Hi All,
I have a church with the above
system. I am getting reports of the lights turning themselves on at different times. The control station does not have scheduler or time clock so that rules that out. I've inspected the
dimmer rack and tightened all connectors...ditto for the control station. All control voltages appear as expected. I cleaned the
dimmer rack and the control boards. After reassembling everything and testing the
system it responded to commands. I left the lights off and waited. The lights remained off for the duration of my visit.
Has anyone seen this before?
Thanks for your help.
@cwbart53 Yes, often; with at least two other manufacturer's systems although I've never met your specific
system. Here's a common scenario: A
system gets installed then
no one performs routine maintenance;
NO ONE! Time passes, years go by.
Dimmer racks often spend their lives bolted to the walls in dark storage rooms and get cartons of books and paper towels stacked in front of them. Pitty the
dimmer rack, it only craves a little attention, even only once a year, but alas, it does its best to soldier on. Eventually, its filters have accumulated far, FAR, too much dust: It can no longer "breathe", loses consciousness and, if not resuscitated in time, succumbs to a painful death (Optimistically prior to going poof as it eventually 'expires' and its soul passes on to another, and hopefully kinder, world.)
Many systems,
not wishing to leave you in the dark, respond to clogged filters and / or seized fans by setting their dimmers to some setting less than full, possibly 70% for example. The
system designer's thinking is commonly: Let's limit heat produced to an amount which can be safely sustained with the presently available air flow
AND let's turn on ALL the lights to
a; keep the owners and occupants safe and
b; optimistically
call attention to our plight. (This
line of thought pacifies fire marshals and insurance companies.) Perhaps, just perhaps, someone may visit, turn on the lights in my black storage cupboard, move some of these stacks of boxes aside,
FIND ME and resuscitate me just once BEFORE I die.
@cwbart53 As I told you back at the top, I've NEVER met any installations of your specific systems but I can assure you this is an extremely common scenario with many
Strand,
ETC, and similar installations. Things have only been exacerbated by the ongoing desire to squeeze more
power control electronics with ever higher ratings into ever smaller enclosures occupying less and less space and producing less and less ventilation noise.
I suspect you've got the picture and all the best with your
system.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
