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Behringer Dimmer major manufacture defect


Impact Pete

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I hired out 3 Behringer dimmers last week, all racked with patch panels, I was called to say that the two they were using had blown after there was a supposed neutral lift on the 3 phase supply and that when they were plugged in they were instantly tripping the RCD, smoke had been seen coming out the front of one of them, they got by with the third dimmer (only using 8 channels for event!).

 

I went to collect to find that actually no one had bothered to check one of the failed dimmers which actually worked fine, this raised the question if the three phase had really failed, actually the electrician admitted the neutral was warm, not that it had lifted! (probably due to uneven balance of phases).

 

I opened the whole top of the faulty dimmer, not the cable access panel used to wire it, to find one of the L1 phase cables trapped between the top casing and a thin steel shield wall, it has taken two years to fail but the cables must of slowly been getting warm and finally melted to earth itself on the chassis!

 

My question really is does any one know of a behringer rep/spokesman (posting on here) who would be interested to see photos of this appauling manufacturing mistake?

 

Also I bought these dimmers 4 years ago, one channel failed two years ago (channel would not fade down) and they replaced it immediately with a new/possibly reconned unit, this replacement is the one that has failed again due to manufacture fault, Can I still get it replaced? part of me wants to just replace the melted cables from Input to trips as it would be easier than removing all the multicables out the glands and remaking them on a new unit!

 

Any one have an opinion? other than that they are poor dimmers! and I should or spent more money on some more reliable ones!

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you bought £140 dimmers 4 years ago and they have now failed... sounds like a good life span/cost ratio to me. its not like you bought an ART rack which I would be upset if it failed after 4 years....

 

they were grey imports to the UK as behringer never released them for sale in the UK as far as I am aware, I would imagine that you must have hired them out a few times, just replace them with similar style better dimmers, anytronics do a similar one but is a branded name. or beta pack 3's are not too expensive and also a very good entry level dimmer.

 

this comes from experience, I also own 4 behringer dimmers, that are about 4 years old, I wouldn't have expected them to last this long, saying that one pack completely failed earlier this year, probably control electronics died, but it went straight in the bin...

 

 

P.

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I agree with the above but would add that I would not go about posting on a forum like this saying it is a "major manufacture defect" as this certainly doesn't sound like it is. Having spent many years building and servicing dimmers for a manufacturer this is not that big a deal, the cable has to be routed somewhere and if it has only failed after 4 years and only due to a different fault occurring elsewhere then this doesn't sound like it is the dimmers fault really.

 

Also are you certain that the dimmer has not been opened by anyone in the last 4 years? are you certain that this cable routing was not done by someone during a service or repair, possibly on site?

 

Be careful before making a statement about something like this as it will upset any manufacturer or possibly even a designer that may have had a hand in the design of the units that may see this and will upset them more if people read this and then come away with the impression that the dimmers are faulty or no good.

 

Ben

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I own a couple of these and I must admit I would not attempt to wire them only removing the cable access panel. As supplied by the manufactutrer they do not come with any cabling to connect the to the supply. However some retailers may install a cable/camlocks etc. The internal harnessing to the terminal blocks is tied into position and is neatly done so I am not sure how this would get trapped between the 19 inch wide lid and the outer case unless something ahs been altered by someone at some point in the units life. This could have been while out on hire or if you bought it with a supply cable already attached it could have been done before you bought it.
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The faulty dimmer was only 2 years old as was a new replacement for a previous failed dimmer and I wired the multis from the opening cover, case top has never been off, I might of had this one 2 years but it has only been out 3 times as it is secondary kit, I appreciate the comments but still think it is a major fault 3 phase to earth not great really!

 

I'm sure when I wrote the original post I was still fumming, but simple faults like this are avoidable wether it's cheap or expensive kit.

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any chance of a picture of the trapped cable in situ, compared to one of your others?

 

What I'm wondering is if they are all wired internally the same, or has this one been fiddled with afterwards, or maybe just assembled poorly. If your others are the same, then this could be a manufacturing defect that is ticking away, and if this is the case, Behringer would want to know - it could be a huge problem in the making. However, if it's just a one-off assembly mistake, it is annoying, but just a mistake.

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any chance of a picture of the trapped cable in situ, compared to one of your others?

 

What I'm wondering is if they are all wired internally the same, or has this one been fiddled with afterwards, or maybe just assembled poorly. If your others are the same, then this could be a manufacturing defect that is ticking away, and if this is the case, Behringer would want to know - it could be a huge problem in the making. However, if it's just a one-off assembly mistake, it is annoying, but just a mistake.

 

Hi I'm going to look at the others later they may be ok, the older two are off black in colour where as this ones casing is jet black, it looks like they forgot to cable tie the loom of 6 x input phase cables to trips, the edges of the slit in the cross piece has been edged with what can only be insulation tape, but looks neatly done ie looks done at manufacturing.

Trapped cable was right on the top edge will try to put up photos later

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I agree with the above but would add that I would not go about posting on a forum like this saying it is a "major manufacture defect" as this certainly doesn't sound like it is. Having spent many years building and servicing dimmers for a manufacturer this is not that big a deal, the cable has to be routed somewhere and if it has only failed after 4 years and only due to a different fault occurring elsewhere then this doesn't sound like it is the dimmers fault really.

 

Also are you certain that the dimmer has not been opened by anyone in the last 4 years? are you certain that this cable routing was not done by someone during a service or repair, possibly on site?

 

Be careful before making a statement about something like this as it will upset any manufacturer or possibly even a designer that may have had a hand in the design of the units that may see this and will upset them more if people read this and then come away with the impression that the dimmers are faulty or no good.

 

Ben

 

This is Behringer we're talking about - any designer involved will have been employed by the company from whom Behringer copied the design.

 

I await the writ...

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Pete,

 

I don't understand - You did do a full internal examination with it's initial PAT didn't you so you have know about this "manufacturer's defect" for 4 years haven't you?

 

James

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I don't understand this bit? Why would you look inside? A brand new product with a long warranty that could be invalidated by removing the screws - when a note says no user servicable parts inside?

 

I'm not even sure a rack mount device, designed to be installed and connected by an electrician even qualifies as a portable appliance, even though the housing it is bolted into could be moved around. Would you PAT a consumer unit? Interesting?

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You did do a full internal examination with it's initial PAT....

 

James,

 

although a good service engineer would be competent to do this, it is not an action suggested in the IET code of practice.

In fact, I can think of many "qualified" applience testers who should be physically prevented from taking the covers off equipment!

 

Simon

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Pete,

 

I don't understand - You did do a full internal examination with it's initial PAT didn't you so you have know about this "manufacturer's defect" for 4 years haven't you?

 

James

 

????? When I did my pat testing course we were not instructed to take apart a drill for instance to see if motor was still attached to switch wiring! It may of changed since I did it but I can't see many hire companies taking apart their hard wired dimmers to see if cables were still all as they should be, Also no one is reading the point that this dimmer is only nearing 2 years old as it was a new for old replacement. I only remove the patch panel as per set out in guidelines so would of never seen this fault.

 

A concurrent post has been automatically merged from this point on.

 

You did do a full internal examination with it's initial PAT....

 

James,

 

although a good service engineer would be competent to do this, it is not an action suggested in the IET code of practice.

In fact, I can think of many "qualified" applience testers who should be physically prevented from taking the covers off equipment!

 

Simon

 

Hi Simon good to here a friendly face on here! what are your thoughts?

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