Scroller power supply wont work with strand CD80?

[nic1993]

Hi guys, I'm the head tech guy at my highschool (I apologize I'm not professional, please bear with me if I don't know terminology, but im pretty solid on the basics)

So here is my issue,
I have a variety show coming up, that i am designing the lights for. My school had 3 Strand CD-80 dimmer packs, and a strand MX (the model that supports 4 dimmers)
Whenever i try and connect the scroller power supply to the dimmer pack (dmx out on the dimmer pack to dmx in on the psu, ive tried switching that too) it reads NO DMX, I have it set to start on channel 37 since the other dimmer ends on 36.
When I plug it directly in to our light board, it reads DMX OK and I'm able to control it with the sliders on the board.
I've tried resetting, repatching, and reconfiguring everything, but nothing seems to be working!
My suspicion is that its something with the white switches (on the red background) on the dimmer pack, but our packs are from around 1985! So the manual is long gone.

Any feedback/input would be greatly appreciated!
-nic

 

[kicknargel]

Not sure what's going wrong, but a workaround would be to get a DMX splitter (you can't just make a "two-fer," you need a real splitter), run DMX into the splitter from your console, the send separate lines to the dimmers and to the scroller brain.

 

[soundman]

Is there a termination switch on the CD 80 rack? The rack might not be allowing any DMX to pass through because when it was installed they switched the terminator on to end the signal. It should be as simple as flipping the switch to allow the DMX to pass though.

 

[seanandkate]

I've used a scroller power supply with an MX. I don't have a CD80 -- it's a Strand supervisor rack, but I'm assuming it might work the same way. Can you go from board to power supply, and THEN to the dimmer? That's how I cabled mine and it worked fine.

 

[millamber]

So, is it only 1 of the 3 dimmer packs that has a problem? You might try swapping the control cards between a working pack and the non working one. The control module should slide out the front if you have the pack I think you do.

BTW, CD80 Pack Manual should you need another copy.

The mode switches you mention setup the pack to handle different things. They are:

Position/Condition Effect

Position 1 OFF reserved
Position 1 ON reserved

Position 2 OFF three phase operation
Position 2 ON single phase operation

Position 3 OFF dimmer level is the higher of analog and protocol (pile-on)
Position 3 ON dimmer level is analog + protocol

Position 4 OFF 0-15VDC analog input level
Position 4 ON 0-10VDC analog input level

Position 5 OFF 30 minute output "Status Quo" when signal is lost
Position 5 ON immediate blackout if signal is lost

Position 6 OFF uses every other control signal starting with the thumbwheel number
Position 6 ON uses the first 12 control signals starting with the thumbwheel number

The factory defaults are in bold.

 

[Les]

My suspicion is that its something with the white switches (on the red background)
-nic

Just to help you out in the future, those are called DIP Switches. Most modern gear is now set digitally, but knowing what these are called and how they are used will definitely help you out in the long run!

Edit: Above, these were referred to as Mode Switches. In my above post was referring to DMX address DIP Switches. Thoooose are the fun ones.

'DIP' (Dual Inline Package) is the name for the type of switch, not necessarily the task it performs.

 

[nic1993]

thanks for the input guys! and thanks for the heads up Les, that will definately help me in the future, I've had to work with the DMX address switches before... they aren't the greatest.

I'll try what you guys said tomorrow and get back to you.

 

[venuetech]

make sure your dimmer packs are actually using DMX512 not AMX192
a 1985 CD80 dimmer pack would likely be an AMX192 device.
I believe the Strand MX has both an AMX and DMX output
You may need to run a dmx line from the board.
The Strand Archive - MX

 

[Kelite]

Without being a killjoy, remember to plug the power supply into wall power rather than a dimmer circuit. Power supplies do not like dimmed (even when 'locked' at full) power and will fail over time.

You haven't mentioned the brand/s of psu and scrollers you are working with- (?)

 

[Dsotm75]

I've had problems with our CD-80 not wanting to play nicely similar to this. I've chalked this up to having an AMX to DMX converter dedicated to this dimmer rack...anyhow, what I have found was to keep the CD-80 rack on it's own universe, and have other DMX toys in their own universe. I'm not sure if this is a viable solution for you or not though, but I like trying to be helpful