Control/Dimming Dimmer Wiring

[JD]

Have your onsite maintenance guy, qualified personal, or electrician open up a plate at one end or the other and count wires. For 6 circuits, you would expect 18 wires if the grounds were run independent. If there are a lot more, then you are in luck!

As for the rack, if you are moving dimmers up there, you want to swap in non-dims. (Basically a module that only has the breakers on it.)

You will have to run DMX up to the dimmers.

 

[marcusianl]

The only onsite maintenance we have are custodians, and I'm pretty sure I have more experiance with electronics than them (that is to say, they have none). I'll try to get in contact with an TD I know at another school to come take a look. He used to be an electrician and I'd like to be able to get it done for free if I can.

 

[MNicolai]

You'll need to exchange the modules, run the DMX lines, and add the shoebox dimmer packs up on your catwalk.

If there were 24 individually controlled circuits there before then you may still have 24 home runs of wiring to your dimmer racks, but you would still need spare dimmers to get all of your control. That, or you would need to add dimmers, which is easy if you have spare slots in your racks, but if your racks are full you would need to add a rack to accommodate.


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[SteveB]

And as for the CC20's, if I already have stagepin connectors on my instruments and the packs that SteveB recommended have stagepin outlets, wouldn't I just have to swap out the dimmer units on the rack (which I was shown how to do when ETC did their "training session") and attach the dimmer packs to the connectors up in the catwalk? Or do I still need to run DMX cable for control?

This is correct and - Yes, you need to run DMX for control, from either the console, or backstage if a DMX tap exists. If no tap exists, I would simply come out of the 2nd DMX port on the Express, then go into setup and configure the 2nd output to be Universe 1. Don't forget to order correct lengths of DMX cable as daisy pack to pack.

And as others have stated and IF there are spare slots in the rack (you'd see an Air Flow Module - essentially a blank module), I'd first look into what's going on with the 24 circuits at the catwalk, specifically are they home run back to the rack area ?. If so, then wiring these to spare slots and simply adding add'l dimmers is the best solution, and Hey, 'ya never know, 'ya could get lucky.

Steve B.

 

[marcusianl]

I don't think we have any Air Flow Modules, but I think we have some dimmer packs in the rack that aren't wired anywhere (I think) but I'll double check that tomorrow.

 

[marcusianl]

Update: I just got back from the space and while I was there I found a chart of dimmer location and number. I realized that according to this table we apparantely have 14 dimmers wired to the catwalk, but it didn't seem to mention that they were only on 6 controls. When I tried turning on the supposedly catwalked dimmers on the board, nothing happened. Could it be that, like someone proposed, some electrician got lazy and instead of plugging the circuits into 14 different dimmers, he only plugged them into 6? If so, would opening the panel and rewiring the circuits be a solution?

 

[JD]

Check you soft patch on the rack. Better yet, chart out what all your physical dimmers actually control! May turn out the whole thing can be fixed without spending a dime or taking a single screw out.

 

[marcusianl]

We've already charted out every dimmer and it's outlet locations, but when we were charting the catwalk we only alternated dimmers 1 through 6. Now I'm wondering if maybe some of the outlets are patched to two different channels, or just soft patched to only six channels at the rack. On the board all the soft patches are single dimmer. I'll check that when I go in tomorrow.

 

[fredthe]

As JD says, there may be a soft patch on the rack (as distinct from the board)...
Try running up dimmers 1-6, then turn off the breakers on those dimmers. See if anything on the catwalk still lights up. If something is still on, then check the soft patch, and go from there.

If turning off 1-6 kills everything, then your best bet is to get someone qualified in to look at the setup and wiring. The paperwork showing 14 wired dimmers is a good sign, though.

Edit: Looking at the Sensor+ manual, you need to be able to log into the rack to check the patching. If you have access, look at Setup Rack/Patch Mode. If it's Standard, then you have 1:1 patching. If it's Advanced, then you have to look at Set Patch to see how it's patched. If you don't have access, you're left with flipping breakers, or getting someone qualified to look at it (the TD from another school sounds like a good choice, especially during the summer when things can be slow...)

-Fred

 

[derekleffew]

Sorry for the delay in replying, but I've been researching, to no avail.

...The stated problem can be solved most efficiently by the addition of dimmer doubling twofers and moving to 77 volt HPL fixtures. ...

The OP stated he has 6 dimming circuits, 24 outlets, and 18 fixtures.

From DimmerDoubler_vF.pdf:

How many 77V lamps can I use with a Dimmer
Doubler?
You can place a total of two 550W, 77V lamps on a Dimmer Doubler,
one on each side.

What does he do with the other 6 fixtures?

 

[JChenault]

Sorry for the delay in replying, but I've been researching, to no avail.
The OP stated he has 6 dimming circuits, 24 outlets, and 18 fixtures.

From DimmerDoubler_vF.pdf:

What does he do with the other 6 fixtures?

Huh ??
6 full dimmers currently. Converts to - 12 half dimmers ( after doubling). Each half dimmer will run up to two fixtures. 2 times 12 is 24. He can add six fixtures. (as I understand it )

Am I missing something?

 

[derekleffew]

...Each half dimmer will run up to two fixtures. ...

This is contrary to all current ETC documentation.

...Am I missing something?

"You can place a total of two 550W, 77V lamps on a Dimmer Doubler,
one on each side." 12 half dimmers = 12 fixtures. L5-15 two-fers not permitted.

Again from DimmerDoubler_vF.pdf:

Connect an ETC Dimmer Doubler, and plug in TWO ETC Source
Four fixtures with 550W 77V HPL lamps. That’s it!

(Emphasis mine.)

When I use one 77V lamp, my dimmer current is 7.1
amps. Why can’t I use four bulbs?
The combined voltages of multiple lamps on a Dimmer Doubler are
calculated using non-linear RMS values, giving you a maximum
current of 20.2 amps. This is greater than the 20 amp rating of the
circuit breaker in a dimmer module.

 

[STEVETERRY]

So I must have an equal number of fixtures on each side? Must I also run them at the same level (which would seem to negate the DD)? What if a lamp burns out, I now have an unbalanced situation--must I stop the show while I relamp it?

1. No.
2. No.
3. No.

ST