Loss of Rig

As we were focusing lights, all lights flickered out, then came back on again. The whole rig was out. Down time was about 30 seconds. Then after that, lights flickered on and off twice over the course of the next thirty seconds or so. Not response to RFR or RVI. We didn't do any board stuff so I don't know if it's a DMX issue, or what... Everything seems normal at the rack, although Rack 1 indicates "Airflow Problem," though I suspect that message has been displaying for a while.
The same flicker happened about ten minutes later, this time just off for thirty seconds or so, unresponsive to RFR or RVI, back on in under a minute.
Everything is fine and working now, I have no idea why that happened. Any ideas??
 
Based on the symptoms and the error message displayed on your rack, it appears that your dimmers are due for a cleaning. There is likely particle/dust build-up on the filters, and the dimmers are cutting power to avoid overheating. Once cool enough, the dimmers will restore power.

What kind of dimmers are they? After following LOTO procedures, you will need to open up your dimmer racks and clean the filters, and probably would be a good idea to pull out the dimmer modules and give those a good clean as well.

I had the same problem a while back at my previous venue and cleaning all the filters on the dimmers solved the problem.
 
I have had similar anomalies happen when the racks are in an overtemp condition.

Maybe set the racks for "hold last look", which might help rule out any DMX issues. If they are already in this setting, then it is possibly a temperature issue.
 
As we were focusing lights, all lights flickered out, then came back on again. The whole rig was out. Down time was about 30 seconds. Then after that, lights flickered on and off twice over the course of the next thirty seconds or so. Not response to RFR or RVI. We didn't do any board stuff so I don't know if it's a DMX issue, or what... Everything seems normal at the rack, although Rack 1 indicates "Airflow Problem," though I suspect that message has been displaying for a while.
The same flicker happened about ten minutes later, this time just off for thirty seconds or so, unresponsive to RFR or RVI, back on in under a minute.
Everything is fine and working now, I have no idea why that happened. Any ideas??
I'm in full agreement with all advice offered in previous posts.
Please post: Make, series and size of racks?
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
 
I had the same problem with my ETC sensor classic. The fan was going bad, resulting in airflow warning. The fan ended up going bad, and the whole rack went down durring last dress....

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G730A using Tapatalk
 
I had the same problem with my ETC sensor classic. The fan was going bad, resulting in airflow warning. The fan ended up going bad, and the whole rack went down durring last dress....

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G730A using Tapatalk
Exactly! Warnings have a purpose. Ignoring them, trusting in magic and divine intervention, is NEVER an educated decision.
Thus far, the OP has left everyone hanging so far as what make and model of dimmers he's dealing with. Optimistically the OP's dimmer racks are manufactured by ETC, Strand or Colortran but, so far, the OP's not letting us in on his 'secret'. In general, this is all too common here where people post for aid then fail to provide even rudimentary information when requested.
Perhaps I've missed it. If anyone's noticed any manner of indication of the OP's dimmers' makes and models; please whack me for having missed it.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
 
The warning message is exactly ETC wording. I don't recall seeing it on other brands.
Think back Rick to Colortran's infamous ENR, double width / adjacently bussed, racks in 1991 with their multitude of air flow problems, their multiple warning messages and their built-in fail-safe reactions.
Regardless: I guess I'm just RANTING against posters seeking aid while simultaneously failing to provide basic, rudimentary, information upon request to enable other posters to better help them.
With all best wishes to the OP and I hope he posts back confirming the solution to / resolution of his problem.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
 
I guess I'm just RANTING against posters seeking aid while simultaneously failing to provide basic, rudimentary, information upon request to enable other posters to better help them.
I do have to agree with the lack of information being unhelpful. It does indeed sound like the rack needs a bit of a thorough cleaning. Make sure to read your rock's manual so you can properly clean any vents and/or filters. Just make sure to do the LOTO procedures. Definitely don't skip out on the power down, don't need to post a news article in the News subforum of someone being electrocuted while cleaning the rack. Be sure to let us know if cleaning the rack doesn't help your case.
 
Ok, I'll be the contrarian. The OP said "Rack 1" which hints that there may be more than one rack of dimmers and each with their own CEM and fans. It would be a little odd for the problem to be occurring in multiple racks at the same time.
I would also agree that we don't have enough information to produce reliable help.
 
Exactly! Warnings have a purpose. Ignoring them, trusting in magic and divine intervention, is NEVER an educated decision.

Full disclosure: this was on a summer show where I had not been in the space for two months. Apparently the lights were flickering and went out for twenty minutes durring the weeks leading up to the show, and no one called me...
 

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