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    J Garrett
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Re: Letting the smoke out on Palettas

Hi all,

We have been using Palettas for almost 2 years now with no issues.

This time around, while coming out of maintenance (Palettas cleaned as per manual's instructions) we had some crazy strobing and then the blue LEDs stayed on  for three units (42") and a few random color LEDs were also on.

While we were troubleshooting to determine whether the issue was due to a console malfunction or an instrument malfuntion, we apparently let the smoke out of two 42" units (observed) and possibly another two (unobserved.)

At any rate, we have (4) 42" units that are unresponsive.

In the course of troubleshooting we discovered (2) with blown fuses.

An interesting side here - according to the manual the 42" units should have 8 Amp fuses; ours had 4 amp fuses. We have been using these particular units for over 6 months for cyc lighting, so this would not seem to be the reason why the fuses blew.

The power is currently delivered through a Strand C-21 rack with dimmers that have been profiled to be 'ON' when the Channel level is recorded at 0. The dimmers are patched to a channel at the far end of the Channel spectrum so it would not be accidentally recorded into a Cue at a level. Being that for these dimmers a 0 level is for all intents and purposes 'ON', if someone did a 'FADE ALL' it would already be at 0 and would be faded to 0, so no harm, no foul, as far as we are aware.

Any suggestions as to what might have occurred?

Thanks,

Jennifer

 

 

 

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  • 0

    It sounds like you've created an "On" profile in the console (0% > 100%, 100% > 100%), and that's really not a good way to do this.

    Aside from the possibility of accidentally changing the assigned dimmer curve (eg by loading a different show file), this isn't the same as a dimmer set to Switched or Always-On.

    Many modern dimmers support automatic regulation of voltage to reduce the effect of small spikes and dips in the mains supply on tungsten lamps, and this causes the supply to the fixture to be discontinuous whenever the mains supply is higher than the 'regulated' output target.
    - Obviously if the supply voltage is lower than the target then the dimmer can't do anything about it.

    If you wish to power a Selador fixture through a dimmer, then you should set the dimmer circuit to be a Switched or Always-On, Unregulated supply so that the dimmer controller knows your intentions and won't attempt any features designed for dimmable loads.

    These modes are available in the majority of dimming systems, often named something like "Switched", "1/0", "Non-Dim", "Always On" etc.

    Finally, it is worth noting that not all 'intelligent' fixtures (LED, moving light etc) can be powered in this way, and you should always check with the manufacturer of the fixture before powering them through any SCR dimming system.

  • 0 in reply to Richard

     

    Thanks for this info.

    You are right about the possible problems that could arise, although as I've said, we've pretty much done what we can to cover our bases.

    Re: loading a different show with a different curve - we run with a rep plot and default patch. All shows are built off of that patch, so it is unlikely, although certainly not impossible, for the profile to be changed.

    As you've probably read in a post I just sent, we are aware of what instruments should and shouldn't be jury-rigged in this fashion, but the manual that came with the Palettas seemed to state that these units would be okay with this system.

    In any case, it's not a clear cut case of 'power poison' - three quarters of the Palettas, some powered by the same dimmer, work just fine.

     

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  • 0 in reply to Richard

     

    Thanks for this info.

    You are right about the possible problems that could arise, although as I've said, we've pretty much done what we can to cover our bases.

    Re: loading a different show with a different curve - we run with a rep plot and default patch. All shows are built off of that patch, so it is unlikely, although certainly not impossible, for the profile to be changed.

    As you've probably read in a post I just sent, we are aware of what instruments should and shouldn't be jury-rigged in this fashion, but the manual that came with the Palettas seemed to state that these units would be okay with this system.

    In any case, it's not a clear cut case of 'power poison' - three quarters of the Palettas, some powered by the same dimmer, work just fine.

     

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