Pulled a Blinder!

[gazzer1uk]

Steep learning curve, challenge, all up for that.

 

I would like to come home without my hair standing on end or remembering what happened when I cut through the ring main at home by accident, well, naiviety actually!!!

 

Looks like it is time to do more reading on teh other part of this forum and for a beer or 8 (not all at once) with my sparky friend.

 

I am a fan or organising the chaos, happy to make up distribution boards, but clearly under guidance and direction........

 

Like the idea of having it wired up for the pack as mentioned by DMX2theMax.... that might very well work out sensibly for me!!

 

Any more guidance highly appreciated...

 

Cheers,

 

Gaz

[Ynot]

Sadly I'm in the 'PLUS 1' corner for sticking it straight back on Fleabay and going for something that's not going to give you such a headache.

 

If your main fare is performing in pubs & clubs, this is WAAAY over the top.

[gazzer1uk]

Hi all,

 

It arrived today, like I say, £26 from Ebay, so bit of a bargain, the lamps are indeed GE 120 volt, 650 watt, DWE.

 

So its either re-wiring time, or...... I find a 32 amp dimmer pack, on or off via DMX.

 

We have two big gigs coming up for 400 people thereabouts in large venues, so it would be nice to try and pack this in.......

 

Any more thoughts and pearls of wisdom? :huh:

 

Gaz

[dmxtothemax]

Large dimmers are available. I have seen 20 and 30a dimmers on e bay from time to time.

Some times they go for a song.

Like a 20 a dimmer for $60.00.

Be patient and look around, they are out there.

 

Hi all,

 

It arrived today, like I say, £26 from Ebay, so bit of a bargain, the lamps are indeed GE 120 volt, 650 watt, DWE.

 

So its either re-wiring time, or...... I find a 32 amp dimmer pack, on or off via DMX.

 

We have two big gigs coming up for 400 people thereabouts in large venues, so it would be nice to try and pack this in.......

 

Any more thoughts and pearls of wisdom? :huh:

 

Gaz

[gazzer1uk]

any manufacturer or model to look at that I can put on my wish list?

 

Thanks,

 

Gaz

[niclights]

I think you're better off just re-wiring them to the standard 2x4cell and run them off two 10A channels.

[themadhippy]

Large dimmers are available. I have seen 20 and 30a dimmers on e bay from time to time.

Some times they go for a song.

Like a 20 a dimmer for $60.00.

Be patient and look around, they are out there

Don't suppose you've seen a spare 20A or 32A s on ebay to run the dimmers on.

[gazzer1uk]

Not seen yet but am looking....... but I just had the brain ripple, ;) two smaller dimmers on the same DMX channel turned to on or off.... all 8 on or off...... that was hard to work out :huh: !!!!

 

Cheers,

 

Gaz

[david.elsbury]

Do you really want just on or off? (switched mode) or would there be instances where you may want to dim them?

[dmxtothemax]

Have a look at item number-200483502934, on e bay uk,

These ones might be a bit expensive,

but like I said look around they are out there.

Be patient and check e bay regularly

search under dimmer, all catagories.

 

,

Large dimmers are available. I have seen 20 and 30a dimmers on e bay from time to time.

Some times they go for a song.

Like a 20 a dimmer for $60.00.

Be patient and look around, they are out there

Don't suppose you've seen a spare 20A or 32A s on ebay to run the dimmers on.

[gazzer1uk]

Hi guys,

 

Spotted this.

 

Now I assume what I will need to do is re-wire the internals to 2 lamps in series, and connect another two wired such in parallel and do this twice so I could have 2 x IEC connectors..........?? :P

 

Could I then use this?

NJD DPX4/10 10A 4 Channel DMX Dimmer Pack with IEC Output

A heavy duty DMX dimming pack that can be stand or wall mounted. The product features four 10A channels, 32A max load, fuse protection, 5 pin XLR DMX signal in and out, RJ11 connector (for use with NJD DMX hand controllers), anti-tamper screws, 32A CEE17 socket (power in) and 4 IEC 10A outlets.

 

its about £70 on Ebay so add the plugs and a bit of time and it means an 8 cell blinder for less than a £100 which seems a bit of a bargain???

 

that way I guess for smaller venues, we might be able to just have 4 cells in use! :D

 

Thanks for all help and advice again,

 

Gaz

[dmxtothemax]

The trouble is, if wired for two circuits, the load will be 2600w x 2,

at 240v thats about 11A each, will the 10A dimmers safely handle that load?

If you use a 12A fuse rather than the 10A fuse some will, some wont,

depends on the size of the triacs and other factors as well

Whilst it could work, its risky at best

you will have to find something rated at 13 or 15A minimum.

I recently picked up an old strand 6 channel dimmer rack rated at 20A,

for each dimmer, cost me only $100. cheap as.

Was on e-bay.

 

 

Hi guys,

 

Spotted this.

 

Now I assume what I will need to do is re-wire the internals to 2 lamps in series, and connect another two wired such in parallel and do this twice so I could have 2 x IEC connectors..........?? :P

 

Could I then use this?

NJD DPX4/10 10A 4 Channel DMX Dimmer Pack with IEC Output

A heavy duty DMX dimming pack that can be stand or wall mounted. The product features four 10A channels, 32A max load, fuse protection, 5 pin XLR DMX signal in and out, RJ11 connector (for use with NJD DMX hand controllers), anti-tamper screws, 32A CEE17 socket (power in) and 4 IEC 10A outlets.

 

its about £70 on Ebay so add the plugs and a bit of time and it means an 8 cell blinder for less than a £100 which seems a bit of a bargain???

 

that way I guess for smaller venues, we might be able to just have 4 cells in use! :D

 

Thanks for all help and advice again,

 

Gaz

[gazzer1uk]

Close but likley to go bang then.....

 

There do seem a number of "value" used dimmers on Ebay etc but most also seem to be anologue.

 

I think I have seen its possible to convert such to DMX but is this likely to be expensive?

 

Cheers,

 

gaz

[Brian]

Were this me then this is what I'd do...

 

1) Buy a cheap 4-channel dimmer. The one you linked to on eBay would be fine but get the version without the 32A inlet.

2) Bolt it to the back of the blinder.

3) Rewire the blinder as 4 circuits, top pair, upper middle pair, lower middle pair, and bottom pair to the 4 dimmer channels in order.

4) Feed the dimmer with a 5m or so 32A input cable.

5) Make a 13A - 32A Adaptor

 

Like that you can run chases on the blinder with up to 4 lamps on at a time when you've only got 13A to play with in smaller gigs or if you're at a big gig you can run it at 32A for the full effect.

 

By bolting the dimmers to the back of the blinder it needs a lot less cabling, no extension leads, no multiway connectors etc etc. It's a nice all-in-one package.

[niclights]

I don't disagree with Brian's suggestion. But 2600W on 10A (fused at) normally works fine in my experience, even if technically it shouldn't. Perhaps there's more vulnerability with a cheaper dimmer. The IEC's could also potentially be a problem but given that it is highly unlikely you would run these at full for any length of time it probably won't matter either.