Mac 250 Entour dimmer fault

[Rowan]

I have 6 of the above lights in a rig. They are all controlled by a Pearl 2004.

I run them at a FX speed of 100% because I want them to black out when I change the colours and gobo's. My problem is that after a few seconds of running a fast dimmer chase, some of the lanterns will blackout completely and not come on again. I tried locating the fixtures and this seemed to sort the problem out but was a bit annoying in the middle of a show. After a bit of investigating, I discovered that the way to get around the problem was to lower the FX speed and then bring it back up again. It is only a few of the fixtures that are doing this, the others are always fine. Does anybody have any idea why this is happening?

[ceecrb1]

just asking for total clarity... (think I know the answer is a NO)

and none of them start up with any errors?

 

with some sensor errors macs will display an error on screen but carry on working "as normal" ...

[Rowan]

You are right, none of them start with any errors.

[Philrichmond]

Does anybody have any idea why this is happening?

 

The main thing to check is software. The 250 entours were notorious for having funny dimmer and shutter problems in early releases. Latest version for 250en is 1.8.0

 

Note the following changes that have been made below,

 

Changes since 1.4.3:

 

* Bootloader added and upload procedure improved.

* New reset implemented that uses feedback for better accuracy.

* Strobe/Pulse performance improved.

* Blackout while moving improved.

* Color Blackout function added, uses color 6 as COLB.

* Prism in/out acceleration reduced to prevent head shaking after change.

* Pan/Tilt feedback turn-off improved.

* Prism and rotation gobo no longer indexes when stopped.

* Effect feedback now corrects step-loss on the fly for color, gobo and rotation gobo.

* MP2 interface implemented.

* When lamp is on, the fan regulator can no longer turn the fans off completely; they will not regulate below 30%

* Extra unused fan set to 30% PWM instead of 100% as before.

* When fixture enters "explosion mode", all DMX communication is disabled. DMX is re-enabled after a manual lamp strike.

* Lamp HOT time changed to 10 minutes.

* Writes message DISP - PROG before updating display firmware. DO NOT SWITCH FIXTURE OFF.

* During HOT/LERR the dimmer will remain shut.

* Menu can now be entered during reset, but MAN,TSEQ and UTIL menus are blocked during reset.

* Menu short-cuts added, LampOn, LampOff, Reset and P/T disable.

* Display now shows SRST during software reset.

* Service menu reworked.

* DMXL menu reworked to support both 16BT and 16EX DMX layout.

* EFSP (Effect speed) Menu Added.

* STUD (Studio) Menu Added.

* TSEQ facelift.

* UTIL/PCBT menu now works (FOR SERVICE USE ONLY (really!)).

* Flashing cursor when entering the ADDR menu

* Implemented jump to ch. 1 using "UP" + "ENTER" keys in ADDR menu

* All ON/OFF menus require ENTER key confirmations to change values

* All menu wrap-around implemented

* ...and a lot of other minor adjustments/improvments.

 

If you have an MP2 it is faily easy to upload the new software, you can do it via the DMX line which means no de-rigging! If you can't get hold of one I would be happy to lend you ours!

 

Is this of any help?

 

Phil.

[hippocrocaphant]

Also check you have the latest fixture profile for the pearl, there have been a few issues with Entours and Pearls

[zonino]

I had a very similar problem with Pearl/250ENs, the solution was upgrading the 250EN software to 1.8.0

 

the temporary fix should be altering the Pearl Fixture Profile so it uses the range of 0-99 on shutter, rather than 0-100 (it worked for me)

[Rowan]

Cheers for the replies, I'll pass it on to the Chief Electrician in the venue and see what he says.