Frequent failure of D20s

I have a client that seems to be burning through D20s. What could be causing it?

They have 2 separate DR12 racks installed 2&3 years ago. They have managed to toast 4 modules running houselight loads.

I may have to take an all day trip to diagnose their system and want to be prepared. My first thoughts are power problems and overloading. They are in a small remote town and there are very few knowledgeable people around. My fear is that I'll get up there and not find anything wrong. Then the owner will claim shoddy gear...



[edited by: RickR at 1:23 PM (GMT -6) on Tue, Nov 23 2010]
Parents
  • Rick,

     

    We have found sites likes to go back in after install and up the wattage of their house lights.  So a 60watt lamp x 20 fixtures become a 100 watt lamp x 20 fixtures plus a few hundred feet of wiring, and then they dim them at 10% for days on end = melted modules.

     

    Seth

  • Rick,

    There are many things that could be causing this including:

    - Not enough cooling in the racks due to clogged filters, too hot in the room, grease-covered modules [when installed above fryers], etc.

    - Nearby lightning strike which could have even happened months or years ago.

    - Bad run of cubes.

    If you can get them to tell you what the four digit number is from the power cube on the dimmer module, I can tell you if that may be a bad production run.

    Let me know,

    David

  • David,

    Exactly the sort of info I was looking for! I'll see about getting lot numbers!

    Cooling issues aren't likely. Lightning is definately an issue, but very hard to track or prevent.

    Thanks

Reply Children
  • I had two d20 power cubes go bad in late spring of this year a few months past warranty (My system was energized in Late January 2008). They were in my Unison Houselight rack. One was on a circuit that is on most of the time (We have to keep a this circuit at a 25% glow for safety reasons when not in the building, it's 1070w when @ Full), but the other was a normal houselight circuit (1200w) that is only used for shows and when the house is being cleaned. I don't want to keep having to buy power cubes down the road, so I was thinking I may start to rotate the d20's every once in a while. Any other suggestions?



    [edited by: bosox242 at 9:01 PM (GMT -6) on Tue, Nov 23 2010]