If your airflow is blocked, you can have so many issues. We actually had our CD-80 rack shut down because it was too hot, some dude from the cleaning crew put some tables
blocking the air intake, and the heat sensor tripped during a very high
profile show. So if for no other reason, move whatever it is
blocking the airflow because your show is then in danger, also you have a fire hazard, and its bad for the dimmers,
etc. Just bad all around. And if your lights are close enough for burning any
soft goods, why? That is way too close. Probably looks silly too, I imagine that if a source 4 is too close to a
teaser it might bleed
thru, especially if its old (the
teaser). Anyhow, thats an odd
system, and i like the DMX-HVAC
Dimmer Racks are considered "Panelboards" as far as the National
Electric Code (
NEC) is concerned, and the space 42" deep directly in front them must be kept
clear at ALL times. No chairs, No boxes, No tables, No
Props, No Scenery (see a
pattern here?). All too frequently I find Fire Extinguishers, Fire Alarm Pull Stations,
Circuit Breaker Panels (Panelboards), Fire Hose Cabinets, Fire Alarm Control Panels, and the
Fire Curtain Release Station(s) blocked by 'junk'. This is bad JuJu. Do Not Do This. Install Signage on the
face of the device (or adjacent to it) AND on the floor infront of it that clearly informs people that it is a violation of the Life
Safety Code (
NFPA 101) to place anything there. Black and Yellow Glow-in-the-dark marker tape can also be helpful to
mark the wall and floor around / in front of these items .
Alsoof interest is the configuration of the
dimmer rack CPU ("brain", "Control Module",
etc.) with regard to the houselights circuits. Any time that the
auditorium is occupied (by even one operson) the houselights must cast a minimum of 1/2
foot-candle on all of the aisles and
egress paths. Many CPU's can be programmed to place a lowere
level limit on individual
dimmer circuits. Regardless of how cool a total balck-out may be, or how badly the director or
lighting designer wants it, you cannot do this. Period. End of sentence. If you have access to the
houselight dimmers as part of your
console functions, or even if they are a separately controlled
system, you need to have this function properly implemented so that unless the
Dimmer Rack is completely turned-off, the houselights won't go to total black. If you cannot figure-out how set this up, contact an expert and pay them to do it.
This also relates to the 'feature' mentioned ealier where the
HVAC system came on everytime the
dimmer system was activated. Yes, the dimming
system was deliberately tied to the
HVAC system so that air circulation would be maintained during periods of occupancy. Building Codes require an exchange of air. As to the 'meat locker' conditions, it sounds like the building engineer needs to make some adjustments. They probably made some erroneous pre-construction estimates about the number of bodies that would occupy the room, and how much heat they would generate. This can be fixed, and should be, as we all want to be 'green'.
The wooden box placed upon the top of the
dimmer rack to divert the exhaust fan noise upward should also be reviwed by the
HVAC engineer. Wood is combustable and has no place around hot electrical equipment, particualrly on or around a
theatre stage. That is why air ducts are made from sheet metal and have non-combustable acoustical linings. It would cost very little to have a few feet of metal duct with an acoustical liner facricated and installed in a manner that would direct the noise and exhaust air upward. Sorry to hear you were the victim of yet another idiot that placed the
dimmer rack(s) on
stage. It's all too common that someone that just doesn't 'get'
theatre to design the systems for it.
As to the hot
stage lights potentially burning a hole in the
drapes - yes, this is a very real danger. Most
stage drapery companies fabricate and sell fire-proof heat shields to be installed on the back-side of the
border drapes and legs. This does not help the front side, but the lights are usually behind a
border, not directly in front of one. If your
masking plan and
stage electrics are not arranged this way, then is should be reviewed and reconfigured as this would likely be a poor design.
As the other responder said, too: Have the fire proofing on the
drapes checked. If you can find the tag on the drape, it should show the date of manufacture (as opposed to the date of sale or installation) and possibly the name of the fire retardant applied. If it does not, then ALL bets are off. When purchasing new
drapes: INSIST that each drape has a unique serial number, and that the tag shows the date of treatment, the chemical process applied, and the recommended service / reapplication interval. It is also common to have them leave a set of fabric test trips sewn to the back of the curtain - typically 5-10 strips that are 10-12" long x 1-2" wide, minimum. More are better so they can be tested annually for the life of the
soft goods.
SO cool.... But we would be lucky to get any commercial 
