casino_man_dan Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 With my limited knowledge of moving heads, can anyone suggest why the lamp won't strike? The unit turns on and functions in all other ways ie. pans tilts and all other functions... I've tried the replacing the lamp and checked the 3 fuses on the PCB are ok. the 3 lights on the PCB light too I know the replacement lamp was a cheaper soundlab YSD lamp instead of the suggested phillips / osram MSD lamp but can't imagine this should be a problem? I did also check by using another known working lamp afterwards and still no joy. When I try to manually give the lamp on command I can't seem to hear that click you normally get. Do you think it might be ignitor problem and if so, is it easily fixed? any other thoughts? Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottishCol Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 With my limited knowledge of moving heads, can anyone suggest why the lamp won't strike? The unit turns on and functions in all other ways ie. pans tilts and all other functions... I've tried the replacing the lamp and checked the 3 fuses on the PCB are ok. the 3 lights on the PCB light too I know the replacement lamp was a cheaper soundlab YSD lamp instead of the suggested phillips / osram MSD lamp but can't imagine this should be a problem? I did also check by using another known working lamp afterwards and still no joy. When I try to manually give the lamp on command I can't seem to hear that click you normally get. Do you think it might be ignitor problem and if so, is it easily fixed? any other thoughts? Thanks in advance The click you usually hear is the relay, that may fail but more likely is the ignitor. Which heads are u using? Sounds like ignitor to me, but what do I know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casino_man_dan Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 if it's the ignitor, is that easily replaced without having to send it off for repair? and could you clarify what you mean by what type of heads? thanks, dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david.elsbury Posted September 12, 2012 Share Posted September 12, 2012 Two possibilities for "type of heads". First is "what type of mover" which was clearly identified in the topic title, second is "electronic or magnetic ballast" but I'm not sure how relevant that could be. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightsource Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Two possibilities for "type of heads". First is "what type of mover" which was clearly identified in the topic title, second is "electronic or magnetic ballast" but I'm not sure how relevant that could be. David The OP stated Martin Mac 300, and it was only ever shipped as Magnetic Ballast as far as I am aware, so the OP gave a full description ;) To the OP.....not a good lamp choice. Put a proper lamp in, Philips, Osram, Sylvania, 2000 hour MSD 250/2. Edit to add............. Well, just had a laugh :( YSD lamps on a google search (as I've never heard of them before) mainly lead back to www.alibaba.com A company that also lists fake Avolites products. Two possibilities for "type of heads". First is "what type of mover" which was clearly identified in the topic title, second is "electronic or magnetic ballast" but I'm not sure how relevant that could be. David The OP stated Martin Mac 300, and it was only ever shipped as Magnetic Ballast as far as I am aware, so the OP gave a full description ;) To the OP.....not a good lamp choice. Put a proper lamp in, Philips, Osram, Sylvania, 2000 hour MSD 250/2. Edit to add............. Well, just had a laugh :( YSD lamps on a google search (as I've never heard of them before) mainly lead back to www.alibaba.com A company that also lists fake Avolites products. Martin only Spec an MSD 250/2, so anything else, best of luck. Put a proper lamp in the fixture, then get back to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Allen Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 As a quick test you can put that suspect lamp into another Mac300, or you could try the ignitor from another Mac300 in the fixtture with the suspect lamp. Only do one change when troubleshooting so you know what the cause is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Discharge lamps are not like tungsten lamps, they vary quite a lot even within the same wattage and physical size. Using the wrong type of lamp will often not work, and can even damage the fixture. There are generally quite important technical reasons as to why a particular list of lamps are recommended by the manufacturer. You'd need to check a lot of quite detailed specifications to know whether a given alternative really is equivalent or just looks similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jof2375 Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Hi The approved lamps for the Mac 300 are as follows: Phillips MSD 200 & MSD 250/2 or the Osram HSD 250. These are the ones that went through our testing when the Mac 300 was in production, so any of these lamps should be used and although others may work they may cause issues. The first thing I would do is try a known working lamp (which you have done), when you give it a lamp on command, you should hear the click of the relay (which you say you do not). This is where to start, as if this is not happening, then the lamp circuit is not getting the 240v to start with, so replacing the ignitor etc will not help at this point. With the unit unpowered take the arm cover off to expose the pcb, the relay is in the top left of the board, it could be a case of the relay is sticking, sometimes a gentle tap on the top of it can free it, then replace the arm cover and try to lamp on, if it lamps on then it is just a sticky relay (12v, 16A single) and that should be replaced. If it still doesn't lamp on , then it can again be the relay or the IC that supplies the 12v to latch it over (IC 307 on the pcb, which is unfortunately not in a socket (ULN2803A)) I would suggest though getting this to a repair shop that has experience in repairing Mac 300's, as you state you have never done repairs on them and your knowledge limited on them. If you let me know what area you are in I can possible direct you to some repair shops close to you. Regards Jonathan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottishCol Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Discharge lamps are not like tungsten lamps, they vary quite a lot even within the same wattage and physical size. Using the wrong type of lamp will often not work, and can even damage the fixture. There are generally quite important technical reasons as to why a particular list of lamps are recommended by the manufacturer. You'd need to check a lot of quite detailed specifications to know whether a given alternative really is equivalent or just looks similar. I like using branded lamps as much as the next geezer but please explain why using unbranded will damage the fixture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth A Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Well - I love all things Chinese having worked out here constantly for a while. However, I have learnt that alibaba is not always a good place to go. ! I am doing in big installation project in Wuxi and was after some "Cordial" speaker and microphone cable. However, on the official website there is no distributor in China or HK. So going via alibaba, I found a company who stock and can supply "Cordial" cable. However I need to get them the website links and the specifications of the cable. Found out they just make it without any testing or anything. I politely said goodbye to this nice man! At least when you use the branded stuff from proper stockists, you know exactly what you are getting. ! Imagine if the "unbranded" lamp wasnt tested or anything and just looks similar etc. Goes bang - could damage other parts in the head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth A Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Possible - I just gave an example of how it could damage it. Rather than the optical side of it! Pass on the cantonese girl! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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