dimmer prolems

I just had 6 sensor racks installed about 7 mpnths ago.  I have just noticed 2 dimmers are acting funny.  when they run in a cue that takes them from 0% to 60% they fade up to about 20% them pop to full then fade back down to 60%.  They dont have any dimmer of channel curves attached to them.  I even repatched them to 2 other channels and re-cue'd them but had the same thing happen. Both dimmers share the same module a dr20.  So I swapped the module and the same thing happened.  In the rack the dimmers are set to the normal setting that the other ones are.  also when I manually bring up the intensities they work fine.  I am at a loss.  Any advice?

  • Get in touch with the dealer who did the install, or your nearest ETC tech support.

    Your dealer or ETC will be able to talk you through some checks to locate the cause and find the correct solution, as there are a few possibilities that can cause this sort of fault, but I don't want to speculate without more information.

    For technical support in the Americas, please call 608/831-4116, or toll-free in the U.S. at 800/688-4116.
    For technical support in Europe, please call (+44) 20 8896 1000.
    For technical support in Germany, please call (+49) 8024 4700-0
    For technical support in Asia, please call (+852) 2799 1220.



    [edited by: Richard at 3:57 AM (GMT -6) on Sat, Apr 25 2009]
  • Since you have done a good amount of troubleshooting, a conversation in person may well help, but there are also several things that you could check. 

    You mention that the dimmer can be brought up manually.  If you are setting levels at the rack and the set level seems to correspond to the expected output throughout a range of levels, then it is most likely a setting in the console.

    Depending upon the console that you have, a dimmer profile could have been built in the console. If this is the case, then repatching at the console may  not detect the possible profile issue. 

    We are happy to continue to work through this over the forum if it is most convenient.  You are also welcome to contact one of the service centers listed on a previous response, email me directly at jdunnum@etcconnect.com,  or if you would like, you can contact me  by calling  608 824-5055 .  Since I am not at my desk today, dial 2 when voice mail picks up.  The call will transfer to my cell phone. 

     

    Jake Dunnum

    Dimming Product manager

    Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.

     

  • It would be interesting to trying and turn the circuit on directly from the CEM+ at various levels via the front panel Dimmer Test. Say 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%, and see if you get progressively higher levels on the output. That will help to determine if its the console or something at the rack.

    Another good thing to try would be bring the console up to, say 30%, and goto the CEM+ and through the front panel (or from the web browser), do a 'about' 'dimmer', and see what level the dimmer rack things the dimmer is at.... Again, to determine if its the console, or the rack that is wrong at that point. Just an idea.

    What type of load is plugged into this circuit?

  • Both dimmers have a 1K Par64 plugged into them

Related