Difference between dimmable and non-dimmable LED downlighters

[shumifan50]

There is quite a big price difference between dimable and non-dimable LED down-lighters (GU10). I suspect it has something to do with the power supply in the 2 different types of bulbs and I have not yet tried using PWM on non-dimable versions. But I would like to know if anybody on here has played with these and/or know why/what the difference is.

 

[Arouse1973]

Hi
Dimmable LEDs have a special driver inside to allow them to be used with dimmers which probably accounts for the extra cost or the fact that they just don't sell as many. The other thing you need to watch out for is some of the old dimmers might not work correctly because they often need a minimum load to work, say 60 W. They may work with old dimmers but they often prefer trailing edge dimmers rather than leading edge dimmers. For a match made in heaven it's recommended to use the new dimmers designed for dimming LEDs. Bit of a con I know. This has caught a lot of people out in the past.
Cheers
Adam

 

[shumifan50]

Thaqnks for that, it matches my suspicions. However, the reason for my interest is that I am not thinking of using existing dimmers, but rather of building a PWM, microcontroller based, dimmer. What I am not sure of is whether the power supplies/drivers inside the LED bulb will cope with a rapidly switching power input. Will it reduce the internal circuit lifespan? Will it work at all?
I will try this and se what happens, but maybe someone has tried and could post the results.