LED Par Fan Noise

[clevarts9]

I recently had 10 ETC ColorSource PARs installed in a small chamber hall. I thought the result was wonderful. But the users in the space are complaining about the fan noise. Are there any LED PARs (of this quality) on the market that don't have a fan?

 

[Colin]

https://chroma-q.com/products/color-one-100x

I believe there are some Chauvet options with convection cooling too. That's your search term - "convection cooling LED PAR".

 

[danTt]

The etc d40 range is fanless. More dollars, but more quality--if a bit aged at this point

 

[RonHebbard]

I recently had 10 ETC ColorSource PARs installed in a small chamber hall. I thought the result was wonderful. But the users in the space are complaining about the fan noise. Are there any LED PARs (of this quality) on the market that don't have a fan?

Calling @Ford
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard

 

[Colin]

Yeah the D40s are awesome color-wise if the output is enough for you, but ColorSource beats them big time in not-whitish color output and cost. Move up to the D60s and you've got fans again, and you're way out of the ColorSource price point. The Chroma-Qs are really great. The RGBA does a different, but not necessarily worse color gamut than the RGBL depending on your applications, in particular your needs for non-barfy whites...

 

[rsmentele]

The Six Par series from Elation is fanless.

https://www.elationlighting.com/sixpar-300

As is the Seven Par series

https://www.elationlighting.com/seven-par-7ip

 

[Lextech]

I have several Chauvet Solo 2 fixture and have been happy with them. No fan, IP65 rated and the zoom. I have 15 Colorsource spots in my concert hall and never hear the fans so I have to ask, where are these lights located and how are you using them?

 

[Ben Dickmann]

The Ovation P-56 Series (Warm White, Full Color, Variable White and UV) have a fan, but, also have a 100% convection mode. Output is gated, but, it does completely disable the fan. There is also a "happy medium" mode called "silent" that runs the fan slowly/inaudibly that will split the difference in output between the modes using Fan and the 100% convection cooled.

 

[cbrandt]

The colorsource pars are pretty darn quiet. If @clevarts9 is having trouble with the noise from them, a replacement fixture would have to be completely fanless I'd imagine.

 

[clevarts9]

Thanks for all the feedback! I have a lot to learn about LED fixtures. I will look into convection cooling and D40s, Elation and Chauvet options. The space is a small chamber hall. The lights are about 20' from the stage. I'm using them as front light for small instrumental and voice recitals.

 

[macsound]

Is it especially hot or enclosed in the area where the lights are located?

The fans ETC chooses are usually very quiet and except in an empty room, completely inaudible. I have some only about 10' above a small stage and I can only hear them when I'm alone in the space with no AC or other people talking.

 

[sloop]

I recently had 10 ETC ColorSource PARs installed in a small chamber hall. I thought the result was wonderful. But the users in the space are complaining about the fan noise. Are there any LED PARs (of this quality) on the market that don't have a fan?

Vari-Lite Punchlites don't have fans.

 

[clevarts9]

Is it especially hot or enclosed in the area where the lights are located?

The fans ETC chooses are usually very quiet and except in an empty room, completely inaudible. I have some only about 10' above a small stage and I can only hear them when I'm alone in the space with no AC or other people talking.

The space is temperature controlled to be 72 degrees and 40-50% humidity at all times. This is usually the case, except for the occasional minor blimp in the HVAC system.

 

[macsound]

Just seems interesting based on ETC's specs of how loud the fans are under full load that there would be any noticeable whine.
Do you hear the noise? Does it get louder when they're hot from being on?
Not sure if replacing all the lights because of this comment really solves the issue.

 

[Les]

I wonder how many people are aware of the new lights having fans. Confirmation Bias is a powerful thing.

 

[Michael K]

In addition to the above, if there is an issue, do give the wonderful folks at ETC tech support a call or email before you move to anything else, they most likely have dealt with similar situations and have a few tricks up their sleeves.

For technical support in the Americas,
please call 608-831-4116
or toll-free in the U.S. at 800-688-4116
[email protected]

 

[Malabaristo]

I wonder how many people are aware of the new lights having fans. Confirmation Bias is a powerful thing.

This. You should see about finding a reasonably accurate sound level meter and do comparisons with and without the LEDs powered up. Failing that, a blind test with picky people would also have merit. It's entirely possible there is noise that has always been there (HVAC, etc) that is just now being attributed to the new fixtures. I've sometimes noticed little ticking noises due to thermal expansion/contraction of the heatsinks, but fan noise has never been an issue for me with CS-PAR.