I just acquired four Technobeams and...

Thank you so much for the response! Here are my thoughts...

[QUOTE=JeffM;48823]The firmware can be uploaded to older and newer versions by doing the cross load.

I tried to crossload from a fixture with v2.2 to a vixture with v1.6 with no success. At one point, the word "lock" came up so I wondered if there was something internally that put a cap on the firmware. Couldn't find anything online about it though.

[QUOTE=JeffM;48823]
your color wheel sticking could be missing teeth of the plastic gear that turnes the color wheel.

How do I get to those gears? I'm new to this and need a good place to find out how to disassymble these bad boys. Oh, the LCD screen is also displaying "COLOR SENS ERROR". Do those ever need to be cleaned? And if so, how would one go about cleaning one?

[QUOTE=JeffM;48823]The LCD controllers have parameters from 0-99 on each function to include the backlight. If you keep going on direction with the cursor, it will be at 99(full bright) then go to 0 ( out completely).

What's happening with my t-spot controller is this: I'll start to crank up the intensity, then at some pont (highest I've ever got it was like 40) it automatically jumps back to zero. I'll try again and get it to 32 - then it jumps back to zero. I'll try again and get it to 6 - then it jumps back to zero. Ad infinitum. See what I'm saying? I'm sure this is not normal behavior.

[QUOTE=JeffM;48823]The technobeam LCD controller is capable of running both iris and non iris T-beams and will also run the studio spot 250 as they are the same fixture internally and have all the same parameters in the same order.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but my other lights are t-spots. Are these similar to studio spots?



So here is my current situation. I've got one week before the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally when I'd like to have all my lights up and running. Out of my four t-beams,

1. Fixtures 1 and 4 work like a dream, although 1 has v1.6 and 4 has v2.2 firmware, and I can't seem to crossload from 4 to 1 (see above).

2. Fixture 2 has a color wheel that used to just be off a half a color, now the color wheel barely turns at all. and when it tries, it makes a clicking noise.

3. Fixture 4 powers on (motor led comes on and fans start), but the display shows only " ' ' ' ' " or " 0000 " (with asterisks in the zeros) or " , , , , ". It doesn't respond to power cycling or any button pushing. I found another thread on this forum that mentioned these types of displays. I tried crossloading the firmware from another fixture, but the unit I tried crossloading from couldn't even find fixture 4. From the sound of the thread, it sounded like the solution was a diode or driver chip or something.

4. I realized I only have half of the factory lithos. The people who owned these units before me took out the other half and filled them with cheap, metal gobos of snowflakes, bubbles, and snowmen. lightparts.com has replacement lithos but they cost ~$40 ea. That's $160/light or $640 for the lot. Do these ever come up used anywhere for less?


One other thing. I'm in the Air Force and went to tech school for electronics, so I have a basic understanding of this stuff. But 30+ yr old circuit cards from B-1 bombers are very different from what I see in these lights. Since I own these things, I want to learn how to work on them. Where do I start?

Thanks so much for your replies so far. I live in a small city where no one's ever even heard of HES. This place forum is like a lifeline for me. :)

Thank you so much for the response! Here are my thoughts...

[QUOTE=JeffM;48823]The firmware can be uploaded to older and newer versions by doing the cross load.

I tried to crossload from a fixture with v2.2 to a vixture with v1.6 with no success. At one point, the word "lock" came up so I wondered if there was something internally that put a cap on the firmware. Couldn't find anything online about it though.

[QUOTE=JeffM;48823]
your color wheel sticking could be missing teeth of the plastic gear that turnes the color wheel.

How do I get to those gears? I'm new to this and need a good place to find out how to disassymble these bad boys. Oh, the LCD screen is also displaying "COLOR SENS ERROR". Do those ever need to be cleaned? And if so, how would one go about cleaning one?

[QUOTE=JeffM;48823]The LCD controllers have parameters from 0-99 on each function to include the backlight. If you keep going on direction with the cursor, it will be at 99(full bright) then go to 0 ( out completely).

What's happening with my t-spot controller is this: I'll start to crank up the intensity, then at some pont (highest I've ever got it was like 40) it automatically jumps back to zero. I'll try again and get it to 32 - then it jumps back to zero. I'll try again and get it to 6 - then it jumps back to zero. Ad infinitum. See what I'm saying? I'm sure this is not normal behavior.

[QUOTE=JeffM;48823]The technobeam LCD controller is capable of running both iris and non iris T-beams and will also run the studio spot 250 as they are the same fixture internally and have all the same parameters in the same order.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but my other lights are t-spots. Are these similar to studio spots?



So here is my current situation. I've got one week before the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally when I'd like to have all my lights up and running. Out of my four t-beams,

1. Fixtures 1 and 4 work like a dream, although 1 has v1.6 and 4 has v2.2 firmware, and I can't seem to crossload from 4 to 1 (see above).

2. Fixture 2 has a color wheel that used to just be off a half a color, now the color wheel barely turns at all. and when it tries, it makes a clicking noise.

3. Fixture 4 powers on (motor led comes on and fans start), but the display shows only " ' ' ' ' " or " 0000 " (with asterisks in the zeros) or " , , , , ". It doesn't respond to power cycling or any button pushing. I found another thread on this forum that mentioned these types of displays. I tried crossloading the firmware from another fixture, but the unit I tried crossloading from couldn't even find fixture 4. From the sound of the thread, it sounded like the solution was a diode or driver chip or something.

4. I realized I only have half of the factory lithos. The people who owned these units before me took out the other half and filled them with cheap, metal gobos of snowflakes, bubbles, and snowmen. lightparts.com has replacement lithos but they cost ~$40 ea. That's $160/light or $640 for the lot. Do these ever come up used anywhere for less?


One other thing. I'm in the Air Force and went to tech school for electronics, so I have a basic understanding of this stuff. But 30+ yr old circuit cards from B-1 bombers are very different from what I see in these lights. Since I own these things, I want to learn how to work on them. Where do I start?

Thanks so much for your replies so far. I live in a small city where no one's ever even heard of HES. This place forum is like a lifeline for me. :)