LEDs Misbehaving

Robert F Jarvis

Well-Known Member
We're mostly a legacy lighting stage but are running a couple of LED Cannon washes. On a couple of occasions after turning off the console (ETC Element 2) . I've noticed a short time later one of them has come on Red! All channels had been zeroed before turning off. Turning the board of and off again, or pulling the LEDs power cord for a few seconds turns the rogue light off. Any ideas about this are welcomed.
 
Do you have dimmers?
Not necessarily the most ideal power source for LEDs, but it's something I've done before.

You could power the LEDs through dimmers, that way when you want to "shut down" you can literally just turn those dimmers off. I would also suggest adjusting the voltage and curve outputs on those dimmers.

If not, it honestly isn't a bad idea to unplug your fixtures when you're not going to be using them. Just add that to your shut down checklist I guess?
 
DMX ghost. Nothing you can do besides what you are doing.
 
@Robert F Jarvis Posting in agreement / support of @derekleffew DMX "death gasp"; basically one last breath of DMX your console 'exhales' while powering down, in spite of it having already issued its all channels to zero command. While its internal supplies are powering down, it may 'burp' and inadvertently spit out one last instruction. Powering your LED / moving / any-all non purely resistive sources via mechanical "air-gap" relays interrupting real world AC which has NOT passed through any / all / most solid state dimmers / non-dims ( dual SCR / TRIAC / IGBT) devices is normally considered optimal.
As a possible alternative: You could try having your console command all channels to zero, unplug the relevant output XLR from the rear of your console; power your console down, wait ~10 to 15 seconds for your console to breath its last gasp, then re-mate your XLR and call it a night. @derekleffew and @Amiers Any further thoughts??
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
Unless the manufacturer has certified that the LEDs are dimmer safe, I really wouldn't power them through dimmers. The SMPSU in the lanterns really won't like it. Just read recently about a theater in Aus where a group hired it and plugged the LED movers into dimmed rather than power and damaged a whole load of them, necessitating them going back to the manufacturer for repair.
 

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