Ultratec Radiance Hazer Issue

[GoboMan]

I'm currently working on a show in which the client has rented an Ultratec Radiance Hazer to be used throughout the show. We would like to be able to adjust the output levels via the lighting console during the show.

The problem I am having is that the hazer is not responding to any DMX input whatsoever. I double checked the address setting on the hazer, the patch on the board, all DMX cables, and made sure my DMX chain was terminated. No matter what, whenever we turn on the hazer and it completes the warm-up cycle, it will begin pumping out haze continuously, even when the console channel is set to zero. We are using address 200 for the hazer, so I know it is not in "stand alone" mode. Also, the red LED indicating "Valid DMX Input" is lit up and steady.

I'm out of ideas for troubleshooting. If anyone else has had this problem and/or knows of any solutions, I would love to hear them. Thank you!

 

[Mac Hosehead]

Does it still haze if the address is set to 200 and no DMX connector attached? If so I would say the hazer is defective. If not then with it connected to the console and with the DMX address set to something else, say 500, change how it behaves? How about with address 1?

The difference between the minimum settings for haze and fan is quite noticeable in comparison to the maximum settings. In stand-alone mode do you see the output range between the settings? How does this compare to what you are seeing in DMX mode? Do you see any output changes if you bring all DMX values on the console to full?

I set this up and noticed that when the haze DMX input is set to 0 then the fan control channel is disabled and the fan runs at its minimum speed.

 

[GoboMan]

Yes, the hazer would still run with address 200 and if no DMX cables were connected. However, after doing some more digging and trial and error we have found the solution.

Apparently, if you want to change the hazer's DMX address, you have to set it to 000 before turning it on, and then setting your desired address after it has powered up. If you don't start at 000, it automatically defaults to whatever address was last used, despite what address you have it set to. It sounds crazy, but it worked. We started it up with address 000 and then set it to 200, and lo and behold, it operates perfectly now.

 

[cbrandt]

I've also found that the radiance really likes a power cycle after you've changed the address between stand alone and dmx, and vice versa.

 

[StradivariusBone]

Ditto on the finnicky DMX for this hazer. Power cycling has always fixed it for us as well.

Love the output of haze, but it doesn't always play nice with DMX input. We use a shortcut to run a macro so it cycles on and off to control output and it sometimes hangs up when it gets turned off.

 

[sk8rsdad]

My Radiance pumps out too much haze for the venue, even at the lowest setting. I use a step-based effect to set a duty cycle.

 

[porkchop]

I've seen the address wheels fail before. In this situation we could set the address to whatever we wanted, but the hazer continued with it's given setting at the time of failure. If you have multiple hazers I would swap the card between them to ensure that it is a board problem. If not you could try a new control board or you could just plug the hazer and the fan into a shoebox or other portable dimmer with a relay function. It's very crude, but it works.

 

[cbrandt]

I've got a couple bad address wheels right now. I've been trying to source the component, but having a devil of a time. Seems a shame to swap that whole board for one piece.

 

[sk8rsdad]

Take a picture and a few dimensions and search mouser.com or digi-key.com for pushwheel switches. It may be an C&K.
http://www.alliedelec.com/m/d/8dc1f6e9a1232ce8d210bd5bedb4e5b2.pdf

 

[StradivariusBone]

Something to add that I just discovered- recently our hazer stopped responding to DMX input altogether. I finally had a chance to take it apart and look at the control board. On a whim I pulled the DMX transceiver chip and swapped in a spare I had (different model, same pinout) and lo and behold it worked! It's also worth noting that the way this board is put together there is no isolation between the chip and the other side of the world so there's not much to prevent a zap to the transceiver. It's a socketed chip on this board, so thanks Radiance for spending the extra and not going surface mount!