Red head dimmer case mod

thingiverse

Redhead lights are traditional, basic continuous lights found in film and photography studios. Open-faced tungsten lamps, they usually have a dimmer and an adjustable beam angle. You can get them online from China relatively cheaply, but they come with a very bad dimmer that produces a lot of RF noise that can be heard in your audio. Dimmers are notorious for RF noise, but with a simple LC filter, this noise can be brought down to perfectly acceptable levels. I have modified the cheap dimmer by adding a 100µH choke/inductor and a 0.1µF capacitor (make sure it's for mains voltage!). I have also replaced the measly triac with a beefy one (BTA41-600B), because the heatsink that fits into the case is too small, and the oversized triac will handle the heat better. Now, to accomodate the LC filter, I had to design a larger case. I decided to make a model of the lower part and make it deeper. Print in PETG with supports, open side facing up. In the pictures folder you will also find the schematic. *Important notice:* Make sure to put heatshrink on all the bare wires, and don't do this if you don't know what you're doing.