Powering MLs and LEDs through any dimmer is strongly discouraged. The power supply and electronics can be damaged.
Before powering any ML through a dimmer check with the manufacturer that the unit will tolerate it. If you are renting these fixtures confirm with the rental house that it is acceptable before doing it or it could lead to a very expensive repair bill.
[edited by: sk8rs_dad at 9:12 AM (GMT -6) on Tue, Jan 15 2013]
No need for a custom curve, apply curve 909. The argument about applying curves in patch vs. parking channels comes down to personal preference. I choose to use the curve option as it less likely to be undone by accident, I unintentionally unparked everything one time.
Some people prefer to park ML power/non-dims by address rather than channel. This helps to differentiate between channels that are parked temporarily. Also, a generic [Park][Enter][Enter] command won't un-park them (you would use [Address][Park][Enter][Enter]).
If these are also patched to a channel, you'll see that same information next to the address. You could even patch them as a custom type other than Dimmer, and give that type a parameter with a name like "Lamp Power", to really set them apart.
I created a 'Hotpatch' fixture that has an "always on" custom curve. I find this more useful than Park because
- parked dimmers and channels do not save and load with the show
- there is no way to differentiate why something is parked - on any given day, we might have 12 dimmers parked for photogs, booths, etc and channels parked for worklight, etc.
Things that need to be parked every day are patched as Hotpatch channels, while day-to-day parking is done via Park and cleared out every night.
