IKEA Tradfri Led Drivers

đź’¬ Lounge
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Hi Guys,

Was just at IKEA and saw this REALLY cheap drivers. @ 14€ for the lower version and 30€ for the high capacity one this seems a really bargain.

Apparently they can be used directly with Philips HUE and show up as dimmable light (no on/off).

I was really tempted to buy one or two or a couple more lol... (This is @Cobra influence with his GH Minis) but wanted to know if anyone has experience with them. Thoughts?!

The only reason why I didn't was because I'm still waiting for my HE (over a month now in transit)....

In case anyone feels the urge this is how you pair them with Philips HUE:

  1. Connect up a LED strip to the transformer
  2. Connect the transformer to mains power close to the Hue hub - the light will turn on
  3. Start a new light search in the Hue app
  4. Hold down the reset/pair button on the transformer (you can use use a pin)
  5. Keep it held until it appeared in the app - the light will dim, brighten, and flash.
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I just looked at my store and they didn't have any.
Now it says they do.
Try to avoid that place as much as possible...
If they made an RGBW version I'd be in trouble...

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That's the second reason why I didn't go for it.
I'm sure that there is a hack for it....

I'm using Glopodo for it at the moment (it's compatible with Hue) but keeps dropping it's connection to the hub.

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Tagging @Royski becaue I know he uses some of these.
I have a couple that I’ve not connected yet.

One thing to note... 24v dc output!

Andy

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Have 3 of them connected directly to HE, they work great, never miss a beat.

I have a mixture of Norrfly strips and some spots connected to them. Great for the price. Also using the puck dimmers with a very simple driver, clockwise for on, anti for off. I have a dimming driver too but it’s clunky and a little hit and miss, but does work.

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Would you say that they work better directly connected to HE or through HUE?

I'm trying to resist buying them.

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Could you use a 8212 LED strip with this then?

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Any Non RGB 24v Led Strip should work in theory (don't know which voltage is the 8212).

In Theory the 3528 that is 24v and dimmable would also work and that's 10€ for 10m from US on AliExpress

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ok so this is not an addressable LED controller solution then. Bummer.

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That than would be a game changer!!

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addressable RGB strip you mean? I don't think any other protocol than DMX is man enough to handle that, definitely not zigbee or z-wave. :smile:

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TBH I find Hue and IKEA together quite flakey, albeit this was when I had ST. So I’ve not bothered connecting them to Hue, just direct to HE.

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Interesting it works quite ok for me in ST. In fact I have all my lights connected through HE as it makes my ST more liable in the event of a ST episode.

I might test no e the lights to HE when I get them.... after all is local :wink:

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So could they be used to drive solid state relays for switching higher current loads ....... if so it’s an interesting value proposition.

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In Theory..... Lol

Well the issue might be the output.

Is 10 watts on lowest version and 30 Watts on the highest version....

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I'm running 4 addressable LED strips with ESP8266 boards as Hue RGBW bulbs through a project called DIYHue. Can control color or CT and dim all the way up and down.

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Per LED chip? As in each individual R, G, B and W per SMD 5050 chip?

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That is what I am working on too. I really like the individual addressable LED mode. I am switching all my generic “dumb” led over to this. You create such better ambiance then traditional all one color/level leds.

Working on year round lighting on exterior of the home first. Trying to figure out how to do WiFi holiday/mdx like control on test modules I have created. If works I have a dual solution for home accent lighting and holiday music controlled scenes.

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It is set up so that you create different bulbs for segments of the Strip. Controlling individual chips from a system like HE isn't practical. It requires too many messages being sent too fast to make something like that practical. Think about the timing and processing that would be required. If you are looking for something to create animations with neopixels, look at the McLighting project. Can be interfaced with webcalls.

My setup is a little complicated as I actually have 2 boards per strip. One running DIYHue and one running McLighting. I switch between them with a relay controled by the McLighting board. Only way I've found to have both animation type control and simple everyday lighting control at the same time.

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@Royski How did you get your driver connected to HE? I was able to pair it up with my Hue hub (which is actually fine for my setup), but I couldn't get it to pair to my HE hub after multiple attempts of resetting it/putting HE into discovery mode/moving the driver to right on top of the HE hub, etc.

Any suggestions or magical words I should be whispering softly to it? LOL