Control/Dimming ETC Express 48/96

[ALF]

Hi, so here is my issue. I have a ETC system with conventional fixtures. We control in with an express board. The thing is, when I have a look up, the system begins to fade in a out 2-3 times and then it goes black. I am going to bring in another board to see if that is the issue. I do not see anything in the dimmers that would give me reason to suspect them. Anyone have this happen to them?

 

[Lextech]

Is it with a cue or with faders up, or both?

 

[ALF]

Good Morning- so here is what I'm going through. Our Exress console was fading and restoring a few times on its own. After 2-3 cycles of fade/restore the look would go black. We had a ballet in and so I borrowed another express board to see if the issue was the board or a dimming issue. When using the borrowed console the system worked as expected. SO I have determined the board has an issue. I put our board back in the retrieve some data and now the board does not bring up any channels. Is there something I can try to restore the board back to at least bringing up channels?

 

[derekleffew]

Call ETC Tech Support immediately at (800)688-4116 while sitting in front of the board. A "deep clear" may buy you some time, but I'm not sure I'd trust it.

Call ETC Tech Services at 1-800-688-4116 ASAP 24/7. After hours, leave a message and someone will return your call within fifteen minutes. As good as the breadth of knowledge is here on ControlBooth, it is no substitute for ETC's stellar service. And this type of troubleshooting is best done NOT on an internet forum.

It's called a "deep clear." AFTER you've saved your show or any valuable programming (i.e., patch) to floppy (preferably several), turn the console OFF. While pressing the 7,8,9 keys on the numeric keypad, turn the console ON. Release the keys once the console fully boots to the normal screen. Deep Clear has been known/suspected to solve a myriad of issues, and rarely if ever causes harm, provided you've backed up prior.

 

[derekleffew]

Any updates to report, @ALF ? We're curious what ETC Tech Services had to say. Did you try the deep clear, and was it beneficial?

 

[ALF]

Hey everyone...here is what has happened since I first posted my predicament. I did the deep clear, thanks for that. It didn't work but it did turn me on to something else. I called ETC and they walked me through changing DMX ports. It turns out that the DMA 1 port 1-512 has a bad chip. I routed to DMX 2 and all is good on with the console. I also found out that the dimmer has a air flow error message and that's why the lights dim off and on. I experimented with putting a box fan on top of rack #1 and blowing into the rack from the top. Everything works when the fan is on. Five minutes after turning fan off I get the error message about air flow. I have a loaner control module coming to test if it the module is bad or the fan itself. In either case I should have things cleared up in a few weeks.
thanks to you all,
alf