Mains powered led microscope light

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

I was thinking about replacing the 12V halogen light in one of my microscopes with a GU10 dimmable 5 or 7 watt light. The transformer could be removed also. What I was wondering about is whether the common domestic light dimmer VS/ED/1X400/240/R made by Visonator would work with only one bulb. It is marked 40-400W. I have them working with banks of six LED’s which replaced six 50W halogen GU10 bulbs.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

No guarantee … but I suspect the answer is NO

If the Dimmer is rated 40-400W then there is presumably a good reason for it to require a minimum load of around 40W

MichaelG.

.

Edit: __ ChatGPT gave a fairly logical reply when I asked

why does a light dimmer have a minimum specified load

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

Thats what I suspected, the sets in the house are in sixes and 30 watts must be sufficient. There must be instances where smaller numbers are used, some research on domestic light dimmers is worth doing. The dimmers were originally designed for tht 50 watt halogen lights which were used long before LED’s were invented. I believe it was a Japanese researcher who first managed to get the white LED when others doubted if the mix of colours could ever be manufactured.

Edit: you prompted me to check up on modern dimmer switches, and I found they are 3-250W.

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