pritch Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Need help here. I've got some Coda 4s on hire at the moment, three of them daisy chained off each other. If I plug one of the channels in to a dimmer, it won't go out.. The other three channels are fine. If I plug the faulty channel into a different dimmer, even a different phase, I have the same issue. They were fine yesterday! Any ideas? Advice appreciated before the second act tonight would be especially appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 When you say "daisy chained" I'm assuming some sort of multiway connector. If so, is there any chance that they are wired oddly; requiring a sequence of A - B - C, but you've got A - C - B. I can't quite see how this would give your described fault, but I'm otherwise at a loss. Have you tried a different lantern in the dimmer? How about hot power to the other circuits to see if the errant one lights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share Posted April 14, 2008 Hot power to another circuit - not yet.Another lantern on the dimmer behaves itself. By daisy chained, I mean that each Coda has four male connectors and one end, and four females at the other, so you can link them together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 I'd guess that something has been mis-wired and you've got two cells wired Live to Live or similar. Or perhaps one mis-identified (1 instead of 2) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Be very careful when trying things as it may have inadvertently been wired as a widowmaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share Posted April 14, 2008 Cheers folks, from a bit of metering during the interval, it seems we've got a short between the lives on cells 1 and 4. Looks like I'm not making it to the pub tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 It might be deliberate. They may be wired for 3 colour use. Is there anything connected to cable 4? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share Posted April 14, 2008 Everything is connected, all four cables. Besides, all four cells worked independently yesterday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calder Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 If it is from a local hire company I would get them to come and fix it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulears Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 best not to leave a plug dangling in the meantime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share Posted April 14, 2008 Well, a bit more fiddling and it turned out that what we actually had was a short between live and earth, which I guess must have somehow been causing the triac on that channel to fire, hence bringing it to full. Anyway, we're going to be calling the hire company tomorrow and asking them to look at/replace it forthwith. Looks like I'm not making it to the pub tonight. I didn't make it to the pub either. Thanks a lot for all your advice, folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew C Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 And not causing your protective device (fuse/MCB/RCD) to operate? You have more problems than you think! Get the wiring checked out ASAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pritch Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 A valid point, Andrew. Seems weird though, we tend to blow fuses when a lamp goes. Wish I'd paid more attention to the resistance between live and earth when I measured it now; I'm wondering if it was a suitably high resistance that not enough current would flow to blow the fuse? However, best not to beat around the bush; I will get on to our tame electrician, and also use it as fuel for my argument with the powers that be that we really need new kit, pronto! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 The resistance won't necessarily give you the current using I=V/R as the resistance of the short and lamp is likely to change a lot with current. It could be something as simple as a polarity reversal somewhere and you actually dimming the neutral. This means you have a permanent live connection to the lanterns (another reason why you should always unplug before changing the lamp) and your earth fault could be providing an undimmed neutral givving you the permanent on. 'Course I could be barking up completely the wrong tree, either way best get it checked out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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