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Thread: Idratek compatible Dimmable LED bulb recommendations

  1. #1
    Moderator Gumby's Avatar
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    Default Idratek compatible Dimmable LED bulb recommendations

    With no a little personal interest, I thought a Sticky for recommendation for LED bulbs that have been found to be compatible with either type of dimmer (SLD-002 or QLD-001) might be useful. Since the dimmers use different technology, please be as specific as possible. Please do not list LED bulbs that you have on other makes of dimmer, this should be for confirmed compatibility.
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  2. #2
    Automated Home Guru cliffwright's Avatar
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    I may be nigh on 2 years late here - but thought I'd reply anyway.

    In my setup, I used a load of GU10's that simplyled.co.uk sold under the brand of "NXT Gen" - but these now appear to have disappeared and instead they're selling Crompton bulbs instead. I suspect the "NxtGen" bulbs were actually Crompton bulbs anyway but white-labelled as their own product.

    These were largely well behaved with the SLD modules - with a 5% dim being reasonably low, and 95% being full brightness. 100% Brightness did see the SLD's failing occasionally for whatever reason, but having set the brightest scene to 95% all seemed well.

    I'll need some more bulbs shortly anyway - so I'll perhaps order some of these Crompton ones and report back how (if) they differ in behaviour.

  3. #3
    Automated Home Ninja marcuslee's Avatar
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    For QLD-001

    Works (Idratek/Karam can supply good mapping curve firmware for):
    1. 7W 40 degrees, 3000k warm white 7~50W GU10 dimmable Philips Master LED 860412 (this was back in 2012, and now discontinued).

    Works (Idratek/Karam can supply good mapping curve firmware for):
    5.5W 375lm 40degrees, 3000k warm white GU10 dimmable Philips Master LED 697220 (this was back in 2015, and now discontinued).

    Does NOT work. Goes off > dull on > on full when trying to dim up, no nice dimming curve at all:
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (tested June 2023)
    PHILIPS WarmGlow 6 Pack Dimmable [GU10 Spot] LED Light Bulbs, 3.8 W - 50W Equivalent, 2700-2200K. for Relaxed Home Lighting [Energy Class F]
    Item model number: 929002065733, Part Number: 929002065798
    June 2023

    Does NOT work. Flashes up to 100% in the dim up, and a flash to 100% in the dim down too. Also stays on dully sometimes after turning off (however there is a resistor change that can be made to the QLD001). Have asked Karama/Idratek if a new firmware power curve could fix it?:
    https://youtube.com/shorts/W0L8rhloIkw?feature=share
    Philips Master LED spot VALUE 365lumen, 4.9W, 50W equivalent, 25,000hours, 36 degrees, 3000k dimmable, 9290013489
    June 2023

    Does NOT work. Does seem to work, but a bulb is left dully on when lighting circuit is in the off state, so would presumably need the resistor hack on the QLD to eliminate this.
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    Philips 72139100 CorePro GU10 830 36D DIM LED Spot, 5-50W
    June 2023

    Works:
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
    Philips Expert GU10 5.5w-50w Equivalent, 3000k, Warm White, 36 Degree, 40,000 Hours, 9290013473
    June 2023

    Does NOT work: actually everything about this bulb is ok, EXCEPT for the flash as it nears the end of dimming up to 100% and down again. https://youtu.be/iswUD7OysoA
    https://cpc.farnell.com/v-tac/vt-227...dim/dp/LP14181
    V-TAC 6W GU10 LED Bulb, 3000K, 445lm, Dimmable - VT-227D 21195
    June 2023
    Last edited by marcuslee; 21st June 2023 at 10:13 PM.

  4. #4
    Automated Home Legend Karam's Avatar
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    Probably LED lamp manufacturers are now designing more for trailing edge rather than leading edge dimmers, so for new designs would obviously suggest QLD-003, SLD-003 or MSD-W01 modules depending on the application. Though somewhat off topic as I'm not providing specific model types, I think some explanations may help in general selection understanding:

    The QLD-001 was based on the 'leading edge' (phase switch on) method for power control. Many dimmers in the past used this method whether they were simple passive rotary dial types or microprocessor controlled. So when the transition to LEDs came about manufacturers probably tried more to cater for this. However these days you are more likely to find 'trailing edge' (phase cut) technology used in dimmers so I think more lamps are now suiting that type of dimmer.

    So for any new designs it is probably a better idea to use trailing edge dimmers. Indeed we don't sell the QLD-001 any more but instead we have the QLD-003 which is similar but much better suited to dimmable LED loads. Also it is able to implement independent power mapping curves on each channel and can also switch non dimmable LEDs (obviously can't dim them). Note: It would be a waste to use a QLD-003 just for on/off switching of non dimmable LEDs across all 4 channels (use a QTI instead). In principle the QLD-003 (and other trailing edge modules) can also be configured to perform 'leading edge' control but so far we have not found a compelling case to update the firmware to do so as most present dimmable LEDs appear to be fine with trailing edge. Which is not the same as saying that the characteristics of all dimmable LEDs are the same - there is still significant variation in behaviour such as at what point they start lighting up, what point they switch off, and the linearity of the dimming range, some of which can be addressed by the ability to change power mapping curves. The QLD-003 is designed for lighting circuits in which a neutral is available (i.e it is not a wall switch replacement) so there are no lower wattage limitations on the load.

    The SLD and the new WiFi based MSD modules also use trailing edge dimming so they will also better suit a wider range of dimmable LEDs, but these modules are designed for in-line circuits in which there is no mains neutral available. Please be assured - we DO NOT use the earth as a neutral either. This means that the dimming side electronics gets its power solely through the lamp circuit itself. For LED lamps this is a challenge since they only use a few 10s of mA even at full power. Since pretty much most inline dimmers have to use this method, dimmable LEDs tend to have a threshold current below which they will not turn on. As you might expect this varies between one brand and another. But it also sets a lower limit of wattage which can be succssfully handled by a particular dimmer. For example a 3W LED lamp is in theory drawing 13mA at full power so it would be ambitious to think you could say steal 5mA through this and not see the lamp light up..

    An SLD module has the benefit of doing most of its work on the IDRANet powered side so the electronics on the dimming side requires only a very small amount of current via the lamp (typically less than 1mA). This means that an SLD can handle quite low wattage lamps. The MSD-W01 on the other hand is a wireless module so all the power for the electronics and the radio transmissions has to be drawn via the lamp circuit. This translates to higher current requirements and therefore a somewhat higher lower wattage limit. Typically around 7W for GLS type lamps but interestingly we have found some 4.3W GU10s that work fine, which I suppose illustrates the variability in LED designs. Of course if you are using multiple lamps on a given circuit then the combined load will in most cases be well above such lower limits.
    Last edited by Karam; 22nd June 2023 at 10:38 AM.

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