partyanimallighting

I'm booked to travel to Miami for a few days at the end of June. Maybe shipping will be easier for you that way. Your decision.

Hi timsabre, is Q14 the "micro" you are referring to? Is it that this particular component is on the 12V leg and should be reading 12VDC and not 5VDC? Or is the "micro" you are referring to (datasheet just downloaded) the H11 L1 optoisolator adjacent to the SN75176? I ran a diode check on the H11 L1 just in case (powered up) and I'm getting readings in both directions on pins 1 and 2 and as far as I know, that's not consistent with a proper diode reading. I also checked voltages from pin 5 to pins 4 and 6 and got 5V at pin 6, which seems correct, but only 0.3V at pin 4. If you are actually referring to H11 L1 as the possible problem component, why would I get correct voltage readings of 12V and 5V at the ribbon terminal input on the control board? As for using an optoisolated DMX splitter, I do use them with each and every console when I'm out on jobs or installations but in this case, it'll be just another piece of equipment on the work desk taking up valuable space so........ In reference to the "micro", I always state here in each of my posts in this forum that I am in no way familiar with all the terms and jargon but I follow instructions and advice well hence my attempts to repair my defunct units and I have received so much help from you guys and because of this help, I have resuscitated so many of my units and I am indeed very grateful.

I'm a bit of a hoarder so I might have a spare handle lying around that could work. An exact measurement, hole center to hole center, will help. If I do have on that will work, it's yours but.......I'm all the way in the West Indies so shipping charges may cause your eyes and other orifices to bleed severely. Up to you.......

Hi Wizards, I encountered an issue with my Elation Scene Setter dimming console a couple months ago and I've finally gotten some time to put up a post to get some advice (actually because I have a spare console so I just stuffed the problematic console in a corner). This problematic dimming console is on a slide out drawer under my work desk and I use it only for testing units so it's not abused in any way. Anyways, I was testing an LED PAR a while back and I detected the lovely smell of burnt components coming from the console. It then died completely, no power, no LED's, no display, so then and there I opened it up to find the source of the smell. It so happened that the 8 pin SN75176 on the power board was completely fried so I figured that was the only issue, removed the bad IC, put in an IC socket (for future burnouts), put in a new transceiver and powered up and..........nothing. I did some testing tonight (finally decided to take a stab at it) and voltages at the ribbon cable feeding the control board from the power board seem to be fine. I'm getting 12VDC at the "POWER IN" and 5VDC at the "+5V" terminals and the readings are the same on the LM7805 so it seems the blowout damaged a component on the control board. I did some further probing at the ribbon terminal input on the control board and diodes D107 and D108 appear to be fine, also I'm getting 5V on each leg of Q14 and I also checked voltages at the backup battery (3.3V). I'm kind of stumped from there as I'm thinking maybe 74HC573D below the terminal may be faulty? Or maybe the 40 pin microcontroller on the flip side? I'd really appreciate some help to get this test unit up and running as I don't want to waste the slide out drawer that I installed to hold this unit as the other unit I'm using for testing does not fit! 😁

Hi all, indyld yes, the vast majority use these bi-metal thermostats to control overheating and in some of the cheaper models, a "normally open" is used to send 120V to the pump. Stuart91, I remember years ago a cheapo machine melted completely and the molten aluminum poured out the vent holes in the bottom of the machine. Spectacular to say the least. This was a real cheapo model and the heater block was not in a metal case but simply wrapped in fiberglass insulation and PVC tape. Jivemaster, the both thermostats in the unit I'm fiddling with were pretty scorched so I'm unable to decipher what's the temperature rating. I think I'll buy a range starting from around 120 degrees Celsius up to 170 degrees Celsius and test. Any and everyone correct me if I'm wrong but the lower the temperature rating of the thermostat, the faster the fog machine will cycle off once the fluid cools down the fluid block. The higher the temperature rating, the greater chance of the heater block overheating and melting. KevinE, that's correct. The thermostats are normally mounted on a flat little plate bolted directly onto the heater and the 120V feeding the heater is connected in series across this. And I do recall there are sometimes one thermostat and sometimes two. My question is, how will the pump be triggered with only one thermostat? This thermostat will normally cut 120V supply to the heater when it reaches operating temperature but how does the pump receive 120V via the same feed when this thermostat cuts power? If it's wired before the thermostat the pump can be triggered at anytime via the switch/remote which is not normal operating procedure. If it's after the thermostat it won't receive 120V to be triggered. How is it wired? This here is why I would install the "normally open" thermostat (of the same value) parallel with the 120V heater feed to trigger the pump. Does this seem correct?

