For Road/Touring/Temporary/Portable dimmer racks and PDs. For permanently installed equipment, see http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/...rmanent-installation-shutdown-procedures.html .
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IMHO, equipment should never be left on overnight. Especially moving lights. In reality, you will have less issues by shutting them down. This gives them a chance to cool and re-calibrate every morning. If you are not shutting them down at night then I pray that you are at least lamping them off (for the sake of your lamp budget AND your local fire department). Keeping moving lights running and exposed to their own heat (lamp or electronics) puts them through a lot of strain and will only cause more problems for you (and even more than that if you actually own the gear).
Even if your power is coming from another company, you can still power down YOUR dimmers and PDs. More than anything your dimmers should have a chance to cool. Sensor touring racks have a thermostatic switch that shuts down the fans when the rack is within a safe temperature and kicks them on as soon as a dimmer is activated. Smaller portable dimmers (shoebox dimmers) obviously have no fan and are convection cooled. However if there are no dimmers on, then your only worry would be someone turning them on without your authorization.
Long story short:
Manage your heat, give your movers a rest and prevent anyone from messing with your stuff.
IMHO, equipment should never be left on overnight. Especially moving lights. In reality, you will have less issues by shutting them down. This gives them a chance to cool and re-calibrate every morning.
Personally, the work I do is with all rental equipment, and pretty much never running longer than a week. So, I don't worry myself too much with moving light fatigue over their lifetime.
Plus, all of the locations I work in are temperature controlled, so I don't have to worry about the MLs electronics to cause heat issues while sitting motionless with their lamps off.
What are you saying... that you don't necessarily care what happens to the fixtures because they are not yours, so you aren't going to shut them off?
If I'm having issues whenever I power-cycle the units, then yes, I will leave them running overnight for the 1-6 nights I need them. My priority is to the show running properly, not maintaining units I do not own. It may sound a little jerk-ish, but I have to set my priorities somewhere.
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