Dimmers

[Alpha]

I've always liked a the Dig 6 Dimmer by Strand, mainly because thats what we always used to hire, but they seem to have stoped making them, im at the stage where I'm looking to purchase some dimmers for a small school and am looking for something similar to the Dig 6 which is portable aka non fixed and will run off the 13 Amp. Any suggestions?

 

Also I beg people not to say Alpha Pack

[Paul J Need]

Also I beg people not to say Alpha Pack

 

I promise not to say Alpha, Alpha.

 

I'm still a very big fan of the betapack 3, especially since Zero added MCB's; great little dimmer, great value for money and of course..... made in the UK!

[Bryson]

Why not Alpha Packs? Just wondered.....

 

It wouldn't work anyway, as I suspect that you need 6 ways of dimming per pack (and you're only planning to use 500w on each channel, right?) given that you used to hire Digi6's.

 

I don't think (does anyone know for sure) if Lightprocessor still do the Paradime dimmers that were identical to Digi6s, but it's worth looking - or if they do a replacement product I have an installation of the Paradimes that's still doing very well after 5 years.

 

Otherwise, in the same price/features bracket as the old Digi6's, there's always the Zero 88 Betapack 3, or you could try out Strands new offering, the 6pack. I've no experience of the Strand Dimmer, though, although they are both convection cooled, a major advantage over the Digi6 if you have to site the dimmers anywhere where they could be heard.

[paulears]

Although the Strand Digi range are no more - they were really Lightprocessor paradims, re-badged, and they are still available. info here

[Bryson]

That site: last updated 16/10/03. So possibly not. Better call and check!

[Alpha]

Also I beg people not to say Alpha Pack

 

I promise not to say Alpha, Alpha.

 

I'm still a very big fan of the betapack 3, especially since Zero added MCB's; great little dimmer, great value for money and of course..... made in the UK!

 

Thanks for all your opinions guys, funily enough I've been doing a lot of pricing up off your site paul, had a few LED pars off you last week, everyones impressed so far, my only question is will they be ok running off 13amp, I personaly cant see a reason why ive cut plugs off dimmers and put 13amps on em or got 63->13amp converters in the past but a mate said it wasnt a good idea, any ideas on this?

[Ike]

When you spec cables it's normal to say the plug first then the socket so what you need is a 13-->63A. This is safe and the worst you're going to do is blow the fuse should you try and draw too much current.

[Paul J Need]

my only question is will they be ok running off 13amp, I personaly cant see a reason why ive cut plugs off dimmers and put 13amps on em or got 63->13amp converters in the past but a mate said it wasnt a good idea, any ideas on this?

I cannot see any problem with running a dimmer from a 13A source ( we do it a lot on smaller jobs); so long as you know the limitations of the power supply. You have 3,000w to play with at any one time. I would suggest using a 13A RCD (30mA) rather than a normal 13A plug just to add a little more protection.

 

One more thing to bare in mind; the cable gland on this size of dimmer is designed to accept a much larger cable so using a peice of 3-core 1.5mm will 'float' about in the gap. You need to sort out a cable tie or reduce the gland aperture to prevent any cable strain.

[paulears]

Lightprocessor cheerfully say the web site "is rubbish" - however, they can service the old 'Strand' versions, supply parts and still have very similar things in the range - just give them a call - I spoke to them a minute ago, and they are really helpful.

 

I've got a pile of their dimmers in a rack at a venue I look after, they have been rock solid, and to be honest, they were rather simple to put in - even wiring the soca outlets to the panel was quite painless!

[Alpha]

my only question is will they be ok running off 13amp, I personaly cant see a reason why ive cut plugs off dimmers and put 13amps on em or got 63->13amp converters in the past but a mate said it wasnt a good idea, any ideas on this?

I cannot see any problem with running a dimmer from a 13A source ( we do it a lot on smaller jobs); so long as you know the limitations of the power supply. You have 3,000w to play with at any one time. I would suggest using a 13A RCD (30mA) rather than a normal 13A plug just to add a little more protection.

 

One more thing to bare in mind; the cable gland on this size of dimmer is designed to accept a much larger cable so using a peice of 3-core 1.5mm will 'float' about in the gap. You need to sort out a cable tie or reduce the gland aperture to prevent any cable strain.

 

So maybe a 63amp to 13amp convertor would be whats needed, a little messy I know but I suppose if we ever did take it to a venue with 63amp sockets it would be ready to use.

[J Pearce]

Leave a 63A plug on your dimmer, and then carry a 13A plug to 63A socket adaptor.

 

That way if you ever do bigger stuff, you can use your dimmers full loading capability. It would also make it easier if you ever had to hire a dimmer whilst yours was in repair or similar.