0-10v LED Drivers Do Not Dim Loads to 0 When Connected to ETC Products

Symptoms/Issue

A 0-10v LED driver dims all the way to off when the two control wires are shorted together, but when the wires are connected to a Response 0-10v Gateway or other control device, they dim to a low level but do not turn off.

Description/Explanation of Issue

Typical 0-10v drivers cannot dim their loads completely. Instead, they are generally intended to dim to a low level, and have their power cut off by a relay to turn off completely. (See here for a more detailed explanation of 0-10v control.)

As of this article's writing, drivers which can dim their loads completely are becoming more common in new lighting systems. These use an extension to the 0-10v control standard, so that when their control voltage is dropped by less than .5VDC, they go completely dark. Most ETC 0-10v products, as of June 2022, do not support this extension to the standard, which originally specified <1VDC as the minimum output level for a driver.

Typically, this is not a problem, as most ETC 0-10v products are intended to be used in conjunction with a relay to turn off the power to the driver at 0% output. However, if you are using a 0-10v controller such as a Response 0-10v Gateway and your driver is not connected to a relay, you may not be able to dim the fixture fully. To resolve this, you will need to connect the power to a relay, or connect the control wiring to a product which does support the driver.

ETC 0-10v Products Which Support <.5v Dim-To-0 Drivers*

*as of June 2022