Edac 56 pin to DMX

[dannyn]

We have a Play Master by Elctro Controls (seems they are owned by Strand now?) and I need to convert that to DMX. That is the board. I am not sure what the dimmer is, I think that it is a GE, but I am not 100% positive. I am trying to get more details aka pictures on here. I can't even find the board on the internet, but the issue is this dimmer runs the grid and it would be a real pain to replace it so if i could convert it to DMX that would be amazing. So far I have not been able to find anything, but I have seen some of the most unusual things pass through these forums and someone knows the answer. If you could help me out I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you very much.
Dan

 

[dramatech]

Yes, Electro-Control was purchased by Strand a very long time ago. At that time, Strand turned Electrol into their architectural division, all of it exists no more.

Your dimmers are probably 0-10 vdc analog. If that is the case, there are many manufactures with DMX to analog convertors. They come in a variety of channels any where from 8 to 96 channels. Doug Fleenor and ETC responses are the best and most expensive, and Blue Point Engineering and Northlight are the least expensive, but require a little engineering to package and connect them. Lightronics is a middle of the road compromise.
All of them will work well, but the fact that you are not well versed in the statistics and physical characteristics of your dimmers, I am sure that it would require some one with a greater knowlege of your system to connect and install such a converter.

Publishing some pix of the dimmers on the forum will go a long way for members to give more advice.

 

[dannyn]

Yes, Electro-Control was purchased by Strand a very long time ago. At that time, Strand turned Electrol into their architectural division, all of it exists no more.

Your dimmers are probably 0-10 vdc analog. If that is the case, there are many manufactures with DMX to analog convertors. They come in a variety of channels any where from 8 to 96 channels. Doug Fleenor and ETC responses are the best and most expensive, and Blue Point Engineering and Northlight are the least expensive, but require a little engineering to package and connect them. Lightronics is a middle of the road compromise.
All of them will work well, but the fact that you are not well versed in the statistics and physical characteristics of your dimmers, I am sure that it would require some one with a greater knowlege of your system to connect and install such a converter.

Publishing some pix of the dimmers on the forum will go a long way for members to give more advice.

Thanks for the information.

I am going to have to figure this out on my own with the help of people like you. I do have a professional lighting designer that is helping me so I think that we will be able to figure it out. I think that this is going to work. Doug Fleenor Design - DMX to Analog Converter 24 Channel

Attached are some pictures...

Thanks

 

[mstaylor]

Thanks for the information.

I am going to have to figure this out on my own with the help of people like you. I do have a professional lighting designer that is helping me so I think that we will be able to figure it out. I think that this is going to work. Doug Fleenor Design - DMX to Analog Converter 24 Channel

Attached are some pictures...

Thanks

I have the exact same board and am getting ready to do the same conversion. Why are you changing, is the board toast or the dimmers?

 

[JD]

ELCO connectors! That's a blast from the past! Somewhere around here I still have their $300 crimp gun and a ton of the little gold pins. Probably some blank shells as well.

 

[coldnorth57]

yes that is a blast from the past I cut my teeth on a sytem just like that, but here is another DMX to analog for to you look at
http://www.johnsonsystems.com/price_lists/JSI_2009_Product_Catalog_LIST.pdf

 

[dannyn]

Yes, this system is pretty old, but the dimmer actually works pretty well and it is wired, so I would like to use it. The dimmer curve isn't too great but other than that it works pretty well.

So do you think that Doug Fleenor device that I posted would work, or are the ones that coldnorth posted better?

What about this? http://elationlighting.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ItemNumber=1099&MainId=1&Category=DMX Solutions

Thanks

 

[dannyn]

I have the exact same board and am getting ready to do the same conversion. Why are you changing, is the board toast or the dimmers?

Nothing is really toast, it all still works, sometimes the top faders on the board do not work correct, but that is rarely, it is all still functional, we just want DMX control.

 

[dramatech]

Both the Doug Fleenor or the Elation unit that you posted, will work, but the Northlight 24 channel unit will work just as well, and cost a lot less money.

It would appear that you have 12 dimmers by looking at the quickconnect panel.
you will need to figure out the wiring arrangement in the existing connector. There will be one common wire and 12 control wires. There may be some additional wires, carrying some additional signals or power. They probably won't be necessary if they are present.
If you can remove the back of the connector shell while it is still connected,and using a volt meter, you should be able to identify the functions of the wires. It is quite detailed an explanation, but if you email me direct, I will try and help you do the whole procedure.

Tom Johnson
[email protected]

 

[misterm]

man, we have both the old electro controls board and dimmers from 1986. neither of which works at all.

 

[coldnorth57]

You said something about dimmer trim the dimmers in the play master do need the be adjusted very once in a while(trim adjusted) if you still have your manual it will describe how.

 

[llecount]

Looks familiar. Our arena on campus has an EC system with a quick connect panel like that.. but with 70+ circuits and 25+ dimmers. Still has the original lighting console which is built in to the catwalks which still works too (despite being covered in dust).

 

[dannyn]

Both the Doug Fleenor or the Elation unit that you posted, will work, but the Northlight 24 channel unit will work just as well, and cost a lot less money.

It would appear that you have 12 dimmers by looking at the quickconnect panel.
you will need to figure out the wiring arrangement in the existing connector. There will be one common wire and 12 control wires. There may be some additional wires, carrying some additional signals or power. They probably won't be necessary if they are present.
If you can remove the back of the connector shell while it is still connected,and using a volt meter, you should be able to identify the functions of the wires. It is quite detailed an explanation, but if you email me direct, I will try and help you do the whole procedure.

Tom Johnson
[email protected]

Thank you Tom! That is exactly what I had planned to do. If I count right from the picture it is somewhere in the neighborhood of about 30 pins. I think that some of them are for the houselights, some are for the non-dims and so on. I had planned on doing the same thing that you had suggested with volt meter and then using a DMX board and monitoring the output on the analog to digital converter then hooking them up accordingly. I will email you directly, and probably post here as well if I have any more questions.

I think I am going to buy the Elation one because it is the best bang for my buck. I get more than enough analog channels with that and I see it to be the exact same as the Doug Fleenor one but with more features and 1/4 of the price tag. Vs. the Northlight it has a power supply and is in a nice box.

Yeah, ours still works really well and does include the electrics. We have an extended stage that we bring in and light with truss and always have had to use two boards, it will be nice to be able to use DMX now.

I really appreciate all of everyone's help.

 

[dannyn]

I am going to take some quick readings with the multimeter before I proceed, but at this point this is my plan for the things I would need. What do you guys think?

Tool: Paladin Tools Paladin EDAC 1600 Series Crimper with locator pin guide Crimp Tools & Crimp Dies at Markertek.com
Pins and Connector and Hood: Edac and Elco connectors and more
DB 25 and Hood: DB25 Connectors - Winford Engineering
Controller: Elation Multi-Data/Pak | Go Direct Music

Thanks again to all who have contributed to this thread.