Hi indyld, I remember having a few of those Chroma-Q's. The LED's were basically just an LED diode plate in a housing with a long cable leading back to the central controller and I believe you selected your DMX adresses at this controller. I'll open up one of the sticks and see what it's all about. What's baffling is only 4 pins. Unless the shield is used as a common ground between 12V or 24V in and DMX ground. Is this possible? That would leave the 4 XLR pins to send 12V or 24V power and individual R, G and B control. I'll know more when I disassemble.

Hi all, quick question. These cheaper fog machines that use bi-metal thermostats to control the heater and pump, what degree rating would be adequate or correct for individual 800 Watt, 1000 Watt and 1200 Watt models? The "normally closed" thermostat feeds the heater and, when it reaches adequate temperature, it opens cutting off the 120V supply to the heater. Then there's a "normally open" thermostat that feeds the pump and this closes at temperature (I'm assuming the same operating temperature as the heater thermostat, just "normally open" instead of "normally closed") to feed 120V to the pump. I know if the trigger temperature is too high the heater block can overheat and actually melt so we don't want this happening do we? Is there a magic formula to calculate this? Voltage ~ Watts ~ Amps ~ Degrees Celsius?

Well, lots of responses, all within my frame of thought, especially JPearce's references to magic smoke! The thing is, I'm giving my storage a thorough rinse out and I hate to throw out stuff that can actually be recycled and reused (case in point, this LED driver, kept for "when I have some time to get to it"). I found another two X-Powers in a box but on testing, these have output problems so I'll be trying to repair these soon so I'll be digging into the driver circuits and will be posting pix. As for the sticks I found, I can't remember how they were driven but the box lists them as 12VDC and there's a 4 pin XLR connector in and out, nothing else. There are also dip switches for DMX addressing on the back of the unit so a good question would be (seeing that I can't remember) what supplies the 12V to these units? There will be R, G and B feeds and + accounting for the 4 pins in the XLR but how are these sticks powered? As I said, I can't remember but I "believe" that they were driven by a central controller box with 4 pin XLR outputs. I'll open one of these sticks up and post pix but I'm hoping I can bypass the DMX circuitry in each stick and drive the LED diode PCB directly with the X-Power.

Hi guys, I thought it wise to throw this out there for some feedback before I actually test the modification I'm thinking of attempting. Now......I found an old Acclaim Lighting X-Power PRO LED driver in storage that was swapped out eons ago from a restaurant install and I decided to do some poking around to see if I could get it up and running. It seems that there was a solder short on the AC line on the main PCB and that was an easy enough fix and the unit's up and running again. Somewhat obsolete yes but fully functional. Now here's the mod I'm thinking about. The unit has 6 outputs at 1050mA each at 24VDC and the six outputs are driven by a 24VDC 150W 6.25A power supply, simple enough math. Here's the thing. I found a few boxes of LED tubes running on 12VDC (really old stuff using 3MM diodes I think) and I'm thinking of swapping out the 24VDC PSU in the X-Power PRO and replacing it with a 12VDC 20A PSU (there should be enough space to fit it) and try to drive the 12VDC tubes with this. Now, at 20A, I'll be able to drive a lot more of the 12V tubes than the original six 1A outputs that the X-Power is rated to drive, which was 6 x 18W RGB units or 3 x 36W units. I'm assuming the important question here is if the driver board in the X-Power Pro can handle the increased amperage (from 6.25A up to 20A, albeit 12VDC down from the original 24VDC). Anyone out there thinks this will work?

