Hi All,
I've built a landscape lighting system using a Malibu 200W transformer and twenty 1-watt LED lamps. I really want to use a photocell trigger, but I've gone through 3 Malibu photocells and have got less than a month out of each of them. I'd like to build one that will last.
These transformers puts out 12V A/C. The LEDs run great on A/C and supposedly last twice as long. I'm thinking of using a TRIAC to switch the A/C and a phototransistor (or photoresistor, but NOT cdS) to sense the light, but have no clue how to combine them into a circuit. Will the phototransistor need to be rectified? Do solid state components work the same with A/C? Anybody want to sketch this up for me?
I've built a landscape lighting system using a Malibu 200W transformer and twenty 1-watt LED lamps. I really want to use a photocell trigger, but I've gone through 3 Malibu photocells and have got less than a month out of each of them. I'd like to build one that will last.
These transformers puts out 12V A/C. The LEDs run great on A/C and supposedly last twice as long. I'm thinking of using a TRIAC to switch the A/C and a phototransistor (or photoresistor, but NOT cdS) to sense the light, but have no clue how to combine them into a circuit. Will the phototransistor need to be rectified? Do solid state components work the same with A/C? Anybody want to sketch this up for me?