Control/Dimming Oh, the Newb-ness, (4 x 600 watt DMX Dimmer) WHAT DO I TELL THE PROS?

[CatieO]

Hello everyone!
Please, forgive my newb-ness-- I have skulled about for many months now and many of the CB threads have saved my butt many-a-time, but now I have a specific question that I hope you can answer!

Okay, so my theatre company is moving into a venue with NO lighting, so the owner was so good as to order us a small lighting package for us to utilize. However, he has made me responsible for the installation. This makes me nervous, as while I can design pretty, pretty light shows, I don't understand the widardry that is wiring circuits to dimmers and such things.

Don't worry, in the interest of public saftey, the wonderful electricians we are working with are going to...do the thing where they make it so there are plugs and those plugs go to the dimmer racks which plug into the light board. I'm sure there is a word for that.

However, they have asked me to send them the "Tech specs" for wiring the dimmers so they know what to install and plan for, and I don't know where to find those.

We are using these dimmers :
SLD Lighting.com - DP420

and the only specs they provide are:

4 Channel, 600 Watt DMX Dimmer
Features Two Outlets Per Channel
Dimmer Packs contain multiple dimmer circuits, and are used to control the intensity of lighting fixtures.
The DP420 is an economical 4 x 600 watt DMX512 dimmer pack capable of remote control or stand alone operation via built in programs. It is compatible with the following dimming consoles:

• SS8 8-Channel Console
• SS24 12-Channel Console
• SS48 24-Channel Console

Features:

• 4 x 600 watt DMX Dimmer Pack
• Four 600 watt individual dimming circuits. 2400 watt capacity.
• 4 x 600 watt DMX Dimmer Pack
• Zero crossing circuitry for protection of individual loads
• Built in programs
• 2 Edison outlets per channel
• DMX 512 protocol
• Accepts 3-pin XLR cable
• Individual 10 amp fuse for each channel
• Maximum load: 10 amps per channel, 20 amps total on the pack
• 7 1/2"W x 3"H x 10"D, 5 lbs

So, my question is, if I deliver this to the electricians, will they be able to install the wiring and circuitry needed to make this work? Is there a magical place online where I can find more technically-elite specifications? Is the contractor going to punch me in the mouth?

Thank you all so much!!

 

[josh88]

Because those are portable dimmers they don't need to be "wired" you'll need to run dmx between them and back to your board. The electricians will just need to make sure there is actually enough power to supply the portable dimmers in this case, 20 amps per pack. Between those specs and the picture they'd hopefully be able to figure it out.

 

[CatieO]

Beautiful! (that saves me a few sleepless nights!)
Thank you for the advice.

 

[JD]

You will probably not have any problems if set up as described above. There are some pitfalls that I want to put in the back of your mind should they show up later. The pack looks a lot like the "Optima" pack sold by Bulbamerica but with a different brand on it. The cord is hard wired into the pack. These are some considerations:
1) Chances are the cord is 14/3 which technically should be limited to 15 amp circuits.
2) Chances are the plug is a 15 amp U-ground, which is also 15 amps.
3) A 20 amp circuit breaker can only handle a continuous load of 16 amps. (80% de-rate.)
4) Chances are the pack is not UL approved.
Does it matter? To some it does. Depends on the Fire Marshal or other ADJ. For the most part, as long as all the lights aren't turned on full and left on, it will technically work. It would not be allowed in many theaters.

 

[gafftapegreenia]

JD, the specs say that those packs have two plugs. In that case we are talking 1200 watts per plug which should be fine.

 

[JD]

JD, the specs say that those packs have two plugs. In that case we are talking 1200 watts per plug which should be fine.

Ah, but they are talking about outputs. Only one power cord.
(Cut off or edited out for pic)

 

[gafftapegreenia]

Ah yes had to read more carefully.

 

[LavaASU]

Beyond getting power to the location they will be used you certainly should not need electricians. These plug into normal wall outlets. We have like 8 of them (like 5 differnt brands) and they are pretty idiot proof. Plug into wall, plug light into pack, run DMX, turn on, set DMX address-- should work. Don't put more than 5A per channel, or more than 15A per pack. Really in some cases you can, but you have to know what you're doing then (Before we got a sizable number of them the 10A/ch packs often had well over 20A but more than 20A was never turned on at the same time)!

 

[derekleffew]

...
1) Chances are the cord is 14/3 which technically should be limited to 15 amp circuits.
2) Chances are the plug is a 15 amp U-ground, which is also 15 amps.
3) A 20 amp circuit breaker can only handle a continuous load of 16 amps. (80% de-rate.)
...

...Don't put more than 5A per channel, or more than 15A per pack. Really in some cases you can, but you have to know what you're doing then (Before we got a sizable number of them the 10A/ch packs often had well over 20A but more than 20A was never turned on at the same time)!

The safest is to use only three fixtures lamped at 500 or 575W, and not use the fourth dimmer on each pack. If your console is so equipped, you can use the console's softpatch patch dimmers into control channels so you don't have empty spaces. What console are you using?

If it's a small space and you're using Source Four, S4 jr., S4 PAR, S4 Fresnel, or PARnel, you could use four 375W lamps per pack.

 

[JD]

The safest is to use only three fixtures lamped at 500 or 575W, and not use the fourth dimmer on each pack. If your console is so equipped, you can use the console's softpatch patch dimmers into control channels so you don't have empty spaces.

Another way is to overlap the starting addresses (Pack 1 = A001, Pack 2 = A004, etc.) as the fourth channel will be unused anyhow.

 

[CatieO]

The safest is to use only three fixtures lamped at 500 or 575W, and not use the fourth dimmer on each pack. If your console is so equipped, you can use the console's softpatch patch dimmers into control channels so you don't have empty spaces. What console are you using?

If it's a small space and you're using Source Four, S4 jr., S4 PAR, S4 Fresnel, or PARnel, you could use four 375W lamps per pack.

The facility has purchased this lighting package as a "basic" starter kit.
SLD Lighting.com - 3212

This is the board that comes included in the package:
http://www.americandj.com/pdffiles/Scene Setter(rev).pdf

Also, thank you ALL for the help--- I had a lengthy meeting with the electricians yesterday and they were wonderful-- and referred to many of your answers for reference.