karl Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 Just been doing a dress rehearsal and half way through a slow fade I noticed some channels where flickering randomly (and not subtly either). I stopped the fade but the flickering continued so I pulled the DMX lead out of the desk (our dimmers hold their settings for a while) the flicker persisted. This seems to rule out the desk sending duff data. I have also tried using our old desk and the problem persists. At the end of the scene when we went to blackout several lights remained partially lit (between about 10% and 40%) and some even continued to flicker as before. I have turned the dimmers off and back on but the lights just come back on when power is restored. The flickering did seem to settle after a while but then returned later. Our setup is Zero88 Jester TL connected to four Strand LD90 dimmer racks. As far as I have been able to ascertain the affected lights are all on one of the dimmer racks (confirming this isn't helped by the rather odd assignment of channels to racks and the random nature of the fault - although by the end of the evening it had settled down two two stuck circuits and two flickerers). The racks are hardwired so I can't repatch the lights in question. Oh, and the cyc bar is affected so running extensions (even if I had enough) from spare points is going to be a nightmare! The lights which are stuck can have their brightness increased by the desk but will not dim below the level they are stuck at. The flickering lights can also be brightened which reduces flickering. None of the racks are showing any fault lights. They are locked and I didn't have a manual to hand and couldn't remember the unlock key combination - so I couldn't get into the menus to see if anything looked amiss. My guess is it has to be a problem with the DMX signal but I'm flummoxed. As far as I know nothing has been changed recently and everything was working until half way through the first act. Anybody seen anything similar or know what might be going on? Better yet anybody know how to fix this? All help very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJones Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 I have seen this problem alot with the LD90's. The problem is with the processor. I suggest giving stage electrics a call, They will hopefully be able to source you a replacement. Good luck, Andy Jones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 Thanks Andy for the quick reply. Doesn't sound like good news! I'll see if I can source a replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamharman Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 As I said recently in another topic, they were about a grand each when they were current production, so the price now is likely to be particularly bad news....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLightsTech Posted October 15, 2009 Share Posted October 15, 2009 If they are like the Strand CD 80's (which they may not be) the unlock combination is 2 of the buttons held for 3 sec. It was either the top and bottom or the sides, can't remember which. The manuals should be online. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazeja Posted October 16, 2009 Share Posted October 16, 2009 Seen something similar to this before. Dimmer Min level setting was not zero and flickering caused by faulty multiplexers on the analogue inputs. Suggest you see how the dimmers behave under manual control from the front panel. Unlock code/operation is in the operators manual. K Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Posted October 18, 2009 Share Posted October 18, 2009 If I remember correctly, LD90 menu access is the buttons [Mux In] + [Preset] + [Level] HTHBarney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl Posted October 18, 2009 Author Share Posted October 18, 2009 A quick update. I rang NStage on Friday morning and spoke to Keith who was prepared to come and look at the dimmers but suggested I check to see if the problem was still there. On firing up the dimmers everything was back to normal and none of the symptoms persisted. Leaving the dimmers off overnight seemed to have done the trick. I have since spoken to somebody who has been involved with lighting at the venue for a lot longer than I have and apparently this has happened a few times before. It seems to happen when the dimmers have been left on for long periods (days not hours). I'm not sure what exactly happened - the diagnostics Keith suggested haven't shown any trace of a problem. I'm thinking it might be time to start planning for replacing the dimmers. PS sorry for the lack of clarity in the title but I wasn't sure at the time of posting whether it was definitely the dimmers and didn't want to exclude possible helpers by mentioning specific kit if it was something more generic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliveybaby Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 Dry joints on PSU Where tranny joins board Cliveybaby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidso Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 procerssor over heating meaby? Best bet is to try and cause the problem again by leaving them on for a while. Then you will be able to narrow it down to overheating and work from that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnovTechOG Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Hi, I've encountered this problem a couple of times with the LD90's. Try replacing the capacitor on the PSU board, this should sort theproblem and only cost a few pounds for the component. :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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