Control/Dimming LED Pars and traditional PARs

[Mutch]

Hi,

I want to set up FreeStyler software on my laptop to control 8 Microh PAR LEDs and 8 traditional PAR 64s and 4 Source Four Elliposidials. I have the following in addition to what I just mentioned.

1. Enttech Open DMX USB
2. 2 Elation DP415 dimmers/switches

Can you control traditional PARS/Elliposidials through DMX? All of these lights would be daisy chained... or not.

Thanks,
Dean

 

[ScottT]

You wouldn't be controlling the actual lights, you would be controlling the dimmer that those lights are connected to.

 

[Corbettlight]

Connect the DMX from your computer to the first dimmer's DMX IN port. Then daisy chain the dimmers with the LED PARs. Power the LED PARs WITH NON DIMMED power, and you're good to go.

EDIT: I should add - plug the PARs and S4s in to the outlet on the dimmer packs that corresponds to the channel you want to control the light with. Make sure you address the second dimmer pack correctly, also. If it were me, I would address the first dimmer pack to channels 1-4 (assuming these are four channel packs) and the second one to 5-8. This should be done with dip switches or something similar on the pack itself. Then address the LED PARs to the subsequent channels. I'm not sure how many channels each one takes up, but be sure not to overlap the control channels on the LED PARs.

 

[SHARYNF]

some things to watch out for
The elation dp415 is only rated for 15 amps TOTAL and 5 AMPS per channel and you only have 8 Channels. SO if your Source 4 ard 575 watts then you can only put 3 of them on a DP415, so you would then have a couple of issues

TO not trip the breaker and have problems one of the packs really should just have the 3 channels being used, and the other one has 5 amps used with the remaining source 4 so that you then have 10 amps spread over the remaining 3 channels to support your par64's. SO I think you are going to be very limited on the dimmer side of things. Those packs are pretty cheap (160 dollars or so) so you might want to get another two or more depending on the lamps you use in the par64's (typically 500 watts) so you really can only put two pars on the pack with the one source4 and then on the other two packs you could put 3 pars each to cover all your pars.

Sharyn

 

[Mutch]

Thanks for the quick reply and please bear with me. So...
1. Computer through usb dongle into dimmer pack 1, then out daisy chained to the 8 LEDs.
2. At the end of the 8th LED do I go out of it and into dimmer pack 2, where I would have the PARs and S4s plugged in?

Thanks for your patience, new to to this.

Dean

 

[SHARYNF]

You could do it that way, or run cable to dimmer pack 1 then to dimmer pack 2 and then to the LED pars. It would depend on what layout would work best. If for instance you had the conventionals and then the leds and then more conventionals your layout would also be useful

the Conventional Pars and Source 4's all need to be plugged into the dimmer packs but as you post above highlighted, you do not have enought dimmer capacity to suppport all the conventionals that you have. You have a restriction on the number of channels but more importantly you have a restriction on the amount of power the dimmer can supply in total and per channel (15 amps total and 5 amps per channel) So you have 1800 watts total per pack, and 600 watts per channel and you cannot exceed either of these.

So to run all of your lights you are going to either have to for go dimming some or need to get more dimmer packs. As I said these dimmer packs are really pretty inexpensive.


Sharyn

 

[Mutch]

Hi Sharyn,

You mention the amperage on the 415s, but according to the user manual they say each channel can support up to 5 amps or 600 W per channel. Thoughts? I really don't understand this part. I checked my PARs are 500W, the source fours are 575W.
Thanks, Dean

 

[derekleffew]

... but according to the user manual they say each channel can support up to 5 amps or 600 W per channel. ...

The TOTAL of all four dimmers on the pack is limited to 15A (1800W), due to the pack's power input--the 15A Edison connector. Thus SHARYNF's caution to only use three lights per pack. You could put one light on each dimmer, but would have to be careful to only use three of them at a time. Since in the course of running a show, the operator is likely to forget or ignore that fact, it's not a good idea. Overloading connectors and cables can lead to heating, melting, shorting; and ultimately, fire trucks, darkness, and lawsuits.

 

[SHARYNF]

Exactly there is always some confusion re this, there is a per channel limit (in this case 600 watts) and then there is an overall pack limit of 1800 watts which is the cable connection limit.

Sharyn

 

[GageStryker]

...and ultimately, fire trucks, darkness, and lawsuits.

I am using that quote for my students.

Derek's got it right here - the only thing I'll add is that you need to make sure your input power is alright. Those packs take 15A per circuit. When you're locating them, you'll want to make sure each pack is on a SEPERATE circuit (not just seperate outlet). Normally non-theatrical electricians wire rooms multiple outlets on the same circuit. Generally the outlets on the same wall or close together will share a circuit. Take a trip to the breaker panel in any new venue and see if you can find labels for where each circuit is, so you can make sure you're not using the same 15A circuit for 30A (or more) of draw.

If you can't find anything in the breaker room, think "if I was lazy/efficent and wanted to run the least amount of wire possible, which outlets would I string together?" Sometimes this helps (other times, you have to scratch your head and ask the venue owner, who may not know either).

It's generally good practice to run your control (laptop) on a separate circuit from your fixtures and dimmers, so that if you DO blow a breaker, you just lose a few fixtures, not your whole show. However, since you have a battery in your laptop, you're semi-protected against that.

Finally, make sure that nothing else is going on with the circuits you're using to power your dimmers. Anything ANYONE plugs in on a circuit you have a dimmer on is liable to blow a breaker. Catering people are the worst. Their stuff is typically very high draw (a standard, consumer kettle draws around 1500 watts, tripping almost any circuit that has anything else on it). Watch out for anything that plugs in and heats up. My general practice is to gaff tape over outlets I know are on the same circuits as my dimmers, if they're easily accessible.

And watch like a hawk... a surprising amount of non-tech event people (again, caterers...) will rip off a piece of tape, or unplug a cable just so they can get their coffee put working.
[edit] inpuput power... means not enough coffee.