Mac 600 power problem? please help

[franki]

I am currently sitting with 2 martin mac 600's infront of me in pieces searching for some sort of earth leak but to no avail I am unsucessful, the pair have been tripping our 125A 3phase power upon being lamped on!, please any ideas as I am not a moving light engineer!

thanks

franki

[lasvegas]

Does the circuit trip on either 600 on its own, or is it when you switch both units on at the same time?

[woody74]

Assuming you are not plugging them directly in, what is in between the lights and your supply?

 

And if it was the lights doing it, remove one, power up, and see if it trips. If so, that's your culprit. If not, the other may be to blame. But I'd not rule out the gear in between.

 

-w

 

edit: word choice

[ed_]

Have you used this power supply before? Could someone have helpfully fitted a 30mA RCD to the supply, with it powering a shedload of kit all of which is leaking 0.01mA - and the 600s just tip it over the edge?

[johnhuson]

I think it's important at this stage that we find out whether this is indeed an earth leakage problem or an overload problem. The reason I ask is that if it's tripping a 125A 3-phase supply then it seems unlikely to be an earth leakage problem as a supply of that sort of size is likely to have a fairly high level of earth leakage protection and often with some level of time delay (coupled with lower ratings on lower size supplies to provide discrimination), or no earth leakage at all.

 

I think it's more likely that it's an overload issue likely brought about by a dead short somewhere in the lamp circuit (probably the ballast, lamp or possibly the igniter) hence why it's tripping when it strikes. Are there any other smaller rated MCBs or RCBOs in the circuit that are also tripping?

 

A few other questions.

What have you tried so far to resolve the issue?

Are these electronic (MAC 600E) or magnetic ballast versions?

Have you tried new or known good lamps in these fixtures?

Do you have other units which are working fine from the same supply?

Have you tried the units in question on a different supply?

 

It's also an outside possibility that you have a faulty breaker which is tripping early but for a 125A 3-phase supply to be tripping as low as the inrush current from a MAC 600 seems unlikely.

[jkenny]

I am currently sitting with 2 martin mac 600's infront of me in pieces searching for some sort of earth leak but to no avail I am unsucessful, the pair have been tripping our 125A 3phase power upon being lamped on!, please any ideas as I am not a moving light engineer!

thanks

franki

Failing all else, check the lamp bases, the silicone on the bottom of the base decays over time, exposing the wires that feed it.

[Tin]

I am currently sitting with 2 martin mac 600's infront of me in pieces searching for some sort of earth leak but to no avail I am unsucessful, the pair have been tripping our 125A 3phase power upon being lamped on!, please any ideas as I am not a moving light engineer!

thanks

franki

 

You could have a break in the lamp supply loom around the Pan or tilt cbale run area. The wires that feed the lamp aren't as flexible as the low voltage ones therefore breaking around these areas and shorting the lamp supply to the chassis which will be enough to trip your 125A 3phase. Check for continuity between the lamp live feed and the chassis, do so whilst panning or tilting the head manually to check for shorts.