Dimming MEGAMAN lamps

Just wondering if anyone has sucsessfully dimmed a MEGAMAN compact flouro using CBus.
I am told that they can be dimmed by step dimming but wasn't totally sure about how to go about this and even if it is true.

If anyone has had any experience with this i would love to get some info.

 

These CFL are switch dimmed. The power to the CFL needs to be toggled so you would have to use a relay to activate the toggle.

Very clunky.... there has been rumour for a while that Megamann were going to release a variable dimmable unit but I have not seen anything on the horizon.

I have a job that would use 70 of them now at whatever cost!! Whoever get these units out to market especially in the light of the recent Gov announcement will make a motza!!

Fleetz

 

The Megaman DORS lamps are NOT "dimmable" - or, as they said in Star Trek "it's dimmable Jim, but not as we know it"

Here's 3 recent forum discussions on CFLs...

This first one has some info from me about the new GE dimmable CFLs, which are the first on the market that actually do "dim".

http://www.cbusforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3268

Note that these are a screw-in lamp and quite large, and would need to be used in a proper downlight to suit. We did some tests and they dim fine on the standard Leading Edge C-Bus dimmers but you have to set the dimmer minimum level to 10% and make sure to set the switch as "Toggle" (not Memory) dimmer - the lamps will NOT start if they are energised at a dimmed level.

These work better on the Trailing Edge dimmer 32E... mechs, but we haven't yet tested them on the C-Bus Universal dimmer module.

These other 2 are discussions on CFLs in general, and there's a fair bit of reading in there :

http://www.cbusforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2464

http://www.cbusforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2977

Make sure you read all pages (links at bottom of pages).

The reason I mention these older threads is because the use of a "tiny" CFL lamp is basically flawed engineering. The amount of light you get out of those MR16 CFLs is so poor, you'd need to use about twice as much power to illuminate a room (to a certain light level) than using Halogen !!

My person opinion is to forget these bodgy "retrofit" CFL solutions, and instead buy proper, dedicated Compact Fluroescent downlights that are designed for the job. These will use 0-10V or DALI interface for light level control, and will work superbly - anything else is going to be a pretty poor compromise of lighting performance and dimming capability.

 

As from the science days I purchased a spectroscope for analysis of light. It is true that CFL gives out a sharp and narrow band of light. The only way to overcome this is to introduce multiple phosphor in different colours.

Domestic applications lack the physical space to allow for RGB phosphor to be used but there are a number of tri-phosphur tubes on the market balanced for daylight.

The "stuff" they sell in the stores for general consumption is very old technology and the quality of light as an interior source has failed to keep up with technology trends.

The driving force behind CFL has been cost and saving money. That is probably the main reason why additional features have been slow coming to the market.

 

The "proper" fluorescent downlights are simply a luminaire that is designed specifically to suit a CFL lamp. In other words, not a CFL lamp stuffed in to fit where something else was designed to go. By properly utilising the output of the CFL lamp using a proper optical assembly around the lamp, you actually get an efficiency gain from using CFL!

For example, halogen has a efficacy of about 25lm/W whilst a BARE fluorescent lamp is probably 80 or more. A 13W CFL lamp produces 900 lumens, the same as a 50W halogen or 35W IRC 12V halogen. So theoretically a 13W CFL can match the output of a standard 50W ELV halogen and use about 1/3 the power. But, jam that fluoro lamp inside a downlight that only allows 1/3 the light to get out and guess what happens...

So, to work properly - a large light source needs a large reflector (downlight) - apart from that they are of course suitable for any application. They are available for almost ANY lighting manufacturer - in fact, "proper" CFL downlights are probably sold in higher volumes than any other luminaire (with the exception of the good old 50W dichropic halogen). I cannot promote brands, so as an EXAMPLE here are a few :

Pierlite DOT (domestic range)
http://www.pierlite.com.au/products/level01.aspx?categoryid=1754

Pierlite others :
http://www.pierlite.com.au/products/level01.aspx?categoryid=380

Crompton
http://www.cromptonlighting.com/cat07/show_fittings.php?subcat=6&id=1

Cosmoluce (see pages 3-6 only)
http://www.cosmoluce.com.au/pdfs/cosmoluceProductsCommercial.pdf

Euroluce (Flos/Antares and Reggiani) - BIG download !
http://www.euroluce.com.au/index.php/catalogue

There are millions out there... any decent manufacturer will probably have more CFL downlights than they have halogen models, simply because they represet better overall value than halogen (which is primarility chinese rubbish) Note - to dim you need 4pin lamps and electronic control gear, and most manufacturers will have that as POA.

Also note - the light from CFLs goes "sideways" - so if you put them base-up in a downlight the light cannot really get out properly. To get decent output the lamps MUST run horizontally! Also, the reflector cannot be round (rotationally symmetrical), but needs to be oval-ish at the top to produce a decent light distribution. So, a cheap downlight with a round, aluminium reflector will probably be pretty poor !

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Regarding the light colour - there are a VAST variety of qualities and colours available. When you refer to "harsh" you need to understand the difference between colour temperature and colour rendering.

Colour temprature is the "colour" of the light. Incandescent is 2700?K, Halogen is 3000?K. Office lights are usually 4000?K. Compact Fluoresecent lamps with the equivalent colour temperature will APPEAR the same colour... so a 3000?K fluoro will look the same as a halogen lamp - when you stare at the light source.

HOWEVER - the colour rendering is the accuracy of the lamp to display various colours of the spectrum. Incandescent and Halogen are "continuous spectrum" lamps, and output every single colour of the rainbow, blended to appear "white".

Discharge and LED lamps are not continuous spectrum - they use 1, 2 or more bands of colour to create the appearance of white, but there are "gaps" in that light output and some colours are not reproduced as "brightly" as others. The technical term is "colour rendering", which is measured by the CRI (colour Rendering Index) or abbreviation "Ra". A lamp with a CRI (or Ra) of 80 means that it is 80% as accurate across all colours compared to Incandescent or Halogen (both having a CRI/Ra of 100).

The "lamp designator" of quality lamps tells you what you need to know - a 840 lamp has a CRI of 80 and colour temperature of 4000?K. A lamp designated 930 has a CRI of 90 and colour temperature of 3000?K. Etc etc

The cheap chinese CFL lamps have 2 problems with their "colour of light". First, they are often 6500?K daylight or higher, which is outrageously "blue" compared to halogen lamps. Sometimes they make mention of a "white" or "warm white" but these are usually yukky-looking tones.

Worse - the cheap lamps have terrible colour rendering, because they are using cheap (recycled) phosphors rather than a proper RGB mixture. So, they might glow and give off a "cool white" or "warm white" tone, but that's about all you should expect from cheapo CFL lamps.

A quality GE, Sylvania, Osram or Philips lamp will state clearly the 840 or 830 or 827 etc. If the lamp doesn't mention this designator you can almost be assured that the light quality will be rubbish. Also note that the "domestic" retrofit lamps are dreadful because they are built down to a price. So, there is a HUGE difference in light quality (and overall quality too) between an Osram Dulux EL Longlife made in Europe with a RRP of $37.29 and an Osram Dulux MiniTwist made in China with a RRP of $10.89, let alone the Mirabella or Nelson or Whoflungdung spirally thing that you bought from the clearance bin at the local Hardware or $2 shop

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Sorry for the long answer - which also only touched the surface of an extremely complex subject. I hope that helps anyway - tell me if not