Hi indyld, I fully understand where you're coming from. I really did not fully check all the issues and I really should have check all of the PCB's attributes before assuming that it was only a shutter driver issue and changing out the driver. If I make some time, I'll do as you suggested and remove the new driver and see how the PCB responds and continue probing from there.

Well, I just put in the found PCB and the unit is fully functional. Now it'll be packed away with the other working units probably for another 4 years. However, I'm still interested in getting the defective PCB working again and packing it away for later use.

Hi indyld, all three motors controlled by the PCB are non-functional. As I mentioned above, when the unit eventually resets after trying to clear the error messages, all motor functions (SHUTTER FLAGS, FROST, COLOR WHEEL) can be easily turned by hand without any motor tension so I believe the problem is the microprocessor and not the driver IC but I will wait for your advice on this. I can't recall if I checked the FROST initially via DMX when the problem first occurred because I was focusing on the obvious problem, the closed shutter but this was over 3 weeks ago so I can't really recall. I did find another PCB in the warehouse today with a date of 2019 so I'll try this PCB in a bit to see if it's functional. Even if this found PCB is functional, I would still like to get the problematic PCB repaired and stored away as a spare so I'm going to continue troubleshooting.

Here's the update. As suggested, I pulled the PCB and retested all traces from the 4 pin shutter terminal to the relevant pins on the L6225 and continuity was fine. I retested this PCB in the working unit and double checked the homing of the motors (from top to bottom, SHUTTER, COLOR and FROST and the issue still exists and the unit takes forever to home as it continuously resets trying to clear the error codes. So I swapped around the terminals as you suggested (COLOR into SHUTTER etc) and there were the obvious error messages in the display and no tension in either of the three motors. I then put the terminals back in their correct positions and restarted and monitored for motor movement during the homing process. There is no movement except for the FROST and that is caused by gravity during the homing process and not motor movement. When the unit eventually resets all three motors can be moved by hand with no tension and every other function not performed by this PCB (PAN, TILT, GOBO, PRISM) works fine. I do recall that on the night that the units were used, I did open up this unit to check and the shutter was in a closed position and when I opened the shutter by hand, the unit went into a lengthy reset process but never functioned via DMX but I believe that the color wheel was functioning at that time. So now I'm thinking my poking around fried the microprocessor that was faulty to begin with.

Hi all! I ran into an issue will one of my Terbly PT-160B 5R beams (Golden Sea) recently and I thought it best to post the issue to find a solution. Please don't knock me too harshly but upon checking back, the last time these units came out of their flight cases was in 2017 but they have been stored in cases in a safe dry environment and the reason they were out of use was because I moved onto smaller lighter LED spots for all my smaller jobs. Anywayssss, I finally pulled them out for a job and surprisingly, all worked fine (except for the ONE). I was fully expecting lamp or ballast failures but I encountered no issues throughout the night that they were used (except for the ONE). Onto the ONE in question. The unit started up fine with no issues and no RESET errors but the shutter refused to open so I simply did not use it that night. I did some testing on the unit and the SHUTTER motor resets fine but refuses to open under DMX command or in AUTO function. I checked the harness wires from the motor to the PCB and there are no breaks, full continuity. I then swapped out the driver PCB in question with one from a working unit and the unit functioned fine so the problem is the driver PCB. So I lifted the heatsink off the driver IC that feeds the terminal to the shutter and it's L6225. So I had some of these lying around so I swapped out the IC and reinstalled but the issue was not resolved, in fact, it's completely different now. Before I was getting a glitch in the gobo wheel and no shutter control and the shutter was closed. Now I'm getting no color and no shutter but the shutter remains open. I would think that, if the issue was not the L6225 and it was replaced, the problem would not change. So now I'm thinking that maybe it's a microcontroller issue or issue with the 20 pin 74HC73D IC?? The working unit, although it's the identical model, has an additional terminal going into the third red input at the top of the PCB but the problematic unit does not have this terminal. However, the working PCB works fine in the problematic unit. I'm considering swapping out the 28 pin microcontroller to see if this is the cause of the problem but I DO NOT want to screw up this functioning PCB before I get some advice/guidance. Any feedback or assistance would be great. The shutter motor terminal is top left white.

