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I'm using a dual 60W LED multi-chip pendant lighting (a.k.a. "high bay" pendant light with two 60W LED chips). This light is using an RGB driver (one per multi-chip) that has a remote control to adjust the LED. It can do several things to mix the color output, as well as strobe, flash, dimming, etc of the chip. Very nice to have, however those "features" of the driver/remote control are causing me a problem.

How it's wired currently:
I'm using an electronic timer that shuts the driver off during certain hours of the day. The timer is pretty simple as it connects to 110V and has 2 circuits of output. Meaning it will turn on/off 2 different output circuits. Here's a sample of how the timer is wired to the LED light (L being "live" and N being "neutral". 3-4 and 5-6 are timer circuits on/off). enter image description here

The problem:
With the light powered on I set the light to a specific setting (using the remote control). When the driver loses power and shuts off via the timer I also lose my memory settings on the LED driver. This means when the timer again turns on the light (provides power back to the driver), the light will turn on with a default setting. This setting just happens to be a "flash" pattern and not the setting I set with the remote before it turned off. It tells me there is no "non-volatile memory" on the LED driver.

I need the driver to retain memory when it is turned off via the timer.

I've asked the manufacturer to tell me how much power is it going to take to retain memory only as I just want that little bit and not enough to turn the driver back on or light the 60W multi-chip LED until the electronic timer says "on" with full 110V power.

My thought is to use some kind of resistor or diode (not sure what term I should be using here), between the two leads as shown in this figure. (Testing with something that gives me 25, 50, or 75% power output to see what it takes for the driver to retain memory): enter image description here

Anyone have any ideas on what I should be asking the manufacturer or what I should be using to make this work? Am I on the right path?

Of course I'm working on obtaining a driver that does what I need (asking the manufacturer if they can re-design the driver with flash or non-volatile memory and/or to have the driver default to a setting I need specifically). In the meantime I'm looking to see what I can do to rectify the problem. It could be months before they get me a working product.

Anything you can assist with to HELP me... would be greatly appreciated!!

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    \$\begingroup\$ How to do this, and whether this is even possible, is highly dependent on the internals of your LED unit. \$\endgroup\$
    – Jim Paris
    Commented Sep 10, 2012 at 18:20
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    \$\begingroup\$ It seems to me that given all of the functionality in the remote control, there's got to be a simple on/off function in there. Instead of fiddling with the power to the LED drivers, perhaps you should investigate this option. \$\endgroup\$
    – Dave Tweed
    Commented Sep 10, 2012 at 19:06
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    \$\begingroup\$ Please post a link to the datasheet for your LED driver; It's likely that there is a simple enable/disable function that will meet your requirements. \$\endgroup\$
    – HikeOnPast
    Commented Sep 10, 2012 at 23:36

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Just use timer to cut power to the LEDs and keep driver on standby.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Cutting the neutral lines does seem like a reasonable approach to try but adding more detail and possible solutions to your answer would make it more useful. I guess the driver may shut down if it detects no load, but that would be easy enough to test. \$\endgroup\$
    – PeterJ
    Commented Oct 3, 2013 at 4:29
  • \$\begingroup\$ If you cut the neutral lines the driver will lose power the same as if you'd cut the hot lines and the settings will be lost. It'll just be less safe because everything will be at 120 V. \$\endgroup\$
    – Austin
    Commented Jan 29, 2015 at 15:41

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