Harvey_51 Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Hi Using two mac 500's for a show next week they have been working fine for the last few days but now they are tripping the RCD. They will turn on fine and begin to reset but after a few seconds the RCD trips. Does any one have any ideas on what is causing this? Thanks Jordan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Such things can be a pain to solve. Can you eliminate to one unit in particular? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoLiEn Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 oh Macs and power trips, firstly, make sure that nothing else has been plugged into the same phase/ringmain as your macs. if your macs are in a grid this is less likely, but still possible. I know KAVE have had problems before where catering have come along and been a pain in the ass and nicked power plugging in a tea urn for the crew backstage from a socket on stage or something like that. if thats not it, check all connections make sure they are not loose. which venue are you at Jordan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey_51 Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 Hi I have now worked out which one it is. I am not at the venue yet they are going next week (I have edited orignal post). I have pluged then into a ring main with nthing else on it and they still trip. I will go and check all connections now. Jordan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Quite possibly a mains filter capacitor gone leaky. Or of course there may be a significant fault that needs looking at by a technician with the experience, circuits and tools to diagnose and fix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey_51 Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 Hi, Had a look at the connections in the 16A plug and they are fine. I will get it looked at. is it likely to be the mac? Jordan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceecrb1 Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Mac/ robotics tripping mains, usually is a rectifier needing replaced.With the mac 2000´s (not seen inside a 500 in enough detail to comment, sorry) there are 2, one in the ballast and one on the motherboard. They are square items, sometimes with a heatsink, with four large "legs" one marked with a +, one with a - and the other 2 with a "wave".An example of a rectifierThe easiest way to "narrow it down" (its not really a conclusive test) for this, IF there are 2, like in the 2k, is disconnect (eg) the ballast from supply, and power up the fixture, and repeat for the motherboard (but with ballast connected), whichever does not trip the mains, is good.I´m expecting you´ll find it is the ballast.. its more common than the motherboard.Other problem causers inside ballasts are little 3pin "chips" you´ll find screwed to metalwork to disipate heat.. I´m not going to go into the circuitry as I´m feeling its probably a little of an information-overload and best handled by a repair tech. The ballast will take power even if the lamp is not fired up so the ballast rectifier can/will trip the mains. Other culprits, which to be honest are more common in other fixtures, are burnt supply cables to the lamp (ie bulb-lamp.. not fixture-lamp). where the ballast tries to ignite the lamp and it sends a really nice high voltage shock from the ignitor into the earth! It could, as stated above, also be a capacitor, however these generally just create an open-circuit (dead end for those who dont understand), and in that case dont flip circuit breakers, but do nothing. Having said that yes it CAN be a capacitor, its just more common for them to heat up, expand and "do nothing". Can you give me a little more info. Does it flip the breakers the moment power is supplied or when you try and strike the lamp?? Edit: Just noticed you did actually say its after a few seconds, I´ll bet the lamp auto-striks..99.99999% sure your problem will be the ballast, or lamp-circuit related. Do they make a "crack" noise (like normal when striking the lamp) as they go off? if so its likely to be a burnt and open cable... (ie ballast works fine)If not, it will be the ballst for sure. In Larger HMI´s (eg strands 6k´s) an old lamp can flip breakers as they need more power than the fixture/breaker is rated for, to keep working.... however I´m not sure in a smalller fixture how much this could be relavent. The pain for you is that the repair cost will vary greatly depending on who looks at the fixture. a GOOD tech should be able to spot the component failing and swap it, this is cheapest but you will pay the hours of a good tech!!!!A average - decent tech will spot the "module" which needs replaced (eg ballast or motherboard) and do a straight swap... cheaper tech but more expensive parts..bit of a catch 22. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harvey_51 Posted February 3, 2008 Author Share Posted February 3, 2008 Hi As soon as the power is supplied it trips. they were working fine yesturday and when I went to turn them on today they started tripping it. I havent moved them at all so I dont think any connections have come lose Jordan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceecrb1 Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 They will turn on fine and begin to reset but after a few seconds the RCD trips. As soon as the power is supplied it trips. Ok I need you to clear this up then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Things often happen without good reason. Depending on how confident you are I would start to look for any obvious internal connection problems, beginning with base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceecrb1 Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 I would find it very unlikely to be a connection problem at the supply end (entrance) of the fixture in this case.Mostly as the OP states they worked and there was no physical movement/change to the fixtures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoLiEn Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Jordan, ring KAVE in the morning, Chris is the guy who can find and fix any fault, macs included. if you hired them from kave then at the very least they might beable to replace the dodgy one.. if it is a case of getting it looked at, ring Kave and see what they can do... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niclights Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 Mostly as the OP states they worked and there was no physical movement/change to the fixtures. Everything works until it goes wrong! I have plenty of fixtures that don't go anywhere, but they all go wrong at some point ;) It could be vibration. It could be heat. Whichever, it would be foolish to rule out a possibility without investigating first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonino Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 or martin technical support, they'd be a good source of info ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoLiEn Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 yes they would, but as kave are local to him, and chris is martin qualified ( I think, memory is ######) might be quicker. besides, if they are hired, then kave MAY BE ABLE/ WILLING to substitue it. its not up to me, as im only there at weekends. but who knows! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.