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    Jeff Toussieng
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Net2 node

Have two Net2 two port touring nodes in my church; one is close to the floor of the stage and the other up in the ceiling of the stage. Only use them for special events where additional lighting is added. The church uses an Element console with the daily use outputs from the two dmx outputs on the Element itself. One output is for conventionals and the other for their Selador Ice and Fire led's. The nodes are networked through a switch, however again they are only used when there are special events requiring the addition of more fixtures. The nodes are configured for universe 1 and universe 2, full universes.

Had a special event. Used the console dmx outputs the same as always. Used the ceiling Node Universe 1 for Chauvet QWash 560Z led movers and used the ceiling node Universe 2 for Robe 250AT spot movers. Used the floor node universe 1 for haze and the floor node universe 2 for Chauvet TriTour led's. Also used my ION in place of their Element due to the added fixtures. 

During the week, including Thursday night of focusing and cues all was well.

First performance was Friday. Opened up the building. Turned on power to all added in fixtures; (Chauvet led's and Robe movers) and all the led movers which were dmx'd from Universe 1 at the ceiling mounted node went into a strobing mode. Normally those movers don't do that across the line, only 1 or 2 of the 12 might strobe once in a great while when they loose dmx. I had never seen all of them strobing. A couple of them were doing some strange color chase as well.

I had not yet booted the ION therefore I did so to see if it would clear up the problems when the fixtures receive a proper dmx signal. It did not. I then shut off power to all the led movers and back on. The strobing stopped however the ION would not control any of them.

The Haze on Universe 1 floor node worked. The Chauvet TriTour led's on the floor node Universe 2 worked. The Robe movers on Universe 2 ceiling node worked however the Chauvet QWash led movers on universe 1 ceiling node would not work at all. No color, no p/t, no intensity; nothing.

I brought up full intensity to the Chauvet QWash led movers from the ION, then I unplugged their dmx from the ceiling node universe 1 and plugged it into the floor node universe 1 and they all worked. To get by I used an opto iso spliter and ran both the ceiling and floor fixtures from the floor node Universe 1.

The next day I checked and that same Universe 1 / output 1 / left xlr on the ceiling node still did not work. The screen showed the correct address, 1 - 513 and Active.

I have not been able to laptop connect to the node yet. Kind of a hassle. I wanted to see if anyone has seen this and if there are any suggestions on a fix or if it needs to e repaired.

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  • To me it sounds like you have fun with NCE in your future. I'd be looking into seeing if you change the universe/port assignments on the node to see if the DMX output chip in the node is faulty in the first port. Also when was the last time the node was rebooted? I'm curious if a reboot clears the issue and gets a good data flow from the first port. If it does indeed turn out to be the output chip, your local ETC dealer can sell you one of these, they are both inexpensive and easy to change.
  • in reply to Glenn64454
    I don't follow what end result I am to look for regarding your suggestion to change the universe/port assignment. Are you suggesting changing it and seeing if it still does not work? Also I rebooted both the node and the switch however it did not fix it.
  • in reply to Jeff Toussieng

    The symptoms you are describing seem to me the DMX chip inside the first port of the node. Each port gets its own DMX chip (ETC# Z-216-F I believe). However before you go all in on this theory and buy the part, I'm curious if you adjust the range on the second port to universe 1, if the problem follows, or if by massaging the unit from Network Configuration Editor (NCE) it will make the first port respond normally.

    If I can get one of my nodes on the bench today, i'll try to get a photo of it and note the location of the DMX chip.

  • in reply to Glenn.Gould
    Hey thanks Glenn. I had removed the node for testing, so it sat for a week or so unplugged from anything. I took it to the church yesterday and plugged in the poe and was able to control a different led fixture from the same port that was bad. So it seems to be back working now. Of course that makes things much more difficult to trouble shoot. I had unplugged it on the day of the event to reboot it, then replugged it back in but that didn't work at that time. Do you know if the chip can do an in and out thing or once it goes bad it's bad?
  • in reply to Jeff Toussieng
    It is entirely possible that it starts to malfunction when it overheats. Usually in my experience when they fail, they don't come back but this is usually due to lightning strikes. The other thing I'd try is changing the dmx terminator (120ohm resistor between pins 2 & 3) on the end of the once malfunctioning DMX line. The other option here is that the line could have built up capacitance (essentially a static charge that wouldn't pass data) that once you broke the connection to the node, plugged it into another source that fixed the issue...
  • in reply to Glenn.Gould
    Probably not heat since it had been sitting for over 12 hours not being used at all. It happened the next day after focusing when I powered everything up for the show then continued bad the following night after being unused. Note: when I say unused I mean no data to it, console and lights powered off, however the hubs remained on because the POE never shuts off. UNLESS because it remains on all the time that caused it and since I had it unplugged for so long it cooled. If that's the case then something is definitely bad because that shouldn't happen. There was no terminator on that particular line because the type of Chauvet movers (QWash560Z LED) on it do not want a terminator per Chauvet. I had called them when I first purchased/used them because they would strobe at random when nothing was going on. They told me no terminator and keep them isolated on their own line with no other fixtures on it. Don't get me started on Chauvet!!! :-) One of the attempts to fix the day in question was I unplugged the node to reboot it and when that didn't work I moved that port/Chauvet fixtures to the other node. The next day when I checked it again I moved the Chauvet fixtures back to that port on that node and they still didn't work. So static is questionable. I realize that with DMX or any other type of digital communication one little glitch can throw off the whole bunch. So who knows what was going on with that node those two days. My fear is it will happen again when I don't have an opportunity to switch. You know how that goes.
  • in reply to Jeff Toussieng

    The "overheating" Glenn is talking about is not the Node overheating, it is the DMX driver chip itself.

    The DMX driver chips have a built-in thermal shutdown, designed to protect the chip from a bad situation on the DMX line.

    If this shutdown is tripped then it will stay tripped until the Node is physically turned off (unplugged) for a few minutes.
    - It's just like a circuit breaker. It flips to protect you and your equipment, and stays "off" until you go and reset it.

    Rather like circuit breakers, the thermal shutdown can be caused by a dead short on the DMX line, or (more likely) another device sending data on the same DMX line when it should not.
    - if one is sending "High" while the other is sending "Low", this is quite a high current and will eventually cause the thermal shutdown to trip if it continues for long enough.

    For example, perhaps one of the fixtures went into "Master" mode when it should not have done.

    From what you've said, it seems quite likely that this is the cause.

  • in reply to Richard
    Thanks Richard. This is all good info. I didn't figure it was the Node but something within it's contents. I guess when I unplugged it for 30 seconds or so and replugged it back in that was not sufficient enough time to reset and the next day when I tested it, because I had not unplugged it again and replugged it back in the problem was still there. So when I removed it from the facility and brought it back a few days later that caused it to reset. Makes sense. Next time (if it happens again - aaaargggg) I will know to unplug it longer. I wouldn't be a bit surprised one of the Chauvet's might have been the cause. They make a great product but there is always something within that is a problem; some minor and some major. Like not wanting a terminator, or not being on the same run as other fixtures, or one or two out of 16 fixtures going into strobing when they lose dmx. What seems like might have happened on the day in question is when I powered on the added fixtures by circuit breakers for show prep, one or more of the Chauvets, which were the only fixtures on that node's port, triggered something to shut the chip down and that's why they all went into strobing mode and would not respond.
  • in reply to Jeff Toussieng
    And to add what I forgot - thank you also Glenn. :-(
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