Description
The AC Dimmer is designed to regulate alternating current (AC) voltage, capable of handling currents from 8A. However, we do not recommend pushing the power to the upper limit. Typically, dimmers are used to switch lamps or heating elements on and off but are also suitable for controlling fans, pumps, air purifiers, and similar devices.
Recently, dimmers have become popular in smart home systems, such as for smoothly adjusting light brightness. For example, a light can gradually turn on or off, creating a comfortable ambiance. Dimmers work best with filament lamps, while performance with low-brightness LED lamps may be inconsistent. However, they function well with medium and high-brightness LEDs. Note that fluorescent (gas discharge) lamps do not support dimming.
The power section of the dimmer is isolated from the control section to prevent high currents from interfering with the microcontroller. It is compatible with both 5V and 3.3V logic levels, making it easy to connect to microcontrollers using either.
For Arduino projects, the dimmer is controlled via the RBDDimmer.h library, which handles external and process time interrupts. This simplifies coding and frees up processing time for other tasks, allowing multiple dimmers to be controlled by a single microcontroller. You can download the RBDDimmer.h library and example codes from the “Documents” section or GitHub. Our library is regularly updated, so we recommend checking for updates on our website or subscribing to our newsletter.
The dimmer connects to Arduino controllers via two digital pins. The first pin (Zero) controls the Phase Null detection of the AC, triggering interrupt signals. The second pin (DIM/PSM) adjusts the current. Note that the Zero pin must be connected to specific microcontroller pins (which vary depending on the model, such as Uno, Nano, Leonardo, or Mega) because it’s tied to the microcontroller’s interrupt function.
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