Check me here guys...(Jands Vista/Chauvet ColorStrip)
- Thread startertheatre4jc
- Start date
I too can confirm that Chauvet has fixed the colorstrip flicker problem. I received my replacement PC board tonight & did the install in about 20 minutes. Using a Zero 88 Fat Frog, the dimming was much smoother & essentially flicker free. Prior to this, I was unable to use the colorstrips with that board.
After comparing the old and new PC boards, the major difference is a new PROM chip. It is labeled as "version 3". I also noted that the DMX chips are the same as the original board (TI 75176), so I would have disagree with earlier claims that the DMX chip was faulty. It appears to me to be a change in the firmware in the PROM has corrected the issue.
For all those that want to know how to get the replacement board, contact Chauvet's customer service for further info.
After comparing the old and new PC boards, the major difference is a new PROM chip. It is labeled as "version 3". I also noted that the DMX chips are the same as the original board (TI 75176), so I would have disagree with earlier claims that the DMX chip was faulty. It appears to me to be a change in the firmware in the PROM has corrected the issue.
For all those that want to know how to get the replacement board, contact Chauvet's customer service for further info.
Some suggestions on installing the upgraded control board for the Colorstrip
Here is what I found works well.
if you turn the colorstrip over you will find 6 screws on the edge closest to the control panel, remove there, on the control panel side JUST remove the two screws at each top end, if you then turn the unit over you will see 4 screws along the top edge. When you have done this you can now lift out carefully the control back of the colorstrip. you will see the board you are going to remove held on to one side with a series of standoffs. First mark the connectors (especially the 4 on the left side that control each section of leds (they are all the same in look and can get confused) you probably will find that there is some green nail polish lacquer that holds the connectors in place , you can use your fingernail or ??? to gently break the seal so that you can unplug all the connectors, You will NOT be able to completely remove the control panel but there is working space. now if you go back to the side that has the standoffs you can remove the machine screws that hold the standoffs. once these are removed (3 I seem to recall) you gently pull out the control board. I then used a 5mm Socket and a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the stand offs from the board you are replacing. you will need to install them on the new board. I suggest that you get some medium lock tight type of goop so that the nuts will stay on the standoffs when you screw them back on and it will make it easier (the original boards will have some of the same green nail polish holding the nuts from coming loose. Make sure that the heat sink on the voltage regulator does not touch the capacitor (the very old units had a simple piece of heat sink, the newer ones have a angle piece of heat sink
when you have stand offs on the board, gently put it back into the colorstrip, and attach the three (?) screws to hold it in place. then carefully plug back in the wires, and I used a small amount of silicone to keep them from coming loose. You then put back the control side of the case in place making sure that the center section does not go in too far and not allow you to put the screws back in, and obviously be careful of the wires. Re screw in the machine screws and you should be good to go.
I Found the problem was that some of the screws on the casing were over torqued and so the threads were stripped and it was a pain to get them out, I found that putting a thin screw driver under the metal and applying some pressure can move the sheet metal to an area of the screw that has threads and they can then be removed. some of the very old units (have a 2 on the inspection circle) used the wrong screws (flat head vs pan head) the newer ones have pan head screws with lock washers.
All in all with a little patience it is pretty easy, after 16 of them (;-))) it only took about 15 minutes per unit
On some of them the goop that they used on the ac power connections had broken, so I silicone d this also.
I found that the new software and hardware fixed the dmx issues and also some of the issues where some units would not allow you to manually select either red or on some blue (A001 A003)
Hope this helps
Sharyn
Here is what I found works well.