So the badly scorched area is basically rebuilt using, I'm assuming, a fast drying epoxy mix and the reroute the burnt traces using wires and then resealing with UV epoxy. Hmmmmm......I'll file this away for future reference.

Hey guys, I'm wondering if I can convert some older MSD250 moving heads to 5R/7R? Has anyone here ever tried this? Here are my assumptions and feel free to correct me harshly if I'm wrong. From what I can reason, the 5R systems run independently of the main boards/driver boards of most units. Upon startup, the display sends/receives a signal from the ballast via a 5 wire harness when the lamp strikes and the lamp remains on constantly, similar to the MSD250 so the existing main board / driver boards with not be affected by the lamp. I'm assuming the issues will be as follows: 1. Proper cooling of the Platinum lamp (VERY IMPORTANT!!). 2. Replacing the lamp housing from the existing MSD to Platinum 5R. This may be a little tricky and will involve removing the existing lamp reflector and also I'll have to get some metal work done, not impossible. Another question, why stop at 5R, why not step up to 10R? Once I can assure that the fan is properly cooled and a thermostat is in place in the event that ###### happens. 3. Scrapping out of the existing HEAVY ballast/transformer/ignitor system and replacing these heavy components with a compatible PSU to drive the fans, mainboard and 5R ballast. The existing main board will probably have an 18VAC or 20VAC input from the voltage transformer which then converts to DC so I could make a direct DC connection from the PSU to the main board once voltages are confirmed. 4. Most importantly, that 5 wire harness from the ballast to the display. I can't replace the original display with something from a 5R/7R unit as the functions between the two displays will be completely different. How do I work around this? Anything else I should consider here? Remember, this is just a thought to recycle some old usable units

Sorry about the lack of a response but we're in the middle of our Carnival season after a hiatus of 2 years so things have gotten really crazy very quickly and a severe lack of sleep and rampant exhaustion seems to be the order of the day. When everything dies down I'll refresh this post. My apologies.

If it's 9 diodes then they're probably run in series on the diode plate and once one or more colors on a diode fails, the entire bank will not produce that particular color. It could also be either a faulty harness or failed driver on the mainboard but it's probably a blown diode. At least it's only 9 diodes to check and not 40+. Disassemble and once you have access to the diode plate, meter each diode in continuity mode and the diode that doesn't have green output, that's your culprit.

I've just been tearing apart a few Colorado TRI IP's and they seem to be really easy to deal with but I'm not sure if your model is similar. The lens plate comes off with 8 3MM Allen bolts and the plate and lens can be lifted off. If it's stuck just do some jiggling/slight knocking and that should loosen it. Then the diode plate assembly can be unscrewed in the same way, 8 3MM Allen bolts. This may also be seized up a bit but same as above, a little jiggling should loosen it. Then there should be three leads to the diode plate, two large ones that feed the diode plate itself and a small one for a thermostat. Unplug all of these but number the two larger terminals (please). Once the plate is lifted you'll see the driver board and the power supply mounted to the chassis on a metal bracket held in place by four Phillips screws. Take the entire assembly out and you have access to the AC and DMX input/output cables. The damaged AC cable can be pulled through by slackening the Rhyno bushing on the back of the chassis and pulling the cable through to the inside of the unit. If there's enough length, simply cut away the bad piece and reconnect using the existing wire connectors and after tightening up the wire connectors, shoot a bead of sealant inside each one to make sure that they don't loosen and fall off. You can then test the AC in and out feeds for continuity and then reassemble.

