Technobeam

I know there was a clinch in the set screws that are holding the focus unit, so it did fell of after a time. but i guess they have solved it as they are been in use since then?

Also I would check with your local HES rep for spare parts availibility now, as High End are selling the Technobeam right to Strong (USA, Not the spanish one)

regards,

JanO

I have 16 Technobeams, manufactured in several different years. The problems I find seem to be common to all designs. First off: the LED displays. Out of 16 I have only 4 with full LED's. They tend to break off at the pins soldered to the circuit board from the stress of opening and closing the cover. It's an easy fix, but it is very annoying. Also the buttons next to the LED panel... They fall off sometimes, and when they do a tiny metal disc falls out, flutters to the stage, never to be seen again. Now the button doesn't work. I have 6 out of 16 fixtures that are missing buttons... some of those don't even have working displays, but I've determined the channels they've been addressed to and work around it until I find time to fix them.
I've found that the FX wheel has a tendency to lose alignment in older fixtures, giving you the "eye" shaped beam.
I've also found that fixtures running the older software (v15.xx) sometimes begin to lose "home" position, ie: the pan and tilt settings are off by a bit after a few hours running.
My number one complaint is the mounting hardware. There are three hex-head screws and one handle-screw on each side which screw into a flat bar which is mounted so it can slide along a channel in the fixture. Both the screws and the threaded holes in the bar tend to get cross-threaded and destroyed very quickly if the mounts are moved often.
...oh yeah: there is a plastic cylinder mounted next to the focus lens carriage. I've had it break off of 2 fixtures after a trip on a very rough road. One of them jammed the focus carriage causing the motor to burn out...
Despite these problems though, I enjoy working with my Technobeams. They are a fast, versatile fixture with nice intensity and rich color. Plus they are light and easy to wrestle around while standing on a ladder.
They are the most practical mirrored fixture I've used for club shows and small arenas. For the money, they're great.

Wow,
Seems that you have had a slightly different experience with techno's, must be different batches :D

Alot of the problems you have had I will agree with, things like the fx wheel, and pan or tilt losing alighnment on older fixtures, although I will say that a new motor always fixes mine...
I have 16 Techno's across 4 national tours, and luckily for me, I have never had a problem with the displays, and I think I have only had a problem with the buttons once...
And I agree wholeheartedly about the Slides and yoke hardware, You probably know this trick, but for everyone else,
The slides in the side of the technobeam are symetrical, so if the holes get stripped out, you can flip it over and use the other end of the slide..
Works great in a emergency situation.
I wish that Color Pro's had 2 sets of holes...
Of course, this doesn't fix the bolts or the T-handles, But if you replace them when they start to strip out it seems to make the slides last longer...
Oh and for the plastic cylinder, I assume you are talking about the power factor Capacitor, I have not seen one break, but I see the possiblity, although it must have been a very rough road, in a spring ride trailer??
Just FYI, newer fixtures have metal power factor capacitors..
One of the things I see fairly often is the tabs on the focus tube breaking off, Not a tough fix, I usually just ziptie the focus tube closed...
And of course as with all moving lights, motors, motors, motors...
Joshua Wood

Hello,
Thank you very much. I will check any details with your remarks.
Regards.

Thanks Joshua for clarifying and elaborating on my post... It was a little past my bedtime when I wrote that ;)
You are correct about the power capacitor issue. I use cases which hold the fixtures on their side, and they ride in a 25' trailer. Also; I live and work in Northern Alberta, Canada where the roads are pretty treacherous in the winter. A large part of my problems could easily be attributed to temperature extremes. At load-out time the clubs are usually pretty hot (30-35 C) and they get loaded out to a trailer that might be as cold as -35 C. I always give the fixtures at least 30 minutes of lamp-off cooling time, but they are still a LOT warmer than the outside temperature. ...this may also explain my problems with the displays, maybe.
You also make a good and valuable point about the slide piece of the mounting hardware. I have used your trick on every fixture. I even went to a machine-shop 2 years ago and had 30 new slides made for me so I could replace them all. Unfortunately this piece has to be absolutely perfect to work. Out of 30 I had made only 12 were perfect enough to use, even though I couldn't tell the difference till I installed them. My problems here are also a result of my cases. They require the yoke to be slid all the way to the bottom of the fixture, but most of my venues are low-trim height situations that require the yokes slid as far up as they will go. So they are being moved at every show, leading to wear & tear.
As for the motors: I couldn't agree more. I have swapped out many stepper-motors. I buy my fixtures used, and this is usually the first repair they require. Although I've found that with the pan/tilt issue, resetting the fixture brings it back every time, and with the FX wheel I just open it up and manually adjust it before show. I know it's mickey-mouse, but I can get another year out of those motors that way.
One other note I should mention which may or may not be common knowledge: When the lamp is on, don't let it sit with the shutter closed for too long. They can warp slightly from the heat and jam up. This is a problem with many fixtures, mirrored or moving-head.
Really I think it comes down to cleaning & cooling. Keep your fixtures clean, don't let anything block airflow and you can expect a long life.

