Late Night Rant, INFO FOR EVERYONE WHO USES MOVERS!!!!!!!

[TimMiller]

DO NOT PLUG MOVERS INTO DIMMERS!!!! WITHOUT USING A TRUE NON DIM OR RELAY MODULE. JUST PUTTING A DIMMER ON "NON DIM" DOES NOT MAKE IT A NON DIM CIRCUIT SAFE FOR A MOVER. YOU END UP FRYING THE POWER SUPPLY!!!!

I just got a rig back from a school who kindly plugged everything into their dimmer rack and just put the modules on "non dim" and did not install true non dim modules. Needless to say x-spot and studio beam power supplies are not cheap at all!!!!


RANT OFF

If anyone is wondering the real scientific reason why just ask. It will be my next rant

[derekleffew]

Why thank you for that rant, TimMiller. Reminds me I keep forgetting to ask Gafftaper if he has any extra relay or constant power modules for his new C21 racks. Or how he's planning on powering all his little gadgets. And if he has a 3Ø (Is it ø or Ø? Which is more correct?) 120/208VAC, Wye-connected, 5wire, company switch, even a little 200amp one.

I didn't even know one could run Xspots and StudioBeams from 120V. Are they voltage auto-sensing, or do you have to change jumpers or fuses or anything?

Not on my dimmer racks you don't.
Into the wall, or not at all!

[TimMiller]

x-spots and studio beams will run at 120V no problem. They have auto switching powersupplies, so you can plug them into anything between 110-230

[len]

Originally Posted by derekleffew

I didn't even know one could run Xspots and StudioBeams from 120V. Are they voltage auto-sensing, or do you have to change jumpers or fuses or anything?

Not on my dimmer racks you don't.
Into the wall, or not at all!

I always thot they were 208V only. But the last time I used an X-spot was 5 years ago. No one around here owns them any longer because customers always spec out Mac2K

As for replacing the power supplies, that's customer error. Anyone who rents a fixture like that should know better. Bill your customer for them.

[icewolf08]

There is only one fixture that I know of that which in it's manual says that you can run them on a dimer in "Switched" or non-dim mode, and that is the ETC Source Four Revolution. Other than that, running most electronics on a dimmer can mess up the electronics, so I keep a bunch of relay and constant circuit modules.

What I would really love is if ETC released a half non-dim, half dimmer module so that I didn't loose two dimmers ever time I want a non dim in the rack.

[derekleffew]

Originally Posted by icewolf08

...What I would really love is if ETC released a half non-dim, half dimmer module so that I didn't loose two dimmers ever time I want a non dim in the rack.

Yes, but wouldn't you then need "right hand" and "left hand" modules, and you'd invariably run out of the wrong type. You have ETC dimmers and Strand consoles? Best of both worlds?

[TimMiller]

Just being able to run off a dimmer in non dim mode doesnt make up for how much a source four revolution is a piece of crap. I'll take an x-spot any day over a source four revolution, heck i'll take an american dj fixture over a source four revoultion, at least they will go back to their proper position and have dicroic colors.

[JD]

Movers, strobes, or anything with a power supply should not be run off a dimmer. As this issue has come up before, I must admit I am somewhat perplexed as to why movers would need to be connected to anything even near a dimmer pack.

I guess I live in a world where movers have their own distro. (road shows, etc) So what is different in the theater? Is it the need to be able to shut everything off at the end of the night from the board?

With most stage lights using stage pin connectors, and most movers being equipped with Edison, the two worlds seam self isolating. I am making the assumption that many convert the movers to stage pin connectors and have some form of patch bay where they are assigned.

It would seam logical in a fixed location to have a large contactor (relay) installed that fed the mover distro, and either fire the coil off of a dimmer (see note below) or use a low voltage remote controlled from the booth if the convenience is desired.

For me, simply turning off the distro as part of the end-of-night routine works fine.

Note: Most dimmers do not like relay coils or loads under 15 watts, and would need some phantom load, such as an indicator light.

[TimMiller]

I thought it would be cool if the dimmer modules had a relay in them, so when you set them to non dim, the electronics in the rack would activate a relay and bypass the SCR, making it a true non dim circuit. Or even if they just had a non dim switch that would bypass the SCR and route power straight through. I have made dimmer modules into true non dim modules before, by gutting out the SCR's and Chokes.

[soundlight]

If anyone on here has a computer oscilloscope, could you test wall power vs. non-dimmed dimmer circuit and post screenshots of the actual waveform? I know that it's very detrimental to put MLs on a "switched" dimmer, and I never do it, but I wanted to know what the difference actually looks like.