Thomas1987 Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Hi guys, Got a fault with a Martin Minimac - basically after running with lamp on for any amount of time (could be 20 minutes, could be 2 hours), the unit stops responding to DMX - the head judders, and the flashing dot indicating DMX receiving stops flashing. I cannot remotely reset the fixture, the only possible way to stop it is to turn it off. Its not a programming error as I've tried it with a clean desk. I suspect its due to it overheating, but I thought the lamp would simply cut out? It needs some maintainance anyway, and will probably get sent for a service in August, but it still needs to do a few months more ideally... Any particular ideas on anything else it could be? I'm going to get it down, have got a document about cleaning it, and clean the air intake etc with compressor (gently!) I suspect its had its day, but it would be great to get it working just for a few more months before it gets properly serviced. PS - I've heard cleaning a mini-mac is not pleasant! Any tips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_the_LD Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Hi and welcome to the BR. Are you terminating your DMX signal with a DMX terminator? Maybe bears no relevance at all but it's just a thought! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas1987 Posted April 30, 2008 Author Share Posted April 30, 2008 Interesting thought - currently no. Ironically the one with this fault in the main is the last one in the chain - however, there is another that has the same problem just not as regular. Another 2 with sticking shutters if you really fancy suggesting a superfix!! Haha. Cheers for your reply Tom, I will look into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berry120 Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 I've never had anything as serious as that from not using a terminator, in my (admittedly pretty limited) experience the worst I've had is minor flickering / twitching. Interesting thought though. I'd agree with the OP that it could well be an overheating problem. Do you have to leave it off for a long time before it works again? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom_the_LD Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 It may well be an overheating problem. But surely it would usually be after a similar amount of time that it shuts down. For example after 2 hours it gets hot and shuts down. The difference between 20 mins and 2 hours is quite considerable. Surely something couldn't heat up enough to shut it down in 20 mins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themadhippy Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Surely something couldn't heat up enough to shut it down in 20 mins?Try removing the fan of your computers cpu,and replace it with a 150w msd lamp,power up your pc and the lamp and see how long it is before it crashes,if it last 20 seconds I'd be impressed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinE Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 If the only way of getting any more life out of it is to power-down, its probably the micro crashing...which may indeed be heat related. I'm not implying the thing's running too hot, or over-heating; just that some component on the CPU board is failing as it warms up. For example a resonator, IC, bad joint, power supply regulator...it's a workshop job I reckon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3guk Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Sounds like it needs to be sent to the workshop, could be any number of things to be honest, and without it sat here on my desk with a multi I can't really diagnose much more than that. IIRC the minimacs are a pig to completely disassemble, and the error reporting system isn't up to much, only giving very generic errors if any the majority of the time. Might be worth just checking the intakes, if they are clogged up then get it on the bench for a service asap !! The discharge sources generate a stupid amount of heat, and in such a little fixture the fans and airtake system need to be as efficient as possible ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berry120 Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 If I recall correctly a mac 500 I used once shut itself down in around 10 minutes from heat problems. I know it's a lot bigger, but they can shut down in that sort of a time because of heat related issues. As for the range of timings, you're right it is pretty big. It might be heat related completely, not be heat related at all, or it might be a combination of heat and something on the board being a bit dodgy... My guess is it's probably the latter. Cleaning may well help it a bit, but I don't think that will sort it completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas1987 Posted April 30, 2008 Author Share Posted April 30, 2008 Yeah... the fact theres at least 2 of them with this fault is making me think heat is the only common factor. I know they haven't had a good clean since christmas, and are normally running about 10 hours a day, 4 days a week. Interestingly, last time I was working with the rig (I'm a supervisor so not as hands on as olden days) they all ran fine for about 5 hours, lamped on whilst reprogramming some stuff with noone else in the room; as soon as the room started filling, it crashed. Its all air conned, but does get a lot hotter. The whole lot will be getting a clean very shortly. As I say, they'll be going