Thats interesting about the shutter warpage..
the shutters are the last thing in the optical chain in a techno, and so they stay fairly cool...
I personally haven't had that problem, although once again, I have had some shutter motors fail.
As for the slides, I just buy mine from my high end dealer, they are too cheap for me to go to a metal shop, I think they cost around 15$ each...
and they are always perfect..

But, sometimes if your dealer isn't nearby it may be easier to get parts made than to buy them, I have had plenty of problems shipping items into canada when I was on tour, so I know how that can be.

Joshua Wood

[quote=Woodj32177]Thats interesting about the shutter warpage..
the shutters are the last thing in the optical chain in a techno, and so they stay fairly cool...

Joshua Wood

Ditto. Never seen that one ever and I take care of 120 or so.
I have seen 3 versions of gobo wheel but all in all its a great fixture with few break downs.:headbang: If there pre bar they need z- diodes across the cap @ C-14. It's always a good idea to have a few spare.;)

[quote=Puffyfish]Ditto. Never seen that one ever and I take care of 120 or so.
I have seen 3 versions of gobo wheel but all in all its a great fixture with few break downs.:headbang: If there pre bar they need z- diodes across the cap @ C-14. It's always a good idea to have a few spare.;)

It's probably blatantly obvious.... but what is "pre bar" ?

Not so obvious actually,
If you weren't a experienced High End tech, you probably wouldn't know about this..
He is talking about the Crowbar circuit in the newer techno-beams,
Basically, it is there in case someone puts the wrong voltage into a techno.
Such as if you had it tapped for 110, but plugged it into a 208 distro.
What happens is that the fixture will blow the fuse, thus saving the fixture from damage.

in some of the older fixtures this crowbar circuit didn't work very well, so they made a small change and added a Transorb across one of the capacitors on the board, In these boards, if there is a problem with voltage, this transorb will short, and cause the fuse to blow, of course, if you don't know about the transorb, you will just keep plugging in the board, and keep blowing fuses. To test if the problem is the transorb,

First make sure you have set the voltage switches correctly, then just snip one of the leads of the transorb, It is the piece that looks like a large Diode that is soldered to the leads of a Cap on the right side of the board. It looks a bit like it was added as an afterthought.

Once you have snipped one side of the transorb, thus taking it out of the circuit, you can go ahead and power up the fixture again, if it doesn't blow fuses, you have found the problem, you can go ahead and replace the Transorb and you are good to go.

Now, I know some people are thinking, that if the fixture is working, why bother to replace the transorb, well, if you are brave, you don't have to, but if someone were to plug the fixture into the wrong power again, it is going to blow up the 1200$ Logic card.
But if it's your fixture, its your call....

FYI The Transorb is Part Number 90310019
I know Puffy said that this part is a Zener Diode, and he may be correct, but I know that the part was always described to me as a transorb. Perhaps a transorb is a type of zener diode....

Let me know if you have any questions,
Geez, this turned into a long post, I wrote papers in college that weren't this long...

Joshua Wood

Oh, and I believe the crowbar circuit is named by its similarity to using a crowbar to blow fuses in a panel by shorting them with a crowbar...
But I may have just made that part up....

Wow, thanks for the comprehensive response! Would all black stripe technos be considered 'newer', and thus have the better crowbar circuit? Or would even older black stripes potentially have the device across the cap ? (I suppose I could just open a fixture and look... my tb-i's are circa 2001... black stripe obviously.. but definitely not recent.)

I am pretty sure that Technobeam i's (Black Stripe) still had the older style of crowbar circuit for a few years.
In Fact, I believe that this may have also been around for the Studio 250 fixtures as well. But I am less sure about that...
All of the fixtures I am responsible for are all out on tours, and one of them just requested my only spare Logic card so I can't even look to see if mine have the transorb or not...
If you open the fixture it is pretty obvous...
I would guess if you have a metal gobo wheel, you probably have the newer style logic card..
But thats just a guess,
Joshua Wood

The answer is in the version of the board and it's printed on it. Ah, this is where someone in texas gives out the version types and what board has and has not a good working crow bar. Ill PM Yoda Zod and Chris they have the answer.

Duh... ya it's a zorb I think. Jeez I need some coffee..:friday:

I have a techno-i made in mar. 2000 and it keeps blowing the ac motor fuse as soon as power is applied and the voltages at set right. now I've checked the c14 cap and there is no crowbar, Transorb or, z- diodes! now my question is do I add one or not? or dose anyone have any thoughts as to what it could be? could it be the c14 cap it's self?

Adding a transorb will not solve the problem, If the fixture doesn't have one it most likely is a newer board that doesn't require one.
It sounds like you have problems elsewhere in the fixture,
If it is blowing the Motor fuse, the first place I would look is at the pan and tilt wires, If someone was not paying attention when they replaced the sled, it is very easy to short those wires, thus causing the fuse to blow.
If that isn't the problem I would remove all the motor driver chips and replace them one by one (Power down between chips!) and see if one of them causes the problem.
If you find one that causes the fuse to blow, replace the chip, If that doesn't solve it, you probably have a problem elsewhere in that circuit, either bad wiring harness or shorted motor (unlikely)
Good Luck,
Joshua Wood

pulled all the driver chips and still blows the fuse and the pan/tilt wires are ok?