, problem solved :)<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/invar.nl\/?p=608\">Quieting LED dimmers, first success<\/a><time datetime=\"2024-02-03T19:31:01+01:00\" class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-date\">3 February 2024<\/time><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-full-content\"><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I dug out my box of random inductors and tried to quieten one of the LED dimmers today. Contrary to what I thought in my previous post, the coils actually worked best when installed in series between the dimmer and the LED load. Almost all the inductors I tried helped quieten the chopping noise heard on my headphone amp. One interestingly completely stopped the noise when dimmed at 0%\/50%\/100%, but was still slightly audible at the in-between settings:<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":609,\"width\":\"414px\",\"height\":\"auto\",\"sizeSlug\":\"full\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"619\" src=\"https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_184705.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-609\" style=\"width:414px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_184705.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_184705-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_184705-768x475.jpg 768w, https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_184705-210x130.jpg 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p> Two of the inductors were able to completely remove the noise. This one, and a very similar looking one:<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:image {\"id\":610,\"width\":\"412px\",\"height\":\"auto\",\"sizeSlug\":\"full\",\"linkDestination\":\"none\"} -->\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"620\" src=\"https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_191755.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-610\" style=\"width:412px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_191755.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_191755-300x186.jpg 300w, https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_191755-768x476.jpg 768w, https:\/\/invar.nl\/projects\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/IMG_20240203_191755-210x130.jpg 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><\/figure>\n<!-- \/wp:image -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Yay, I can listen to my headphones and dim my lights at the same time now! I love simple solutions :)<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>The other inductor that removed all the noise looks very similar but it&#8217;s slightly smaller. I might actually be able to fit it into the other dimmer module, to solve the noise on my speaker amp.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/div><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/invar.nl\/?p=298\">LED dimmer noise<\/a><time datetime=\"2024-01-24T11:16:53+01:00\" class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-date\">24 January 2024<\/time><div class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-full-content\"><!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>My cheap AliExpress LED dimmers are noisy. Not audibly, but they output a lot of EMI (?).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>One of my (triac?) dimmers has multiple Philips bulbs on it. When I turn it on, I can hear a loud chopping noise on my headphone amp.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>Another dimmer is in the same socket as the amplifier for my speakers, and the cables run closely parallel to each other. When I use this dimmer, I can hear the same chopping noise on my speakers, and at a little lower volume I can hear it on my headphones too.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I&#8217;m thinking of modifying the dimmers by adding a coil to them. I&#8217;ve never used them before but I have a big box of de-soldered ones from when I first got a soldering iron and liked to disassemble things.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>What I need, short of getting better dimmers, is probably a lamp debuzzing coil in series. There might not be enough space in the little dimmer modules to add an inductor, though. The dimmer running to multiple bulbs already has a junction box that I can put it in, so I can experiment with that one first. The coil should go on the load side (or at least not between the dimmer and the load).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph -->\n\n<!-- wp:paragraph -->\n<p>I have no idea how to calculate the ideal inductance value, and I probably can&#8217;t even measure the inductance of the ones I have, so I should just experiment with a few different ones to see which solve the problem without affecting the dimming.<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fixing my cheap and very noisy little Aliexpress triac LED dimmers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":71,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-612","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/invar.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/invar.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/invar.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invar.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invar.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/invar.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":613,"href":"https:\/\/invar.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/612\/revisions\/613"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/invar.nl\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/71"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/invar.nl\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}