Wayward Design Spot 250

Les

Well-Known Member
Hey guys

So I have a rig with four VL2k's and four Elation Design Spots and am having an interesting issue.

One of the Design Spots (last on the chain as a matter of fact) keeps having a tilt error -- no errors showing on the display, but it keeps shifting its programming about 90°. The other night I noticed it wandering near the grid while the rest were ballyhoo'ing on the floor. I go up to the fixture and it is clanking around like it's doing its homing sequence, only constantly.

After removing the terminator and seeing no change, I go for a "reset all" from the fixture's LCD and it behaves properly for about 2 performances. Then last night it goes rogue again. Power cycling the fixture or doing a "recal" from the console does not effect it - it just seems to lose its home position and the only thing that seems to work is a reset from the menu.

Any idea on where I should start? Seems that the issue is in the fixture itself and not in the cabling or console since the software reset fixed it (for a while). Maybe it's a dirty or bad tilt sensor?
 
Since it is "last on the chain" the first thing I would do is pull the DMX off of it while it's misbehaving. I have no reason to think it would be a DMX issue, but it's location is one of the usual flags. If for some reason it works when the cable is pulled, then we know it's an external issue. If however it keeps trying to become a wayward robot, then you may have a heat / hall effect sensor issue.
 
Is your power clean? I had the same issue with a pair of those last summer. They only gave me trouble during weekday rehearsals- We decided that the timing suggested our power was browning ever so slightly due to some heavy electrical loads being moved and tested in the adjacent building.

You are of course powering those movers across true air-gap relays right? Not a parked dimmer? Also on the power note, is there a chance that there's something on the circuit that might be drawing down the voltage? You could still be within the circuits rated capacity, but have a fluctuation due to fog machines, dimmer packs, etc if it's all on the same line.

I would look at isolating power and data to eliminate those as possibilites, but it could be a bad sensor as you stated.
 
Is your power clean? I had the same issue with a pair of those last summer. They only gave me trouble during weekday rehearsals- We decided that the timing suggested our power was browning ever so slightly due to some heavy electrical loads being moved and tested in the adjacent building.

You are of course powering those movers across true air-gap relays right? Not a parked dimmer? Also on the power note, is there a chance that there's something on the circuit that might be drawing down the voltage? You could still be within the circuits rated capacity, but have a fluctuation due to fog machines, dimmer packs, etc if it's all on the same line.

I would look at isolating power and data to eliminate those as possibilites, but it could be a bad sensor as you stated.

You touch on some very good points. Power could certainly be an issue. These are powered through relays, but the theatre does have a history of slight fluctuations. I do also have these powered from the same 20-amp circuit.

Last night, it was giving me trouble so I doused it mid-show. Came in today expecting to do another reset, but it performed fine all night. I will probably go in early tomorrow and run a separate circuit to it in order to eliminate a few variables.

Not sure if it's related or not, but they can certainly take a while to strike - and sometimes a few tries. My VL2K's are split up between circuits (2 per) and have been super reliable. Of course, at 700 watts, two of those units use more power than all four of the DS250's.
 
Just an update since the show ended last week. After that "reset all", the fixture seemed to behave normally. I highly suspected a heat-related issue, so I tried my best to only lamp the fixtures when needed - lamp-on 15-30 minutes before house open, and lamp-off immediately after the house exit music.

Other than needing to stop the show in early act 1 to hold for a tornado warning (and experiencing a power fluctuation necessitating the need to restrike the Design Spots during that time), everything went well!
 

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