February 19, 2019

IKEA Bäve dimmer hack




Dimming not dimmable LED, IKEA Bäve

Inspired by LarsWH and using a Z-Wave controller I got it working with a "standard" component.











Other HomeKit posts 
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A new version !! With an IKEA controller and HomeKit enabled is available here !!

The main idea is to put the dimming device after the LED driver since You can't dim the LED:s on incoming 240VAC. The Bäve LED driver(BLD) is a constant current driver which outputs 350 mA and the output voltage is 15 - 30 VDC max 33VDC. 

There are some LED strip controllers, 12-24VDC supply, available but in this case I used the Fibaro Z-Wave RGBW controller(FZ). (The Gledopto Zigbee controller could be an alternative ?)

As seen in the schematics above, Bäve with 3 LEDs, the FZ is supplied direct from the secondary side of the BLD. In my case the output from the BLD is 32 VDC but everything works great since some time.

The FZ can be operated by a switch, connected to IN4/GND, if You have the BLD continuously supplied by the mains. Se operating manual. Another way is that You have a switch on the mains. The FZ will remember the last dimming level. 

If You are using a 6 LED Bäve there is 2 BLDs supplying 2 groups consisting of 3 LEDs. In this case You have to put the 2 BLDs in parallell and also the LED groups in parallell.

I think this solution could work on many LED drivers, which outputs at least 12 VDC and not more than 32 VDC, since the FZ i using PWM.

Using HomeKit with Homebridge and the Z-Wave plugin the controller is available in Apple Home app.

6 comments:

  1. Hello. If you live in Sweden you can buy this dimmer and build into the lamp. Then you can’t dim it afterwards but put it in the light output you want to use. https://www.biltema.se/fritid/husvagn-och-husbil/belysning/dimmer-led-inline-2000034845
    The dimmer is also available on other sites and stores.
    This must be the easiest and cheapest way to dim them.

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    Replies
    1. Hi ! Interesting solution, when you set the dimming level once, without changing it later on. Unfortunately this approach don't work on the latest version of Bäve due to higher output levels from the LED drivers.

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    2. Exactly. I have the old Bäve in my summerhouse and it works great with the old one. Now its possible to use the lamp. Before it was to bright. I don´t understand how they colud make this lamp at all, it way to bright to not be able to dim. And now it´s even brighter in the updated version?

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    3. O Yes, it's even brighter...The 5 LED Bäve is rated 18W, power supply rated 140mA, 130VDC ! Here is another post with a Zigbee controller http://pysselilivet.blogspot.com/2019/09/ikea-bave-dimmer-hack-ii.html but it needs additional hardware to handle the 130 VDC.

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  2. interesting. I have the same lamp but would just like to reduce the brightness. There I thought of just using a 12V dimmer from Amazon. Do you think this will also work?

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    Replies
    1. Please check the comments above regarding the output voltage from the LED driver.

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Feel free to leave a comment ! ... but due to a lot of spam comments I have to moderate them. Will reply ASAP !