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9 replies

stage setter 8 problems

C cybrianMember
Hi, thanks in advance to all who read this post and take the time to help!

I'm new to dmx lighting....I recently bought a package with a stage setter 8, 2 dp 415 dimmer packs, 8 cans, and a truss. I used this for 2 shows for my band with just the built in chases, and it worked fine. For our last show, I added another dp 415 dimmer pack for channels 9 - 12 with a laser, tri gem led, 2 colorstrips connected together (not dmx'ed to controller, just each other and plugged into dimmer pack), and an aggressor. I created 8 user programs in 1x16 mode mixing it all up, and it seemed to work great.

At first everything worked great live, but then several times the board completely shut off for a second, and turned back on in blackout mode leaving the stage dark. I thought at first the power supply was loose, so i taped it into the power strip.....but that wasn't it. It seemed that every time it happened the colorstrips were on, but I don't think they are the culprit..(though I could be wrong) Could the problem be the new dimmer pack? I bought it as a refurb off ebay.

Thaks again for any help you can offer!! -brian
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S serraavaMember
Hi Brian and welcome to the forums.

If you replaced the power supply, sounds like a bad solder joint and/or loose connection in the console somewhere. I don't know how much you know about electronics, so don't know if you can fix the problem yourself. Disclaimer: I am by no means telling you to crack open the console and go digging around in there. You can damage the console more and/or severely hurt yourself. Don't do this unless you are qualified.

I would give service a call and maybe they can help you. Sorry I can't be of more help.
C cybrianMember
Thanks for the response, guys....

I talked to a rep at Elation today and he said it was because I was plugging dmx lights (colorstrips and laser) into a dimmer pack and it was shorting it out. I guess that makes sense, since it only happened when the colorstrips were on. I had thought I could run it this way since I was running the colorstrips and laser in sound active mode, and using the dimmer to just turn them on and off.

I'm going to try running the 4 channel colorstrips through 12 - 16 channels on the board via dmx cable......I have no idea what to expect, I've never tried dmx before in this manner...wish me luck
S serraavaMember
Depending on the units in question, they might have a sound active setting via DMX. Look in the manuals/DMX charts for them.

If confused, list the fixtures for us and hopefully we can help more.

Little side story with regards to dimmers and things other then filament lights plugged into them. A local company rented a school 13 Mac 700s in my area not to long ago. This is all fine and dandy, but the school in question I use to work at and know it doesn't have the power for 13 Mac 700s. So I asked the company if they got a generator. They said no, the school returned the order 2 weeks early (was a 4 week rental) and when the company checked the fixtures, all the lights ballasts were fired. The school plugged all the Mac 700s into dimmers. Real nasty repair bill to say the least. So don't plug things other then lights with just filament lamps in them.
S serraavaMember
They have what are known as DMX switches, which simply turn on and off the lights. Some dimmer packs have this built into them, but you have to be careful. The thing that fries the motors/ballasts are the SCR's and Chokes in the dimmer packs. See this thread where I explain all about dimmers and their effects on non-filament sources. It is quite a bit of reading though and has some math in it Wink.

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