Dimming LED's

[Hawk]

I used the dimmable electronic transformer 35-105W (see picture) with a 12W dimmable ar111 LED and it dims ok. I thought that the minimum load had to be 35W?

 

[Richard Burns]

I have found that the manufacturers specify a different minimum wattage for LED loads as opposed to incandescent.

 

[Nellie44Militel]

@hawk, It is not necessary that the minimum load should be 35W as minimum load is not an issue but the maximum load should not exceed the 105W otherwise it will draw more current and it will damage the transformer. For 12W it is perfectly safe as it will draw less current and no harm from less current.

 

[Hawk]

Have been recently speaking to osram and other manufacturers of LED product and on some of the products there is a minimum load requirement.

 

[Nellie44Militel]

Minimum current requirement is there for some conditions. For a basic voltage step-up or step-down transformer, there is no such requirement but this requirement is placed for advanced power supply circuits where load maintenance is a critical parameter. It won’t go haywire but the circuit might not be able to regulate properly and there might be some noise if you don’t meet the minimum load requirements.