Oovis Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Hello. We've got a few ETC Source 4 Revolutions on our current show. On Press Night, of all times, one of them developed an intense flicker as if the lamp was arcing but nothing was apparent when we took out the lamp. No marks on the pins or lamp base. This fault returned every few days or so. We sent it back to the hire company who returned it saying they couldn't find any fault. Now another one has started to do exactly the same thing. It's random, sometimes it's fine, sometimes it flickers. Does anyone have any idea what might be going on? Cheers, Oovis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calder Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 One for Tomo, I would PM him. C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrV Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Edit to delete stupid answer - I read Source4 and missed Revolution! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cameroncoats Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 If the hire company were unable to find a fault, does it not suggest that there may be a problem with the power source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmxtothemax Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Try replacing the lamp !There could be some arcing inside the lamp,Due to loose bits inside the lamp,or loose filaments moving around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jay Posted May 29, 2011 Share Posted May 29, 2011 Hi Oovis, Hope your well! Are you using Sensor Dimmers? If we forget the unit itself for a min. We had a very simlar problem about 2 years ago in which one of our modules had some dampness on it (not a very nice dimmer room). Becuase we were not using that dimmer we had not noticed any problems, it was some time later that it started affecting other dimmers until the whole rack was having problems, only had to replace faulty module and rack was well again. J EDIT:: This is of course if your using external dimmers and not internal?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oovis Posted May 30, 2011 Author Share Posted May 30, 2011 If the hire company were unable to find a fault, does it not suggest that there may be a problem with the power source?Not really as the replacement unit has never flickered. Hi Oovis, Are you using Sensor Dimmers? <<snip>> J EDIT:: This is of course if your using external dimmers and not internal??The Revolutions all have internal dimmers here. Try replacing the lamp !There could be some arcing inside the lamp, Due to loose bits inside the lamp, or loose filaments moving around.We changed the lamp, gobo module and shutter module (just incase it was something fluttering in the beam and not the lamp) but it didn't cure the flicker. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 The Revolutions all have internal dimmers here.All Source Four Revolutions have internal dimmers - It's a 77V, 750W QXL lamp driven by a built-in silent dimmer. Given that you've already eliminated the lamp and contacts, this will either be a failing PSU/dimmer module or a failing lamp wire harness. As it's only happening from time to time, it's more likely to be the wire harness. This would also explain why the rental company couldn't find it as a failing lamp harness will work fine most of the time, it's only when it's wiggled in exactly the wrong way that you have any trouble. The harness goes from the PSU/dimmer module in the base up through one arm and on to the lamp socket, as one would expect the most probable failure point is the joint at the arm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fennell-p Posted June 2, 2011 Share Posted June 2, 2011 The Revolutions all have internal dimmers here.All Source Four Revolutions have internal dimmers - It's a 77V, 750W QXL lamp driven by a built-in silent dimmer. Given that you've already eliminated the lamp and contacts, this will either be a failing PSU/dimmer module or a failing lamp wire harness. As it's only happening from time to time, it's more likely to be the wire harness. This would also explain why the rental company couldn't find it as a failing lamp harness will work fine most of the time, it's only when it's wiggled in exactly the wrong way that you have any trouble. The harness goes from the PSU/dimmer module in the base up through one arm and on to the lamp socket, as one would expect the most probable failure point is the joint at the arm. Tomo has got it right there, don't go spending money replacing anything else, its your PSU/dimmer. I'm having problems with flickering dimmers myself at the moment so I can feel your pain! Good luck, I hope it goes well for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oovis Posted June 3, 2011 Author Share Posted June 3, 2011 The lamp circuit in the unit has now failed. I was contacted off-forum by ETC and we've discussed the issue. It looks like the wiring harness in this unit from the dimmer to the lamp cap probably has a fault where a heat-proof wiring set is spliced onto a flexible set. It's gone back to the hire company for repair and we've swapped in our spare unit (which had the original flicker they couldn't find!). So far so good but my fingers are crossed.. Thanks everyone for the replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_h Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 I tripped over this one when looking for something else. A few months ago I appreciate. When the Revolution first came out the was a problem with the power supply which caused just the problems you describe. ETC (should have) replaced these foc. Maybe this had not been done. Since there appears to have been two faulty machines, then a generic issue would be the first port of call. Having moved on from my previous place I sorely miss these - we bought three of them........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hallett Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 To further resurrect a dead thread, there was also a fault on the old units which only manifested itself in particular power and data configurations. There was a mod to the main PCB to fix it as I recall - but ETC came to do it so I wasn't that closely involved. The lights would go a bit mad (dimmer flickers, and at least one of the lens rolls out of focus) occasionally. However, they would only do it on site in the rig and would not do it when back in the shop. I'm sure this is fixed by now - but I could probably find some further info if not. Cheers P.S. Apparently the fault would show itself occasionally in Europe but never in the US. The heads of ETC in the US paid no heed to the fault reports from the UK office until one PLASA show, where the lights started doing it on the stand with the American big-wigs on the stand. The fault was rapidly sorted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oovis Posted February 17, 2012 Author Share Posted February 17, 2012 Well that show closed and was followed by our current one which also uses Source 4 pieces of cr*p Revolutions from the same hire company. So far (and I don't really want to tempt fate) these units haven't flickered. They still do all the other really annoying things like boot up with every attribute at zero instead of home with no DMX input, tell me they're happy but they've got stuck gobos and sometimes throw in a gobo for no apparent reason and don't clear it so we have dark patches on stage until they're reset. I really hate them and wish they would all throw themselves into the vaccuum of space! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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