Any expirience installing a dimmer for a par38? Please help

[LittleBee]

Hey guys, I just ordered two par38 12 led bulbs for my ten gallon from rapid led. In the description it said they are dimmable via triac so I assumed that they would easily be dimmable. Well now I'm searching online how to make the dimmable(I'd like to run them at night as a moonlight) and can't seem to find a darn thing. All I know is they are dimmable through triac and triac is a household wall dimmer. I don't really want to be putting a dimmer in my wall and hooking it up to a bulb for my tank. That's way too much work for a 21 yr old girl lol so if anyone knows i can make these bulbs easily dimmable please let me know. I don't want them to just be on or off.. I really would like to control the blue and the white separate but that doesn't seem possible at this point.

 

[saltwaterpicaso]

if the blue and white are all in one bulb you are not going to be able to control the two independintely becouse they are wired into one power source the socket itself. the dimmer just means they will dim down with the switch

 

[Flanders]

Get something like this.

 

[Eastamherstbias]

I have 4 par 38's. Unless you have a different version. You will not be able to control individual colors but overall output.

 

[SkiFletch]

Nice find Flanders. Are those kind of things relatively available at Lowes/HD?

 

[Flanders]

I have no idea! Mine aren't dimmable.

 

[SkiFletch]

Humm, just looked and answered my own question. My local HD at least has them...

 

[magdelan]

Brittany, I think I get what you are trying to do. You don't necessarily want to control the colors individually, you just want to control the light output. Now, considdering that led's ARE dimable, you should be able to EASILY install a dimmer in place of a standard "on/off" wall switch. If the outlet that you are planning to use IS controlled by a "switch", this would be an easy swap... if not, Flanders' way might be your best option. FWIW: I like the idea of dimming a PAR38. I never thought of that (duh )

 

[LittleBee]

Thanks magdelan. I would like to control the colors separately but that's just not feasible I guess so yes I do want to be able to dim the light output if I can. I don't believe the outlet is controlled by a switch so I think I may try to go the other route and see if it works.

Thanks for the input guys by the way!