Control/Dimming My Chauvet Slimpars aren't Responding to MyDMX 2.0, please help!

[DoctorCombs]

We are in the process of upgrading our theatre to all Chauvet Slimpar 64 RBGA & 56 LED lights. With the exception of about 10 halogen lights, we have installed all 32 other Slimpars. We are expanding our stage soon, so we have added a bar of 8 lights about 25 feet in front of our current stage. Those Slimpars work great with the MyDMX software and respond, as they should. We had to plug two DMX cords together to reach the bar of lights at the front of the stage, and that is where our problems begin. All of the lights are daisy chained together, all of the lights have the right addresses programmed, and all of the lights have a power source. However, when we hook the DMX cord into the first light on that bar the 8 functional lights stop responding and all but two lights act as if they are on stand-alone mode. We don't have the Slimpars hooked into any dimmer packs, and like I said they are all programmed correctly. Even when the lights were not hooked into the DMX system some acted as if they were still on stand-alone mode flashing randomly. We have the terminator in the last Slimpar and everything has been double- no triple- checked! I am just clueless! The Chauvet customer service was no help, talked to me for about 2 minutes and insisted it was the software. American DJ was very helpful, but couldn't solve it. Do you have any suggestions? Oh, by the way, I have a show at 7 pm tonight!

 

[len]

There's several threads around here suggesting troubleshooting steps for this type of problem.

My first impulse is that you have a bad cable somewhere, or that you have too many fixtures on one dmx branch.

But here's a few things to try:
1. Run directly out of the board to the fixtures that are giving you problems. If that works, that tells me you have a bad cable somewhere.
2. If you can't do that, disconnect the whole bar of problem lights, then plug them in one at a time and see what happens.

 

[DoctorCombs]

We tried connecting the DMX line from the computer straight into the Slimpars that are causing problems, but it did no good. We tried several of them and still nothing. I can't help but think that it is something with the programming on the lights. We have all of the addresses right on them, but they still act as if they are on stand-alone mode.. Some dont come on and others are flashing randomly..

 

[Amiers]

Is it only the new bar that is giving you problems? When you went direct to the computer did you use the 2 cables that you have running to the bar or did you change out the cables with new/known working cables.

 

[BillESC]

I'd suggest getting a DMX splitter and run the existing fixtures off of one output and the new fixtures of another. If the problem still exists you may have a bad cable, bad (new) fixture or some other gremlin.

 

[DoctorCombs]

All of the equipment is new with the exception of the halogen lights. We dont have the halogens in the system because we are waiting on our new DMX dimmer packs to come in- turns out the originals weren't compatable. I did, however; leave open spaces on the "universe" to add 4 dimmer packs and an additional light- could that be the problem?

 

[DoctorCombs]

So put the splitter at the computer input? Would that work on the same "universe"?

 

[Amiers]

Even though the cables are new I would take one fixture down test both cables individually just to be completely sure because it does sound for sure like a cable issue


I know you said you double and triple checked the fixtures did you run though all of them and make sure master/slave wasn't activated. Also did you check to make sure all the fixtures are in 3ch or 7 ch mode for DMX. The only reason I say this after reading the manual

(Never connect a DMX controller to a DMX string configured for
Master/Slave operation because it may interfere with the signals from the master unit.
•Do not connect more than 31 slave units to the master unit.)

Now if I read it right you have 40 fixtures total which could mess with the fixtures if one is set wrong.


Also, another thing to look at is do you have them all power linked together I know it says up to 40 fixtures can be linked but maybe you have bad power or something wrong with a power cable or a fixture might have a loose connection internally.

Im am just spitballing I hope some of this helps.

 

[DoctorCombs]

We made it through our show tonight with just 8 working lights and a spotlight! Luckily we just had a bluegrass band in tonight- we got lucky! I have decided that Monday we are deleting our current "universe" and we are redoing the entire system- one light at a time. We will find the fault, wherever it is. The way we have the system now is all of our dmx cabling is daisy chained together, all have been checked to be on the 8 or 7 channel DMX address that matches the computer, and some are linked together for power and some have independent power sources. We have tried all kinds of troubleshooting, this seems like the last option available. I will say this, American DJ will help you try to solve any problem with their equipment, but Chauvet will not!

 

[Amiers]

Chauvet is a hard company to get a hold of I will agree with you on that. I wouldn't trash the universe completely make a backup just incase you forget something you have a reference. Good luck.

 

[Kelite]

We made it through our show tonight with just 8 working lights and a spotlight! Luckily we just had a bluegrass band in tonight- we got lucky! I have decided that Monday we are deleting our current "universe" and we are redoing the entire system- one light at a time. We will find the fault, wherever it is. The way we have the system now is all of our dmx cabling is daisy chained together, all have been checked to be on the 8 or 7 channel DMX address that matches the computer, and some are linked together for power and some have independent power sources. We have tried all kinds of troubleshooting, this seems like the last option available. I will say this, American DJ will help you try to solve any problem with their equipment, but Chauvet will not!

As you troubleshoot this system, please keep us informed as to the cause of your grief. It's quite helpful to readers of this thread to understand your testing techniques and results, as more small theaters and live event companies are migrating toward entry level LED fixtures.

Good luck!

 

[JD]

we have installed all 32 other Slimpars.

The suggested limit on a DMX run happens to be 32 units. Although usually not a problem at the exact amount, I would suggest getting a 4 (or more) output opto-splitted and sending the board signal to that, then branch off into 4 chains, each covering up to 10 fixtures.

 

[DoctorCombs]

We decided to delete the universe and add each light at a time to the system. The first go-round, we created the universe and then programmed the right address..bad idea. This time we added a light to the universe then programmed it, double checking our inputs and outputs. This helped a lot, we found 3 non-functioning lights when we did it this way. In retrospect we should have done it this way from the start, but with our lack of knowledge and being short-handed got the best of us. I can now say, that I feel like a DMX pro! haha. Best of luck to those trying such a big upgrade too!