disc2slick
Active Member
Hey guys,
I've been stumped about this issue so I thought I'd send it out to the larger community. This is a problem a friend has been having with the dimmers at his theater. I have been out there once to try to sort it out, and have also been on the phone with ETC about it.
The problem is that dimmers will fail to come on, and/or come one when they are not supposed to in a flicker-y manner. So, sometimes when you bring up a cue dimmers will not come on, sometimes when you are setting in a cue dimmers will get brighter, or dimmers that should not be on will come on.
Here is the system:
ETC 24/48, running through an opto to 3 sensor 24 (CEM+) racks (into 1 rack daisy chained to the next 2). Also coming out of the opto are 2 Icues. In one instance there are 4 dimmers patched to the same channel, of which only 2 are affected.
So far we have:
-swapped out all the dmx between the console and the dimmers, as well as between the dimmers themselves
-terminated the last dimmer with the onboard termination switch (it was not engaged when i inherited the problem)
-swapped out the console
-cleaned all the dirt and crap out of the dimmer cards and brains
Things we know:
The problems are not confined to 1 rack
problems are not confined to 1 phase
problems seem to get worse as the day goes on (I'm thinking temperature issues)
problems seem to start with the same 2 dimmers and then spread
when i took the cards out to clean them a few seemed warmer than i would have expected
In one instance there are 4 dimmers patched to the same channel, of which only 2 are affected.
Problems will go away for a day or two at a time and then come back
phases are reasonably balanced
I spoke with ETC the other day and they agreed that terminating it and cleaning the dust out should fix it. But I just got a text this afternoon saying the issues were back.
Thanks everybody!
Dan
I've been stumped about this issue so I thought I'd send it out to the larger community. This is a problem a friend has been having with the dimmers at his theater. I have been out there once to try to sort it out, and have also been on the phone with ETC about it.
The problem is that dimmers will fail to come on, and/or come one when they are not supposed to in a flicker-y manner. So, sometimes when you bring up a cue dimmers will not come on, sometimes when you are setting in a cue dimmers will get brighter, or dimmers that should not be on will come on.
Here is the system:
ETC 24/48, running through an opto to 3 sensor 24 (CEM+) racks (into 1 rack daisy chained to the next 2). Also coming out of the opto are 2 Icues. In one instance there are 4 dimmers patched to the same channel, of which only 2 are affected.
So far we have:
-swapped out all the dmx between the console and the dimmers, as well as between the dimmers themselves
-terminated the last dimmer with the onboard termination switch (it was not engaged when i inherited the problem)
-swapped out the console
-cleaned all the dirt and crap out of the dimmer cards and brains
Things we know:
The problems are not confined to 1 rack
problems are not confined to 1 phase
problems seem to get worse as the day goes on (I'm thinking temperature issues)
problems seem to start with the same 2 dimmers and then spread
when i took the cards out to clean them a few seemed warmer than i would have expected
In one instance there are 4 dimmers patched to the same channel, of which only 2 are affected.
Problems will go away for a day or two at a time and then come back
phases are reasonably balanced
I spoke with ETC the other day and they agreed that terminating it and cleaning the dust out should fix it. But I just got a text this afternoon saying the issues were back.
Thanks everybody!
Dan