Color force 72 Flickering Problem

[train5071]

Hi all,

I am having trouble with one of my color forces flickering once randomly through the show. I have checked the cabling, menu settings/board settings, added a terminator even changed out units. I wanted to know if there is something simple that i may have over looked.

Thanks,
Train

 

[JD]

Let me just get some clarity: You are saying that the unit in that position glitches maybe once in a one hour show? and that you have actually changed the unit out and the new unit in that position glitches as well?
Assuming the above, and that all are from the same power feed and are DMX chained (since they are I assume laid out in a row), then it sounds like a length related cable ring issue. Try looping an extra length of DMX cable in before and after the fixture, or even looping them out of sequence using some spare cables. If the problem goes away, then that was the issue.

 

[FMEng]

Be sure to use DMX cable, not microphone cable. DMX requires the cable to be impedance matched to ensure reliable operation.

 

[train5071]

Hey guys,


i did change all of the cable inline with the unit and yes I am using DMX cable. That's why I am stumped this is the first time I have had this glitch.

 

[JCarroll]

Sorry if this is just a confusion on my part, but if it follows the fixture, we have had problems with our units we own. They have two little connectors on each LED cell in the fixture that transfers the signal from cell to cell. We had some issues with them EASILY corroding and causing this flickering issue, sometimes two cells, sometimes the whole bar, and sometimes even constant strobing during a blackout. We fixed it by soldering each and every connector within the fixture and although it was time consuming and prevents an easy repair of the cells, it has solved the problem and prevented unwanted strobing during a calm corporate event.

My issue looked like this:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bxid1mxqf0UuMDVENXk2cWY3d2U3cVdfdFRLSW1yb1FIdFZB/view?usp=sharing
Now that would do the same thing with the DMX plugged in or not. It would flicker sometimes, or even "spazz out" completely. Those two cells that are dark would follow the control signal and be "Normal"

 

[jstroming]

This is a known issue with Colorforces, the manufacturer sells (or gives away?) a strain-relief type mechanism that will properly secure the internal boards

This happened with several of my Colorforce 72s and we had to make this modification to the whole lot. I do not think any soldering was needed.

 

[train5071]

Thanks to all that replied!

 

[JCarroll]

This is a known issue with Colorforces, the manufacturer sells (or gives away?) a strain-relief type mechanism that will properly secure the internal boards

This happened with several of my Colorforce 72s and we had to make this modification to the whole lot. I do not think any soldering was needed.

Thats Odd... they acted like they had no idea what the issue could be when we called. I'll look into that though if we get more fixtures.

 

[James Feenstra]

This is a known issue with Colorforces, the manufacturer sells (or gives away?) a strain-relief type mechanism that will properly secure the internal boards

This happened with several of my Colorforce 72s and we had to make this modification to the whole lot. I do not think any soldering was needed.

It's a free upgrade for older units. New units come with this upgrade already installed and should not exhibit the problem

If you have any questions feel free to give us a call any time!