Dimming an external light voltage

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) General Frequently-Asked Questions
1

Hi

I want to use Arduino to control the voltage to an externally powered strip light (like a dimmer switch), is this possible?

Thanks

2

hej,

the question is what you wanne dimm? in general you can use the pwn 0 - 3 (digital Output 9 / 10 / 11) to send diferent Voltage between 0V and +5V. SO you jsut need the right components to bring this singal on the right voltage and power.

If you just wanne controll LED or Lights with low voltage you could use a power transistors( i think there name was something like N-channel Power transistor).

If you want to control normal light (220 V up to 1kw) you have to bild your own little power unit. You can find a nice one at
http://www.hoelscher-hi.de/hendrik/english/dimmer.htm
but take care, don't burn your self and use some protect switch (circuit breaker / FI Schutzschalter).

i hope i could help you

tomek