Stage Pin-Edison+Dimmer Non Dim, Plausible?

Hey guys,
I got the adaptor in today.
It seems asthough the seller had the adaptor and wires and made it themselves.
The stage pin casig is a little flimsy but should do the job fine.

The pins feel a little loose though, and the pin nearest the ground (not sure which is hot, nuetral) is slightly longer than the others. Is this going to be a problem?

Edit,
I just noticed it says GR under tha pin, assuming Ground. I thought the ground was the pin seperated from the other two? No?
 
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As for what you can power with a dimmer, you can use anything that has a lightbulb or anything simple like what Marshall said. Some things to try to avoid running on a dimmer include motors, flourescent lights, and especially moving lights.

We've (okay, I've) run 4' fluorescent black lights through our grid using the double tube shop light available at Lowes, with black foil guarding the light from audience's eyes. When they come on or go off, I set the fade time at a zero count. It has worked so far- is this a bad thing?

We can't afford moving lights yet... :lol:
 
... is this a bad thing?

Most anything with a ballast, transformer, motor, capacitor, etc is best kept off a dimmer. So, while not a 'bad' thing, it's also not really a 'good' thing. A dimmer at full is still "processed" power, meaning it's not the same as the power coming out of a standard wall outlet.

I said most anything because the GAM FilmFX has a wall wart style power supply that can be put on a dimmer so as to control speed of the reel. This is the only one that I know of with that capability. Ex: If you put an Apollo power supply on a dimmer, they will void the warranty when it fails as a result. They can tell if it failed because it was on a dimmer.
 
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The ETC Source 4 Revolution is also the ONLY automated fixture I know of that can be powered directly off a dimmer. It was designed that way specifically.
 
I have some Rosco daul-vortex-gobo rotator thing that also can have the speed of the rotaition adjusted by being dimmed, even though it has the transformer plug

The Vortex manual reads as the following:
The speed and rotation can be set by turning the potentiometer (on top of the unit) clockwise for faster and counter-clockwise for slower. The direction of the rotation can be set by changing the position of the toggle switch. There is also an off feature (center position on the toggle switch) for changing gobos without having to unplug the unit or dial down the speed to 0.

Note: The rotational speed of the Vortex 360 can be remotely controlled by plugging the power adapter into an electronic dimmer output (set the power adapter to 12v for best results). However, the dimmer output must be compatible for use with transformers. Please check with the dimmer manufacturer before using the Vortex 360 in this fashion. Failure to use a compatible dimmer can result in overheating and/or damage to both the Vortex 360 and the dimmer.

starksk, thoughts on using a Vortex 360 on an ETC D20?
 
... starksk, thoughts on using a Vortex 360 on an ETC D20?

The D20 would be the correct module for this application. It is highly unlikely that the D20 will be damaged by the Rosco unit. Several people have used this and similar products with D20 dimmers without any issue.

In theory...but not really. They really don't like being on dimmers.

Sean is correct. Revolutions (and Selador) fixtures will technically run on a dimming module. This is not the preferred power source. Whenever possible, fixtures that aren't designed to use dimmed power should avoid being connected to a dimmer module and instead should be connected to constant/non-dimmed power.
 
Hey guys I am a HS drama student and we lost our entire drama program (Drama 1,2,3 and Stagecraft) but we just got it back! We got moved to a small "Classroom" (A glorified storage closet) below our Theatre and the room has no lighting or sound connections! We have 2 old Licos and we want to hang them from some I-Beams on ceiling but we have no way to control the lights, I have found a Stagepin-to-Edison adapter but I cant find a dimmer for under $1500!! We have no budget :( Any solutions?
Thanks guys!
 
It's Leko, not Lico.

Here's one for $114. Watt is the whattage of the fixtures? Do you want combined or individual control?

DO NOT buy an in-wall dimmer at your local home center and wire it up into a box like this:
wall dimmer.jpg
Repeat, don't do that.
 
A likely better solution:
1. Search eBay or other for for a dimmer, shoebox (like the Chauvet DMX-4 or many others similar), $80-120,
2. buy a MagicDMX Basic dongle from Chamsys, ~16 USD,
3. download the MagicQ software to a laptop or desktop computer, $0,
and have a ball controlling your two lights. It's like using an elephant gun to kill a mosquito, but you'll learn a lot.

EDIT:
4. I forgot the data cable.:doh: You'll need a 3pin XLR cable to go between the dongle and dimmer pack. A cable of the proper specifications for transmission of DMX512 is always preferable, but for this classroom exercise a common "mic cable" will probably suffice just fine.
5. Of course, you'll also need an appropriate extension cord to go from the wall to the dimmer pack, which will be located near the lights.
 
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As for moving lights being run off of dimmers, all moving lights will work with a dimmer at 100% BUT HOW LONG? Electronic power supplies rely on the peaks of the wave form to function properly, what dimmers do is they basically crush down the wave form to dim they produce more of a square looking wave with the peaks of wave chopped off. The power supplies will try to compensate and quickly go bad especially after being taken off of a dim circuit and put on a regular non dim circuit. Power supplies is movers commonly run around 400-600 dollars, they also have an electronic ballast that runs the lamp that requires clean power so they die at the same time or shortly after to the cost of about 1200+ I have had lots of schools do this and I finally got to the point of a tech had to be out on site for the power on. I would also lend out non dim modules for free just to protect my own gear. Also if you rent a mover and hook it up to a dimmer according to most rental agreements you will be held responsible for the repairs that are not cheap. It also voids the warranty by the manufacturer.
 

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