VL-880 Issue

mfoudy

Member
Hello,



I have a question about an issue I’m having with a VL-880. I have 7- 880’s total. A different one had this same issue last fall that I’m having with this one. The problem is when I plug power into it, it starts turning off and on and of and on like trying to start a car with an almost dead battery. The menu flashes on and off at the same time, but it's blank when it lights up. (I tried attaching a 8-second video of it but didn't see how I could). I took the other one to a repair facility in Dallas and it turned on normally for them. But they went ahead and updated the software, ran it for several hours off and on over a few days with no problems like the one I was having. I picked it up and put it back in our system and it has run flawlessly since. This different fixture of the 7 had a broken dim wheel. I had it replaced, put the module back in and powered it up and it did the exact same thing as my earlier one. I’m powering all 7 of these, along with 4- 3515’s I have on 208v power. I have them hung upside down from a truss. When I lower the truss to work on them, either on the truss or removing them to take to my office to work on them, they’re plugged into 110v and sitting upright. I’m wanting to just update the software on it, but I can’t when it’s doing what it’s doing. Can someone give me options of how to deal with this or what the possible cause is that makes them do this? I’ve had no problems with them over the 7 years or so I’ve had them until last fall. But at the same time the repair facility didn’t have this issue when they plugged it in. And now they’re not taking outside repairs at this time due to gearing up for touring so I’m having to get answers elsewhere.
 
Sounds like your office doesn’t have enough juice to power the fixture. Update it on the truss or get 208 line dropped into your office. Worse case scenario your switching PSU is having issues and can’t figure out what’s going on.
 
Sounds like your office doesn’t have enough juice to power the fixture. Update it on the truss or get 208 line dropped into your office. Worse case scenario your switching PSU is having issues and can’t figure out what’s going on.
I did just that. I dropped 208v down from the catwalk and plugged it in and it does the same thing. And it’s from the exact same 208v outlet I plug it into in it’s normal setting. I plugged it in to the next VL-880 and it started up normally.
 
Hmmm... Maybe you knocked it around enough to loosen something and it’s not making the full connection. Check your external and internal fuses, harness to the PSU to the power plug. Basically you should pray the PSU isn’t dying cause I’m sure finding one is damn near impossible. Take pictures we love pictures. Be safe obviously and good luck.
 
Thanks. This s a permanent installation and they’ve been in place since installation, aside from riding up and down on the truss a few times a year. So they don’t get bumped around like ones on the road are.
 
Thanks. This s a permanent installation and they’ve been in place since installation, aside from riding up and down on the truss a few times a year. So they don’t get bumped around like ones on the road are.
I read it as it came down to be fixed was finished being fixed then hung and more issues arouse then you removed it again and took it to the office. Between it coming down operated on and going back up and back down something happen. It’s actually worse for a permanent install because things get over looked and complacency happens. You could have wire rot, overheated PSU, loose connections, oxidized connections, loose but working fuses, cold solders etc etc. All those things can become worse by moving the fixture and at 56lbs a fixture if you did this all by yourself which we all have you are swing that thing and fighting to flip it on a road case to move it around.
 
Thank you again. All of those possibilities are very good. A couple more explanations: it worked until a few weeks ago when the dim wheel broke. I brought the truss down, removed the dim wheel/color module from the fixture as it hung on the truss. I raised the truss in the mean time for services (it’s a church install)). I brought the truss back down yesterday, I reinstalled the repaired dim/color module, plugged it in and got the previously mentioned problem. And I always have someone assist me when I hang or remove the fixtures from the truss. I do appreciate all the possible problems you mentioned and I will start going through each one and see where it leads.
 
Well, that is new news. Pull the module out that was repaired and fire the fixture up without it. If it works then you know the module is doing something it shouldn’t if problem persists without module check everything else listed.
 
I have 24 - VLZ's, 5 - Profiles, 2 - 2600s, and 6 - VL10's and ALL of them do exactly what you are describing when RDM is enabled or when ETC is live syncing with the dimmer racks. Make sure you have RDM disabled on all of your nodes and your console. Also make sure your terminated to help remove any ghosts in the line. If it's neither of those check your cables. It's also worth testing the actual DMX signal. DMX Cats flicker finder might help you here. I can't say for sure yours is signal related but I know that mine was.

An important note is that some of Vari-Lite's firmware updates change the DMX mapping. It's worth making sure all of your lights have the same firmware and the console has the correct patch.

Good luck.
 

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