Wow!!! That's some damage!! I'm not familiar with the internals of the unit but I have seen a few in clubs where I worked in the past and the build seemed to be quite good. I'm guessing that the fan pulls heat off the diode plate and vents through the back of the unit and the heat and crud buildup seems to be on the edges of the PCB and I'm sure it's a thermostatically controlled fan so there's not much you can do as far as upgrading the cooling. In your first picture, which seems to be the one with the least damage, would you actually make an attempt to repair the PCB? It seems pretty badly scorched and I would not attempt to rerun traces etc because I would think there's a high rate of future failure. And you're saying that just a heavy buildup of crud caused all this? I've seen some filthy units in the past, coated in grime, fans spinning at around 2 RPM because of dust buildup, PCB's literally covered in a thick layer of dust, and yet club owners do not see the sense or value of regular servicing.

Hi guys!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! It's me again. I've got four RH1's that, besides ongoing issues with fans etc have served me quite well since 2018. One however, went down about 6 months before Covid struck and I initially narrowed the problem down to the MH078E driver board (via swapout with a working MH078E driver board) but I did nothing else over the past couple years to be honest. There's no zoom, focus or shutter function from this driver board and the PCB is over US$130.00 from Chauvet (for a simple enough PCB with 5 drivers) so repairing this PCB is the way to go for me. Now, this faulty PCB has been sitting down for the past couple years waiting for me to test it and I finally decided to make a real effort to sort it out finally. So I have the faulty PCB and I also removed a working PCB to compare. I did some probing and all the components seem to be fine via comparison readings across both boards (not powered up) with the exception of the VP3082 transceiver which seems to have shorted out. So once again I'm looking for a guiding hand (or hands) to get the unit up and running again. Powering up the unit with the PCB installed to check voltages on the various components will be a bit much so my first question is, could I just connect the faulty PCB to a 24VDC source (the rated input voltage to the PCB is 28VDC) and test the voltages this way or do I run the risk of damaging the faulty PCB even more? I don't see an issue with this but I just want to be sure, just in case.

I myself have purchased horrible products from some Chinese companies (let's just say the temptation was price) and I've bought products from OEM companies that have been bulletproof over many years. Case in point, I bought some outdoor rated LED PAR's from an OEM company back in 2012 I believe. To date, after 10 years, I have changed 1 or 2 power supplies and maybe 2 or 3 current amperage PCB's over the course of time. And, being one of the larger OEM companies, even after a few years, parts are still readily available. Then.......I've bought PAR's from another company and these units failed after only a couple of jobs, blown diodes, overheating issues etc and I got absolutely no recourse from that company. Once you find a good product from a reliable company, stick with them, strengthen the business relationship and don't stray away because of better pricing for a similar product from another company. If you do stray, don't make a big investment at one shot. Buy a couple samples and test them rigorously. There will probably be issues because, if the pricing is cheaper, that company is cutting costs somewhere.

Yup. The sound active programming on the Martins would be completely different and the master/slave scenario definitely would not work. If you're already running them in a Master/Slave configuration via DMX cable connection maybe it's time to look at DMX control for all seven? They would look great via DMX control and you could pick up a used controller and start programming away. I picked up a used Elation Show Designer 1 on eBay recently for $80.00 and that's a great controller to start with. Then there's the dongle option and I've started dabbling around with ADJ MyDMX 3.0 recently and it has a lot of features and programming is a breeze to learn. They're a bit pricey, I think around $300.00 but not bad at all, EXCEPT if you have bad eyesight. There's no way to adjust font size on the software and this is on a dark background so......

I could not have found the problem without the help I received here from you guys. Thanks again!!!

Well, I got the optocoupler today in PIN-8 and not SOP-8 form factor so I did some careful bending and cutting of the pins and installed it on the DMX PCB. I then installed the PCB back in the hazer, plugged in an XLR and the unit heated up and cycled on , displaying the DMX address, something that was not happening before. I'm figuring because when the opto was faulty, it was going into MANUAL mode and not DMX mode. Long story short, it's working perfectly now. I just have to give the unit a clean up and it's back on the shelf, waiting on it's next performance!! YOU GUYS!!! Thanks for everything!!!