Futurelight MH660 menu?

[damobarrowafc]

I am currently programming 4 mh660's problem being when they've been on for a while 2 shut off I know that it's the temp inside the fixture,The manual suggests going into the fans setting on the control panel under the spec (special functions) But I cannot find fans under this heading or any other,A few of the settings under spec are not in there Including disp, Dint, dlof, Tenp, Fans, Or dfse

Does anyone know why I can't find these?

Any help highly appreciated Damo

[Ashley R]

Sounds like you might have a very old version of the firmware, thats the only thing I can think of.

 

Just to confirm you are in the right place:

Hit Menu, Then Hit down until you see SPEC, then hit Enter, Then hit Down until you see FANS, Hit Enter. Then select your desired fan speed.

 

Although on the MH660's I own, Even though I change this menu setting, and even do it Via DMX, I don't hear any audible difference in the fan speed.

 

And Yes as I just hinted to, you can also control the fan speed Via DMX, CH7 In Extended Mode, or CH4 In Short.

 

 

My thoughts are that they are possibly dirty, and quite possibly the fans are also facing the wrong way, so instead of drawing cool air through the unit, its blowing cool air onto things. The most common one I see the wrong way around in the fan in the base, It should be pointing out (So Blowing if you put your hand over it) so that it draws air in through the slots in the opposite side, over the transformer, and the main PCB. Possibly give them a clean, and then see how they respond?

[peternewman]

The last lot of Futurelights I dealt with, five or so years ago, were all notorious for overheating, you'd regularly lose a few of them. In a club type setting, so perhaps didn't get the best TLC at times, but you can probably guess the derogatory word, rhyming with light (with a Northern twang) that got substituted for it, and seemed to be rather appropriate. Pretty certain ours had the SPEC menu stuff though.

[gyro_gearloose]

Are you sure the lamps aren't simply too old? Exactly how do you know its the temperature inside the head? It could be the temperature sensor thats knackered, or the ballast might be failing as it heats up.

 

...the fans are also facing the wrong way, so instead of drawing cool air through the unit, its blowing cool air onto things.

Thats interesting because all of the MH660s, and the Coemar Prospot 250s (which are, barring some minor differences in the electronics, exactly the same as the futurelights) that I've worked on have the fans blowing air into the base. This usually causes the connections on the pan opto-sensor to fail if there is a build up of fluff and haze fluid on the contacts.

[Ashley R]

Well I thought it made more sense to have the base fan drawing air into the base, through the slots on the opposite side.

 

Thus Cooling both the PCB and the Transformer, with a minimal amount of gunk build-up inside. All that is then required for a daily/weekly clean when they come back from hire is a wipe of the vents, and everything is good again.

 

I don't quite see why the PCB would need such serious cooling as to have a fan directly blowing onto it? And as you said, leads to problems with gunk build-up.

 

My MH660's and Saggiter Moving Spot 250's had a 50/50 arrangement, and well the one I just stated made more sense to me, so flipped them all around the one way.

[gyro_gearloose]

I don't quite see why the PCB would need such serious cooling as to have a fan directly blowing onto it? And as you said, leads to problems with gunk build-up.

To keep the pan/tilt driver chips cool? All of the other motor driver chips are on the boards in the yoke, and don't even have heatsinks, but the pan/tilt chips do more work so I guess need better cooling? I'm not sure about having just one fan pulling air out of a fixture. I think having two in a push/pull configuration would be better.

[gafferted]

I don't think there is any temperature sensing in the base of these so if it's an overtemp shutdown it surely has to be the head. Have you tried running it with the lamp off to see if it still shuts down?

If the base is overheating then presumably it still will with the lamp off (unless it's the choke of course).

 

How do you know it's a temperature thing? Are you getting an error display indicating as such? I only ask because the phototransistor that senses if the lamp has struck is a common failure on these units.

[damobarrowafc]

Thank you for everyone's reply,

I have run all 4 heads with lamp off and they all run between 16 - 18 degrees

I have run all 4 heads with lamp on and they all run between 30 - 40 degrees I have left theses on for 4 hours (with nobody in club) and none shut down

I have then run all 4 heads with lamp on and they all run around 38 - 45 degrees, and have noticed recently that 2 of the heads lamp themselves off and once they have cooled down strike back up again

These 2 heads are at the 'warmer' side of the club as the other 2 are near the door.

 

I have searched all over for extra functions on the head and still no further on and can not find the 'fan's option.

 

Also I took all the movers down and did a clean of all the fans and slots around the fixture

 

Any help appreciated

Damo

 

Thanks for everyone's input so far

[gyro_gearloose]

The next step would be to swap the heads round in the venue. Put the one from the cooler side of the room in the warmer part of the room, and vice versa. If the problem stays with whichever units are in the warm side of the room, then you have your answer : move the failing units somewhere cooler, or improve the cooling in the venue.

 

If the same two units keep failing no matter where they are put, then there is obviously a problem with the units themselves. You haven't said what the age/condition of the lamps is like. It could be that the ones from the hotter part of the club have aged prematurely, or the excess heat may have damaged the ignitor. It may even be the case that the thermal breaker ( a black/silver disc connected in-line with the lamp power supply ) has worn out, and opens at a lower temperature than it should do. I'd check the lamps first though.