Automated Fixtures - Cyberlight Noise Question

[Mandolomo]

Hi everybody,

My high-school theatre owns 6 cyberlights. Only 3 of them are (slightly) working right now, and I don't think any of them have been cleaned for at least 3-4 years. This weekend I'm going to do some general maintenance and cleaning to get all six working. The 3 that work right now have various alignment issues with the effect and color wheels. Anyway, they hardly ever get used because the fans are so loud. The theatre teacher gets instantly mad when she hears them turn on. My question for you guys is, is there any way that I can quiet them down so that they don't continue to sit in the catwalk gathering dust? I would love to be able to use them on a regular basis. Thanks for your help!

[TimMiller]

Cyberlights are not quiet fixtures, especially if they are the turbos. They should sound like a floor blower when running correctly. Any loud squeaking or grinding is not normal. Also make sure all the fans are running correctly. If they do not have the factory yellow warning labels on the fans I place red or some other colored electrical tape across them so you can see if one of the fans is running slower than the others. If one fan is not working or is running slower than the others the fixture will ramp up the fan speed making the fixture louder. I have the best luck pulling the fans out and blowing them out with an air compressor. If they are starting up and the color or gobo wheel is off it is due to an optical sensor is bad or there is dust over the indexing slot on the wheel. Also make sure the wheels are not warped and scratching up the sensors.

[Mandolomo]

Yes, I think they are turbos. I guess I will do the cleaning on Saturday, and report back.

[TimMiller]

Also, be sure to check the heat glass between the lamp and the rest of the optics. It does crack with age and needs to be replaced or the uv from the lamp will begin cracking the color flags and start putting lots of extra wear on all of the glass and wires inside of the fixture.

[Woodj32177]

to be honest,
Turbos are just loud. They have extra fans due to the heat that a MSR 1200sa produces.
If your drama teacher gets mad the second they get turned on, you may be out of luck.
I don't know that cleaning them is going to make much of a difference.
Good luck,

[TimMiller]

Another trick is if someone walks into a room with ambient noise already there they are less likely to notice it than it starting up. I still remember the night the console decided to freak out and it envolved a rest. We were running around 50 cybers and about 100 scrollers. It made for one loud mess.