Strange Goings On

[hmhyde]

We have been forced to use our ancient (relatively speaking) back up board, a Lee Colortran 24/48, as our regular board is out due to a broken power supply. Anywho, whilst in the middle of rehearsal, of which I was taking part, we noticed the lights flickering for a few moments. Shrugging it off as a power issue (not too uncommon), we continued. About five minutes later half of the lights slowly faded out and stayed that way, moderately disconcerting. I make no pretense in understanding this board, I was trained on an ETC Express 48/96, the one with the bad power supply. Any thoughts as to why this might be happening? Also, any suggestions as to remedy the bad power supply on the ETC?
Much obliged,
Mac

 

[avkid]

What dimmers do you have, and how is the control wiring?

 

[hmhyde]

An ETC SmartPack, 12 channels, at least 8 years old if not more, and a 12 channel leprecon, I think its the MX series, can't be sure though, its at least the same vintage as the ETC. Both use DMX.

 

[avkid]

You said only half the lights went down.
Were they only on one dimmer, or both?

 

[hmhyde]

I don't think so, it's a bit hard to tell though as the general lighting plot has undergone many permutations this year, meaning that distribution from one dimmer ends up in what is traditionally the others area.

 

[avkid]

That's the first thing you need to do, isolate the problem.

 

[hmhyde]

The lights that go out are on the ETC dimmer.

 

[avkid]

Is your DMX indicator light solid green?

It sounds you had control signal failure.

 

[LXPlot]

SmartPacks have a setting where upon loss of data they can hold the dimmers on for a period of time and then they fade out once that time has elapsed. My guess would be the problem lies with your cable. Check that all connections are good, and switch out the cable from the board (or wherever data is coming directly from) with a different one if you haven't already fixed it.

 

[hmhyde]

It appears that the signal is good, though it does flicker every now and then, could it be the board? We never had these issues with the express, only when we swapped in the back up board.

 

[avkid]

You say that you have two dimmers, how are they connected?

 

[mike1023]

As far as a power supply remedy, a local dealer should be able to help you out:
Lighting solutions for Theatre, Film & Television Studios and Architectural spaces : ETC

Check out this article first to determine which type of power supply you have:
Express Console - Electronic Theatre Controls
KnowledgeBase: Changes in Express Power Supplies - Electronic Theatre Controls

You could also order online:
ETC/Elec Theatre Controls PS319 POWER SUPPLY,EXPRESS W/8PIN | Full Compass