if you turn the colorstrip over you will find 6 screws on the edge closest to the control panel, remove there, on the control panel side JUST remove the two screws at each top end, if you then turn the unit over you will see 4 screws along the top edge. When you have done this you can now lift out carefully the control back of the colorstrip. you will see the board you are going to remove held on to one side with a series of standoffs. First mark the connectors (especially the 4 on the left side that control each section of leds (they are all the same in look and can get confused) you probably will find that there is some green nail polish lacquer that holds the connectors in place , you can use your fingernail or ??? to gently break the seal so that you can unplug all the connectors, You will NOT be able to completely remove the control panel but there is working space. now if you go back to the side that has the standoffs you can remove the machine screws that hold the standoffs. once these are removed (3 I seem to recall) you gently pull out the control board. I then used a 5mm Socket and a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the stand offs from the board you are replacing. you will need to install them on the new board. I suggest that you get some medium lock tight type of goop so that the nuts will stay on the standoffs when you screw them back on and it will make it easier (the original boards will have some of the same green nail polish holding the nuts from coming loose. Make sure that the heat sink on the voltage regulator does not touch the capacitor (the very old units had a simple piece of heat sink, the newer ones have a angle piece of heat sink
when you have stand offs on the board, gently put it back into the colorstrip, and attach the three (?) screws to hold it in place. then carefully plug back in the wires, and I used a small amount of silicone to keep them from coming loose. You then put back the control side of the case in place making sure that the center section does not go in too far and not allow you to put the screws back in, and obviously be careful of the wires. Re screw in the machine screws and you should be good to go.
I Found the problem was that some of the screws on the casing were over torqued and so the threads were stripped and it was a pain to get them out, I found that putting a thin screw driver under the metal and applying some pressure can move the sheet metal to an area of the screw that has threads and they can then be removed. some of the very old units (have a 2 on the inspection circle) used the wrong screws (flat head vs pan head) the newer ones have pan head screws with lock washers.
All in all with a little patience it is pretty easy, after 16 of them (;-))) it only took about 15 minutes per unit
On some of them the goop that they used on the ac power connections had broken, so I silicone d this also.
I found that the new software and hardware fixed the dmx issues and also some of the issues where some units would not allow you to manually select either red or on some blue (A001 A003)
Hope this helps
Sharyn
We've completely, totally solved this problem, albeit by adding a bit of external hardware.
Take a look here:
DecaBox – ‘DMX Slowdowner’ » Engineering Solutions Inc
Best,
John
That's great, John, but why should a user buy a piece of external hardware when Chauvet is (apparently) willing to provide the parts to make its fixtures DMX512-compliant for free?
Because ES INC's one and only post was to sell their gear on the ControlBooth?
I would hope one would at least stop in and introduce himself first-
Just sayin'
Hi Derek,
Sorry for the late response. For some reason, I never received an email reply on this thread.
In any case, it's awesome that Chauvet is providing replacement parts for their lights. You're correct that external hardware shouldn't be required.
In this particular situation, the staging company was literally buying these fixtures a pallet at a time. The money spent (and time required) to pay their shop guys to retrofit huge stacks of fixtures, even with free replacement gear, is substantial. Certainly their resources were better spent putting an inexpensive piece of hardware in-line.
Your mileage of course may vary.
Cheers,
John
Farmermike
Member
I would argue that this problem has not gone away. I have 7 of them linked together and I am having the same issue. Using a smartfade and going through a splitter. Im baffled.
Hi Mike,
This was mentioned earlier, but for some reason the link doesn't appear above.
DecaBox – ‘DMX Slowdowner’ » Engineering Solutions Inc
We've shipped these all over the country, much to the delight of many different customers. There's a 30 day no-questions-asked return policy if you're not thrilled. I know it's a hassle to add extra gear, but this little box will solve the problem in about 30 seconds. Just insert it at the top of the DMX run which feeds the flickering fixtures.
John
Engineering Solutions Inc
This was mentioned earlier, but for some reason the link doesn't appear above.
DecaBox – ‘DMX Slowdowner’ » Engineering Solutions Inc
We've shipped these all over the country, much to the delight of many different customers. There's a 30 day no-questions-asked return policy if you're not thrilled. I know it's a hassle to add extra gear, but this little box will solve the problem in about 30 seconds. Just insert it at the top of the DMX run which feeds the flickering fixtures.
