Littlite XLR3 Pin-out

[peternewman]

I want to wire up a pair of Littlites I got hold of which are currently on bare ends, firstly am I right in thinking XLR3 is one of the most common connectors for them? Secondly what pin-out is used most frequently on XLR3?

[broadcast_techie]

found in http://www.pulloff.ch/documents/Express_Tw...User_Manual.pdf on page 323

Pinout for Littlites

1 Chassis ground

2 Dimming leg

3. + 12 Vdc

Connect the light between pins 2 and 3.

Hope that helps!

 

Kris

[peternewman]

Thanks for that Kris. Can anyone confirm if this is standard, or is it an ETC only thing? I'm guessing it is given the fact they don't mention specific types of Littlites, but some confirmation would be nice.

[dbuckley]

On the littlites website there is a downloadable document that says which littlite model you need for loads of different bits of kit. You can pick the XLR3 pinout you fancy from the list :huh:

[mumbles]

On the littlites website there is a downloadable document that says which littlite model you need for loads of different bits of kit.

Here it is as a clicky. :huh:

[ed_]

Of particular interest is the fact that Avo use a different pin-out. Putting an Avo gooseneck in an ETC desk will have a negative effect on the external 12V supply fuse and also shorts one of the pins to chassis ground, causing the power supply to go into self-protect shutdown. I found out the hard way...

[broadcast_techie]

I never realised that the humble desk lamp could cause so many probs...

 

Personally I'm confused about the 'dimming leg' but am sure it will come clear after some electronics reading.

 

Kris

[Peter Chivers]

Just to add an side line on desk lights, beware of using the generic 'DJ mixer' lights on some proper desks - for example a Yamaha MG 24/14FX - because these generic lights ground one side of the lamp to the chassis of the XLR, it also shorts out part of the Desk electronics and blows an internal supply fuse .

But otherwise have a very Happy Christmas everyone.

[Ben Langfeld]

Regarding the Yamaha MG series, I've found the cheapo lights do actually work. I discovered this by accident when someone plugged a cheap lamp into an MG32 and didn't bother to read the label. It worked ok for about 30 seconds until I noticed, and did no damage to the desk. I have had these same cheap lamps cause a FatFrog to reset itself when they're moved though. Not something you want to discover in the middle of a show. Moral of the story: buy Littlites.

[peternewman]

Thanks guys, for some daft reason I didn't even consider looking on the Littlite website. Although for some reason it doesn't work on IE7 anyway. Anyway thanks for the help everyone, I'll have to try and remember to watch out for the Avo Littlites.

[Tomo]

Littlite Pinout used on ETC desks:

 

1) Not Connected or Chassis Ground (depending on console)

2) 0v

3) 12v

 

The 'dimming leg' refers to the fact that pin 2 isn't actually directly on 0v, as the desk can dim the light.

So there is some electronics between 'real' 0v and Pin 2 on the XLR that does this dimming.

Most of the time it doesn't matter though.

 

If the Littlite you have is a filament lamp, then it just has to go between pins 2 and 3 - doesn't matter which way.

LEDs have to be the right way around.

 

As for the cheap stick lights - lots of them use the metal shell of the arm as the return conductor.

And on some of them, this ends up connecting the console chassis (RF) ground to a 'dimmed' connection, which makes for Interesting Times.

[Peter Chivers]

Regarding the Yamaha MG series, I've found the cheapo lights do actually work.

 

I came across the issue when a desk was brought in from a cabaret venue as 'stopped working' while the Yamaha rep just happened to be there :D . It was he who told us about the problem, which fuse would be blown and how to get at it, and he was spot on, so I can only assume that they must have come across the problem before.

When the desk was brought in, we were told by the venue engineer that they had been using it for a while before it failed, so how long you can get away with it before failure I don't know.