Dimmable LED vs Ramp

[scubasteve3]

Hi -
Sorry this is probably a dumb question but what's the difference between LED lights that are just dimmable vs ones that also have a ramp function? With dimmable lights, can you still adjust the lights so you have X% of Blues combined with X% of whites at various times during the day?

What if you connect dimmable lights to a controller like an Apex, can you then ramp?

 

[colorful1180]

Dimmable LED has 2 dimmer knobs on the light,channels 1 & 2 are dimmable via dial.

Ramp LED has a touch LCD screen on the light,you can set intensity and time for each of 3 channels,then the light will work that according to your programming.

 

[nuxx]

RAMP is much nicer IMO.

 

[scubasteve3]

RAMP is much nicer IMO.

How so? I guess I'm trying to understand the benefits of ramped vs just dimable. If I connect a dimable led to an Apex shouldnt that give me ramped?

 

[nuxx]

How so? I guess I'm trying to understand the benefits of ramped vs just dimable. If I connect a dimable led to an Apex shouldnt that give me ramped?

Yes, if the light can be controlled by an APEX.

I thought you meant lights with a manual dimming knob versus a light that has a controller or can be controlled to do ramping.

 

[alton]

For any fixture to be controlled by Apex or DA they need to have a 0-10v driver or ballast. BML is a perfect example and there are others. Photon by Reef Breeders has its own built in controller that can ramp up and down using two different channels, and then you have the cheaper fixtures that have manual dimming where you have two channels that you manually set the look you want and they come on and go off always looking the same. I have 4 BML fixtures running on manual dimmers set at 85%, because on those tanks I don't see a need to ramp my leds up and down. On my 40 gallon frag tank I use a Photon fixture and I utilize the ramping feature. I feel sometimes we worry so much about ramping up and down, we don't give our corals enough light to grow.