off for a service, but I'm convinced they're filthy anyway, so next on the list. Thanks for your advice all ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamtastic3 Posted April 30, 2008 Share Posted April 30, 2008 Yeah... the fact theres at least 2 of them with this fault is making me think heat is the only common factor. I know they haven't had a good clean since christmas, and are normally running about 10 hours a day, 4 days a week. Do you work/Is the Minimac in a nightclub environment at all? If so, does the club use the smoke machine alot? If yes again, then get your brush out because it could be the lack of cleaning these fixtures that's creating a problem, most probably heat build up. I work in a nightclub and I clean my fixtures every 5 weeks! No problems apart from the odd fan that likes to die (arrghhh to Miniscan fans!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas1987 Posted April 30, 2008 Author Share Posted April 30, 2008 Yeah, in a club. Since the beginning of this year, we've had a new Unique 2 hazer (which is really a fogger with a fan... very good though), so it could well be that. My only thought is (although I've never taken the minimacs apart before), I assume the controller units are in the base unit, which is a fair distance from the lamp... surprised the heat affects it. Although having said that, the macs are inverted, so the heat would rise... Yeah, well I've basically just taken a new role there full time, and want to get maintainance much stricter - 5 weeks is probably about right. We've had 4 out of 6 trackspots blow their lamps since Xmas - yes, they're ancient and I have no idea how old the lamps in them are (probably pretty old), but maybe we need to look at cutting down on smoke if this is related. Used to use a DF50, but somebody overfilled it and it is now in the storeroom in the sky... So many things to learn and to try and change! Still, I like a challenge :) Assuming I take it apart and find it dripping in oil from the Unique Hazer, whats the best way to remove it? Just brush and compressed air I imagine? Grease build up could also explain the sticking shutters as well I guess. Thanks all again for your advice. May be able to get one of the faulty ones down tomorrow and have a look... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamtastic3 Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 A couple of things... Your point about the base is a good one. It may not be heat from the head but possibly heat from the PCB? It's something I wouldn't know... Since you use a hazer, your maintenance schedule may not need to be as short as mine (we use a Magnum 2000 smoke machine and pump out about 5 litres of smoke fluid every 3 weeks!) and hopefully because your hazer is finer, you shouldn't experience oil drips in the fixures. If you do, I tend to use kithen roll and carefully remove it. Dust in fixtures should be finer with hazers than with smoke machines IMO but this also depends on your fixture's airflow design. If you are competant on basic cleaning of the fixtures then a brush and compressed air will do the trick together with a lint free cloth on the dichroics and lenses. I think the sticky shutters is probably more a heat related issue where the heat could be warping the metal to an extent that the blades may touch one another or something. Do the shutters stick when a unit is first turned on? Also, don't let old discharge lamps blow. I had a lamp blow in a Miniscan which had only done half its life and it completely took out the reflector and the condenser lense. If they are very cloudy and have a yellowish-brown colour to them, it could be a good time to change them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas1987 Posted May 1, 2008 Author Share Posted May 1, 2008 Yeah. All this is doing is proving in my mind that we need to improve and overhaul our in-house maintainance system; our larger venue has two ZR22's, and I'm pretty sure that the 250's and 500's haven't been serviced or cleaned for well over a year. Gonna be fun! Its a funny thing with the sticking shutter - if you set it to strobe or chase, it'll strobe very dimly, but as soon as you set it back to open it stays shut. However, if I manually grab its shutter and open it to full(on the desk), it will open again. So its not permanently jammed, just obviously needs a bit of a push! I hope its not bent and just needs greasing or something. I'll try and get some photos tomorrow. Need to look at lamp alignment too I think, as I'm sure some are daftly dim. As I say, I haven't been on a Mac servicing course yet, but I've worked with cheaper budget fixtures (scans etc) so I've got a reasonable idea on cleaning. At this current point I'm quite worried about the kit, as the problem could become more serious and cost more to fix, so I feel its worth doing the basics asap. But obviously as a moving head is a totally different ballgame to a scanner, I'm going to definitely suggest the course to my boss - £100 is nothing compared to the potential costs of fixing these everytime because they're gunked up. I will check the lamphours tomorrow, as they could well be over. Thanks again for all your advice guys! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac500 Posted May 1, 2008 Share Posted May 1, 2008 When you lamp on your rig do you leave the shutters open and pointing near down? Its good practise to ensure that the shutters don't warp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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