STUDIO COLOR 575s ~ Can a 208v be made 110v?

[QUOTE=dakota;45474]Hi! {my 2nd first post, lost the other one, please be kind}:o

The production house I work in has a group of sco 575s units. Most of them are 110v, and two 208v. I recently started to go through to PM all the units and discovered I have a 208 & a 110 in the shop in various stages of destruction. It was brought to my attention a question of would it be possible to take the PCBs from the 110v unit & swap them out with the 208v unit to create an operational 110v unit to be put back in service.

I will be testing the 110 boards by swapping them 1 by 1 with a known good unit to make sure they are usable. But is there anything else on the 208 unit that will not play nice if the boards are converted with the 110s?

Thanks!

Jon Barnes

Are these truly Studio Color 575's and not the S or M models? To the best of my knowledge, the only Studio Color that would not take either voltage was the "M", due to the magnetic ballast - all the others have switching supplies for both lamp and motor, and should take all normal voltages (100 or so to 240 or so) with no changes - the supplies auto range.

- Tim

The 110v units all have 575s as a designation, as does the end cap/board from the one that is in pieces. I am told that the 208v units are also the *s* design, but as I have been reading I am thinking they are *m*, as the owner & the previous tech claim that they only do 208v. The *m* series is the only one I have come across with that restriction. I will be in house tomorrow & will verify its actual designation.

That aside, would any issues arise if the three, [2 smaller on end caps, and main board], circuit boards were to be swapped across into the 208v unit, re-lamp, and run as a 110v unit. It seems that those boards are the only thing defining the voltage requirements, ballast, etc., as physically they look the same externally, and on the spec sheets. And the part numbers on the wheel, tilt, & pan motors are the same.

I guess my question would be then: "can I take the guts from an 'S' & plop them into an 'M' body, and have a healthy living unit?"

{I feel like Dr. Frankenstein}
Jon B

If it has a heatsink on the back, it's not an "M" - the "M" variant has the square, non-beveled edge yoke arms, and a flat plate on the back, with a magnetic ballast inside, on which you can change taps for 208/240 and 50/60 Hz. You mention boards on the end caps - one is the DMX input card, no raw power on it whatsoever. The other end has the Motor power supply (kinda beefy looking). The logic card is on the face with the display, obviously, and opposite it would be the switching power supply for the lamp, or a blank plate if it's an "M" . . .

Now repeat after me slowly: There is NO SUCH THING as a voltage-specific component in either an S or a 575! Read the schematics! The only place the power supply voltage touches in the motor supply (switching - multi voltage capable, even in the "M") and the lamp supply - fixed in the "M", and multi voltage on all others (100 to 230V AC, 50/60Hz, as per the manual). Bottom line is that you should be able to swap any card to any unit and run any voltage . . . . even the motor supply, logic, and DMX card on an M will swap into an S at any voltage it chooses to run . . . the *ONLY* limitation is the magnetic lamp ballast in the "M"!

The logic cards are the same in the M and S, and have very subtle differences in the 575 series.

So, the procedure to change a 208 volt unit to a 110 volt unit is to simply change the plug to the appropriate device for your rig . . .

Don't believe me and keep wanting to do it the hard way? Read the schematics and specs from HES here:

www.highend.com/pub/products/automated_luminaires/StudioColor/manual/S_Color.pdf (Page 22)

www.highend.com/pub/products/automated_luminaires/Studio575/Sc575tech.pdf

www.highend.com/support/automated_luminaires/studiocolor575.asp

It's all there . . .

- Tim

Thanks Tim!

This may get me going towards an even number of movers again. We will see in the morning.

update: the 208v are M version.

-Jon B

M is 220v only.

To clarify: The M has three voltage/freq taps: 208 volt, 240 volt, and 50 or 60 Hz, so technically, it's not "220 only" but definitely isn't gonna do 120 . . .

- Tim