Moving Light Heating Issue

[Spader]

My local theatre has a pair of Robe ColourSpot 575AT's, and whenever we use them they only last about two to three hours before overheating and shutting off the lamps. What should we look for problem wise to solve this?

Could the fact that they've only been turned on six or seven times in the past eight months be a factor (Something that I really don't enjoy - I always get "I only want to use them for specials....")?

 

[Esoteric]

Where are you at Jackson?

Mike

 

[Esoteric]

I ask because the likely culprits are too much dust mucking up the system, bad heat sensor, bad fan, or bad thermo. Only one of these is recommended to be fixable by the end user (unless you have a background in electronics and moving lights).

Mike

 

[lightman02]

Does it give you any type of readout on the display when it shuts down?? There is also a way on the menu too check to see what the max temp the sensors were reading so u can be sure its over temp and not some other issue. Also do you have these mounted close to any heat sources such as conventional lights??? You could be getting the air around the lights too warm in that case and they can't cool properly. You can also try setting the light to max cooling mode instead of auto if that's an option as far as fan noise goes??

 

[photoatdv]

Since they are rarely used I'd go with the dust issue first. Besides its the easiest fix and I always hate it when I try all the hard fixes to find out the real problem was very simple.

 

[VegasLites]

I would agree with the dust issue. How are these fixtures stored? If they just hang in the theater for months at a time getting no use the build up can be great. Are you using any atmospherics? They can amplify the dust by letting it stick. I would suggest cleaning out any dust and cleaning the fans to make sure they are able to spin at the correct rate. When you store them wrap them in a plastic garbage bag. A cheap solution to keep them clean in between uses.
According to the website this fixture works best in an ambiant temperature of 86 F (30c) or less. Is your theater hotter than this?
You can also check the current main board temp and head temp of the fixture throught the menu on the fixture. It's under:
Info>tEMP>Cur.t>BoAr should be less than 66c
Info>tEMP>Cur.t>HEAd should be less than 83c

To check the higest temp recordered for Board and Head check under
Info>tEMP>Hi.tE>BoAr
Info>tEMP>Hi.tE>HEAd

As another poster said you can turn the fans speed up by going to:
PerS>Fan.S>HIGH

If you ar trying to trouble shoot it I would suggest going into this:
Info>tEMP>rSET>BoAr-hold <up> and <down> buttons and press enter. This will reset it to 0
Do the same:
Info>tEMP>rSET>HEAd - hold <up> and <down> buttons and press enter. This will reset it to 0
Run the fixture in place until it resets. Then go and check the max board temp and Head temps as shown above. This will gill you an idea if it is the temp that is causing it.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[JD]

One last thought: What is their duty cycle when in use? If they are shuttered for hours and facing lens down, that will build up heat faster then when the shutter is open and the lens if not facing down. The fact that it takes a few hours is interesting.