John
Engineering Solutions Inc
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Click "Reply With Quote" to read post #52 above. Staff is diligently working on solving this invisible post issue.
Have you tried changing the DMX output speed of the SmartFade? We purposefully changed the timing of the various output speeds to deal with issues such as with ColorStrips. Menu>Setup>DMX Out>[Max]..[Slow]..[Medium]..[Fast], select Slow. If this doesn't work, and you are running the latest software, then I would be very curious whether something else is injecting a problem here such as the splitter or cable.
David
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[early morning rant]
Why in the world is it even acceptable for DMX devices to be called DMX devices and yet not comply to DMX requirements. According to the DMX spec, it is the responsibility of the receiving device to accept the entire range of flexible timings that a transmitter can supply. This problem started with Intellabeam 700HX fixtures [which HES did fix] and has continued. People want high resolution control over devices but yet update times have to slow down so that the devices can keep up.
I think it is rather hilarious that a whole new set of devices exist on the market today so that we can control insufficienct fixture and device designs. Not sure why we accept such things. I also think it is odd that people think it is ok to place yet one more interface device [ie failure point] on their control line. We deserve better designs from companies selling thousands of cheap LED designs to us.
[/early morning rant]
Thanks for listening,
David
Why in the world is it even acceptable for DMX devices to be called DMX devices and yet not comply to DMX requirements. According to the DMX spec, it is the responsibility of the receiving device to accept the entire range of flexible timings that a transmitter can supply. This problem started with Intellabeam 700HX fixtures [which HES did fix] and has continued. People want high resolution control over devices but yet update times have to slow down so that the devices can keep up.
I think it is rather hilarious that a whole new set of devices exist on the market today so that we can control insufficienct fixture and device designs. Not sure why we accept such things. I also think it is odd that people think it is ok to place yet one more interface device [ie failure point] on their control line. We deserve better designs from companies selling thousands of cheap LED designs to us.
[/early morning rant]
Thanks for listening,
David
Hi John,
Since we occasionally have to recommend people find a suitable DMX timing altering device for their low cost fixtures, I wouldn't mind taking a look at one for a week to see how it performs. Let me know if you have an interest in sending one my way and I will warm up the 'scopes.
David
I see this thread started several years ago but apparently the problem is still around... I recently bought a Matrix DMX Pro "shoebox" dimmer for running practicals, and it had the same flickering problem when driven from a Pathport node at full speed.
The problem went away when I slowed down the Pathport's transmit speed to the minimum, and it worked fine from a Horizon DMX node (whose speed is not adjustable).
There are other choices out there, so rather than have a marginal device I sent the Matrix back and tried a similar dimmer from American DJ which worked fine at full speed.
Tim
The problem went away when I slowed down the Pathport's transmit speed to the minimum, and it worked fine from a Horizon DMX node (whose speed is not adjustable).
There are other choices out there, so rather than have a marginal device I sent the Matrix back and tried a similar dimmer from American DJ which worked fine at full speed.
Tim
I realize this thread is old, but I just wanted to chime in on it to say "thanks"... because it pointed me in the right direction to my problem and a resolution.
For months we had been having an issue with our Chauvet LEDrain 64C pars and Chauvet ColorBand Tri strips experiencing random flashing, running off a grandMA2 onPC with 2Port Node Pro. I was tearing my hair out trying different PCs, switching out cables, isolating instruments, etc. I even sent the Node in to have it looked at. (While it was gone I ran with Martin's M-PC and a cheap Enttec dongle... and experienced no flashing at all.)
Then just to make it more fun, during this time MA came out with a firmware update for the Node which I applied as usual (but also with some slim thought of hope that it might fix my issue)... well... now the random flashing was occurring with whole entire rig all at once. Aaaagh!... Thankfully MA just recently came out with their latest firmware update which definitely fixed that whole rig flashing issue. Thanks, MA! I hoped it might also resolve my original problem, but I continued to experience the random flashing of individual instruments. Oh, well. Back where I started.
