Controlling ceiling fans

If you have the budget, check out DFD's "household" dimmer: http://www.dfd.com/dmx8dim.html

-Josh

Yeah, we're a community theatre.  That $750 price tag is a bit prohibitive for an item we may never use again.  I hadn't even thought of DMX controls, though.

-Roger

While driving the fan directly from a dimmer in 'switched' mode might work, it might not and it may damage the motor or the dimmer due to the 'wibble' at zero-cross caused by the silicon in the middle. So I can't really recommend that.

Two methods I can recommend:

Hire a DMX relay pack of some kind. (No point buying if it's a one-off!)
- Note that not all DMX "switch" packs use relays. Make sure you get one that has relays, as a solid-state-switch is practically identical to a dimmer in switched mode.

Drive a mains voltage coil relay from an existing dimmer circuit in 'switched' mode, and use that relay to switch the ceiling fan.
- This comes with the usual caveats of being sure of how to do it safely. If you're not certain how to wire up and properly protect a mains-voltage relay in accordance with local statutes etc, get a qualified person to do it for you.

OK, that's pretty much what I figured.  So I went to my board and I have channel 15 patched to dimmer 15.  Changed it from Dimmer to Switch, and with a Source4 installed didn't notice and difference. It still dims up and down.  Am I on the right track?  The wiring/relay/physical part is easy.  It's the programming that's hanging me up!

I'm assuming in switched mode I should expect the light to either be FULL or OFF.

Could you please clarify a few things for me?

• What type of dimmers are you using?
• When you say you changed "it" from Dimmer to Switch, what exactly is "it", and what did you do to change it? Is there a way to switch modes on the dimmer?
• On Ion, you can set a curve on the channel like "Full at 1%" to simulate switch-like behavior on a standard dimmer. However, as others have said that will not actually make a dimmer a switch.

Not at the theatre right now, and don't seem to have the specific details for the dimmers with me.  We just bought the entire system about two years ago, but that's all I can give you right now

"IT" - The Patch display shows the Channel, the the Address, then the Type.  Type is set to Dimmer for everything we have, so that's the IT I changed to Switch.

Is there a way to switch the modes on the dimmer?  You mean physically on the dimmer?  Haven't even thought to look there.

Switch-like behavior is what I'm looking for, so that would work.

I'm a bit of a neophyte here.  All of our instruments are intensity-only, so I haven't done much in the way of patching/editing fixtures, etc.  I think I can figure out the curve thing, though.

Assign curve 905 (Full at 1%) to channel 15 and it should behave like a switch.

Curves are assigned in Patch

{Displays}{Patch}{Attributes}15{Curve}905[Enter]

Electrically... is there a difference between setting the firing mode on the dimmer to switched on the rack vs setting a curve on the console? I often do both just to be safe, but I've always wondered. Can i save myself the trip to the rack?

"It Depends"
- Yes, that is a useless answer.

More specifically, let's assume you're using Sensor+ dimmers:

If you set a Sensor+ dimmer to "Switched" mode, the channel is forced either fully on or fully off by the CEM+ processor, and things like min/max/regulation are turned off because they don't apply.

Secondly, the fade part of the default 'Wait and fade' response to loss of DMX (console turned off/unplugged) is replaced by 'snap off' at the appropriate point in the fade.

If you set the console to 'Full at 1%' (or similar), '100%' isn't necessarily 'Full' due to features like voltage regulation etc, and there will still be a fade on shutting down the console.

In  summary, it is considerably better to set the Switched mode at the dimmer if the load isn't really dimmable.