jayvee
Well-Known Member
Hi folks,
I am helping out a friend whose got some misbehaving lighting. The setup is an Element > 125' run of DMX cable > wall jack > conduit to a rack of six (6) daisy chained Smartpacks. Pack 4 of 6 is the only one recognizing DMX signal from the console or my Nomad. Packs 1,2,3,5,6 have blinky DMX lights. To the knowledge of the drama teacher, the packs have never been serviced since install and they are full of dust and crud so I'd agree. I'll be bringing a shop vac on my next visit.
So far I've:
I'm attaching some pics of the front of the packs and the back of the rack. One pic shows a wire that looks like it came loose and is dangling - that is the number 4 pack, the only one that IS working.
I'm not sure what to try next. I'm eager to reach in and reattach that one errant wire but won't be going near it until they can shut the power off to the rack. I'm reaching out now because I feel like I'm missing something and look to y'all, who are smarter than I, to help me out. I did consider DMX chip failure but it seems unlikely that 5 out of 6 would fail at the same time though who can say with covid disuse and lack of upkeep.
What am I missing/should I look for next?
Thanks for any help you can provide!
I am helping out a friend whose got some misbehaving lighting. The setup is an Element > 125' run of DMX cable > wall jack > conduit to a rack of six (6) daisy chained Smartpacks. Pack 4 of 6 is the only one recognizing DMX signal from the console or my Nomad. Packs 1,2,3,5,6 have blinky DMX lights. To the knowledge of the drama teacher, the packs have never been serviced since install and they are full of dust and crud so I'd agree. I'll be bringing a shop vac on my next visit.
So far I've:
- Deep cleared the console and restored a 1:1 patch to all 72 dimmers.
- Tested the 125' DMX run from the console to the wall jack - tested fine with two separate testers and does control the number 4 pack via console and Nomad.
- Tested wall jack to rack panel jack - tested fine with two testers, controls number 4 pack via Nomad.
- Test ran each pack to full and out via Diagnostics on the pack - all connected fixtures ran to full and out.
- Verified all settings in each pack for normal operation.
- Connected Nomad to each pack individually - no packs EXCEPT number 4 recognize DMX signal from Nomad. All DMX lights continue to blink except number 4, which remains solid.
I'm attaching some pics of the front of the packs and the back of the rack. One pic shows a wire that looks like it came loose and is dangling - that is the number 4 pack, the only one that IS working.
I'm not sure what to try next. I'm eager to reach in and reattach that one errant wire but won't be going near it until they can shut the power off to the rack. I'm reaching out now because I feel like I'm missing something and look to y'all, who are smarter than I, to help me out. I did consider DMX chip failure but it seems unlikely that 5 out of 6 would fail at the same time though who can say with covid disuse and lack of upkeep.
What am I missing/should I look for next?
Thanks for any help you can provide!