12V Glass Panel Dimmer
Posted: December 24th, 2020, 4:55 pm
Been looking for a nice looking dimmer to replace a standard switch like the ones we use at home. Really not much out there but I did find this. They were $18 CDN delivered however I guess covid increased the price a little. 
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3297674 ... 4c4dW7Ud8z
Biggest issue is nobody seems to make a 12v dimmer switch that fits into a standard electrical box, this one does and does not look like crap. Only negative is if you have a dual switch (as in side by side using the same electrical box) this is not going to fit. I guess there is another drawback as the dimmer draws 1w when not in use however this is a rather small draw so it does not bother me being the boat is plugged in while at the marina.
Rated at 8A which is more than one would require for typical salon lighting and voltage input is 12v to 24v so no need to worry about charging spikes up to 15+v when alternator or charger is working.
Wanted a few of these to dim the led ceiling lights in the salon, the master suite and the forward cabin so I bought 3. Took a couple of months before they arrived but they finally did.
I used a single 2w led for the test as I wanted to see if under very little load the dimmer actually turns the light completely off which is sometimes problematic. Worked as planned, off is off. No visible flicker or weird stuff happening either. Fully dimmed is very low which is great. The dimmer controls will not turn on or off the light, only the on/off switch does this.
There is a beep when you hit the on/off button which you may find annoying however this is only when turning on or off. The arrows on both sides are pretty dumb as they are meant for dimming or brightening however this is a 255 step controller so this means you would need to hit the arrow 255 times to go from the lowest dimming setting to the highest. Hope you are patient
The on/off button does just that and remembers the last dimmed setting. In other word if you shut the light off when they were dimmed to 25%, the next time you hit the on button they will be at 25% one again.
The slider is rather nice, after you turn the lights on, hit the slider at the top and they will go to full bright, bottom full dim or anywhere in between where you want it to be or slide with your finger until you get it just right.
Tested all 3 units on the bench and they all work well. Cannot vouch for how long they will last or how well they will perform on the boat connected to my "Dream Lights" Will report back in spring when the boat hits the water.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3297674 ... 4c4dW7Ud8z
Biggest issue is nobody seems to make a 12v dimmer switch that fits into a standard electrical box, this one does and does not look like crap. Only negative is if you have a dual switch (as in side by side using the same electrical box) this is not going to fit. I guess there is another drawback as the dimmer draws 1w when not in use however this is a rather small draw so it does not bother me being the boat is plugged in while at the marina.
Rated at 8A which is more than one would require for typical salon lighting and voltage input is 12v to 24v so no need to worry about charging spikes up to 15+v when alternator or charger is working.
Wanted a few of these to dim the led ceiling lights in the salon, the master suite and the forward cabin so I bought 3. Took a couple of months before they arrived but they finally did.
I used a single 2w led for the test as I wanted to see if under very little load the dimmer actually turns the light completely off which is sometimes problematic. Worked as planned, off is off. No visible flicker or weird stuff happening either. Fully dimmed is very low which is great. The dimmer controls will not turn on or off the light, only the on/off switch does this.
There is a beep when you hit the on/off button which you may find annoying however this is only when turning on or off. The arrows on both sides are pretty dumb as they are meant for dimming or brightening however this is a 255 step controller so this means you would need to hit the arrow 255 times to go from the lowest dimming setting to the highest. Hope you are patient
The on/off button does just that and remembers the last dimmed setting. In other word if you shut the light off when they were dimmed to 25%, the next time you hit the on button they will be at 25% one again.
The slider is rather nice, after you turn the lights on, hit the slider at the top and they will go to full bright, bottom full dim or anywhere in between where you want it to be or slide with your finger until you get it just right.
Tested all 3 units on the bench and they all work well. Cannot vouch for how long they will last or how well they will perform on the boat connected to my "Dream Lights" Will report back in spring when the boat hits the water.