In my research to find any possible ideas from similar issues, I came across this thread. I read the great, detailed information from Milton Davis of Doug Fleenor Design that SHARYNF quoted in this thread, as well as the great information on the issue that ETC figured out which starksk and DavidNorth shared. Having eliminated practically everything else, and the fact that my instruments were also from the Chauvet DJ line, I thought there was a high possibility that I was dealing with a very similar issue. And the fact that the issue didn't occur with the M-PC, which most probably uses different timings than the grandMA2 Node, also furthered my suspicion of a timing issue.
This eventually lead me to find some discussions where Doug Fleenor Design's DMX Decelerator, along with a few other devices, was mentioned as a possible solution for suspected timing issues like this. So my dealer got me a DMX Decelerator to try out.
Sure enough, it solved the issue!
Over a total 8 hours of testing and running our services (HOW)... not one single flash!! (Totally unheard before.)
Interestingly it works with either the Fast or Slow setting, which I would guess means that it must be one of the individual specific timings within the DMX packet from the grandMA2 Node that the instruments can't handle rather than it's overall refresh rate. (Just as in the case discussed in this thread, where specifically the inter-byte time was the culprit.) And so the Decelerator must be using a timing for that particular item in both its Fast and Slow settings that the instruments can handle.
So thanks to everyone on this thread... especially @MiltonDavis via SHARYNF, @SHARYNF, @starksk, and @DavidNorth!
And thanks to Doug Fleenor Design, for creating the DMX Decelerator! (Although, I think you'll agree, you really shouldn't have had to.)
For months we had been having an issue with our Chauvet LEDrain 64C pars and Chauvet ColorBand Tri strips experiencing random flashing, running off a grandMA2 onPC with 2Port Node Pro. I was tearing my hair out trying different PCs, switching out cables, isolating instruments, etc. I even sent the Node in to have it looked at. (While it was gone I ran with Martin's M-PC and a cheap Enttec dongle... and experienced no flashing at all.)
Then just to make it more fun, during this time MA came out with a firmware update for the Node which I applied as usual (but also with some slim thought of hope that it might fix my issue)... well... now the random flashing was occurring with whole entire rig all at once. Aaaagh!... Thankfully MA just recently came out with their latest firmware update which definitely fixed that whole rig flashing issue. Thanks, MA! I hoped it might also resolve my original problem, but I continued to experience the random flashing of individual instruments. Oh, well. Back where I started.
In my research to find any possible ideas from similar issues, I came across this thread. I read the great, detailed information from Milton Davis of Doug Fleenor Design that SHARYNF quoted in this thread, as well as the great information on the issue that ETC figured out which starksk and DavidNorth shared. Having eliminated practically everything else, and the fact that my instruments were also from the Chauvet DJ line, I thought there was a high possibility that I was dealing with a very similar issue. And the fact that the issue didn't occur with the M-PC, which most probably uses different timings than the grandMA2 Node, also furthered my suspicion of a timing issue.
This eventually lead me to find some discussions where Doug Fleenor Design's DMX Decelerator, along with a few other devices, was mentioned as a possible solution for suspected timing issues like this. So my dealer got me a DMX Decelerator to try out.
Sure enough, it solved the issue!
Over a total 8 hours of testing and running our services (HOW)... not one single flash!! (Totally unheard before.)
Interestingly it works with either the Fast or Slow setting, which I would guess means that it must be one of the individual specific timings within the DMX packet from the grandMA2 Node that the instruments can't handle rather than it's overall refresh rate. (Just as in the case discussed in this thread, where specifically the inter-byte time was the culprit.) And so the Decelerator must be using a timing for that particular item in both its Fast and Slow settings that the instruments can handle.
So thanks to everyone on this thread... especially @MiltonDavis via SHARYNF, @SHARYNF, @starksk, and @DavidNorth!
And thanks to Doug Fleenor Design, for creating the DMX Decelerator! (Although, I think you'll agree, you really shouldn't have had to.)
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