Hello



Ok basically I am doing a show in Kingston College and the LX designer wanted two par can booms on either side of the wings. We had a limited amount of patch bays so he told me to use a fan in on one set of par cans going to soccer. On the other end I went from the soccer to fan out I then grelcoed each one up. Then I attached the other set of par cans to the grelco after that I went out from each grelco to TRS straight to the patch bays. Now heres the problem the par cans keep on blowing? And ideas



Thanks Ian

What's the load you've plugged in to each dimmer? Is the dimmer capable of supplying that load?

I dont find you post entirely clear, but it would appear that you have at least 2 and possibly 4 PARs on each dimmed circuit.
If these are 500 watt lamps and 10 amp dimmers then that should be fine.
If they are smaller dimmers or larger lamps then you may have a problem.

Whats blowing, the PAR lamps? or the dimmer fuses?

If the dimmer fuses are blowing then thats most likely due to the dimmer being overloaded, carefully check the number and wattage of lamps per dimmer channel.

If the PAR lamps are blowing, then overloaded dimmers or cabling wont cause that! indeed the resultant voltage drop would actually INCREASE the lamp life.
The most likely causes of lamp failure are
1) expiration of normal service life, lamps possibly all replaced together and dying together.
2) excessive mechanical shock and vibration
3) inferior or fake lamps
4)220 volt or 230 volt lamps used on our supply which in practice is still usually 240 volts.

If the lamps are failing instantly, make certain that they are not 110/120 volt lamps intended for series operation.
High supply voltage will shorten lamp life and is worth checking, but is not a common problem.

Soca(pex), not "soccer".

Sounds to me like the Pars are 120V versions, Or batch of cheap Chinese fakes.

If the OP pm's me I can suggest a good local supplier in the Teddington / Kingston area.