Mr Steve Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 Hi, I have a VL2000 wash which will run fine for a while, and then lamp off. After 5-10 minutes the fixture will restrike on its own. This leads me to believe that it may be temperature related rather than something more serious like the ballast. The unit has been stripped and the fans cleaned, so the air flow through the fixture is ok. The lamp has done about 50 hours. Is it common for the thermal sensors in these to die (there are two in the head, one on the dimmer bulkhead and one on the colour)? If so, and they need swapping, are they generic parts or specific to the fixture. The colour one is a 295 degree part, and the dimmer one is 315 degree, according to the service manual for the spot. There is no menu item for temperature or display error for anything heat related. Does anyone have experience of this behaviour with these fixtures, is it likely to be a heat issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timsabre Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 No direct experience with this fixture but I used to service other fixtures with thermal trips like that and it was a common fault for the tripping temperature to drop when they'd been cycled a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oovis Posted April 23, 2016 Share Posted April 23, 2016 The head fans are clean but are they any good? You could try swapping over the assembly from a known working unit as fitting replacements has cured this for me in the past. There's a temperature sensor on the ballast too but I have usually found it's a head fan issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 There is a myth that all fans are the same, They most certainly are NOT. Has someone fitted a quiet (maybe PC ) fan that doesn't move enough air, maybe before you had responsibility for the lamp. PC fan £5 vs OEM fan £35 is a reasonable guess. Do you have another of the same fitting? Can you open both and compare the insides? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Steve Posted April 25, 2016 Author Share Posted April 25, 2016 Thanks guys. I do have other units that I can check. When I stripped the unit, the fans did spin up but I had not checked that the fan specs were the same, though if someone has put a cheap fan in, they'd done a tidy job of crimping the connectors back into the loom! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekul1978 Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 I have a Robe 700 that seems to be doing something similar so would be interested to see how this one goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 Another random comment; is the lamp holder in good condition? If they get worn at the contacts some holders heat up, usually this burns the lamp pins but for a start it could be just precipitating the overheating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Steve Posted April 26, 2016 Author Share Posted April 26, 2016 Lamp holder and wireset are brand new. I changed them a few weeks back as they were very well worn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allainthebrids Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 Hi everyone, new member, 1st post! :** laughs out loud **: I've been repairing Vari-Lite fixtures for the past 15+ years... Usually, if the fans are running as they should, if your connections to the thermal sensor are good, you tried replacing the lamp... it is unfortunately most likely a defective ballast.. We see that a lot with the "old-style ballasts", the ones with the piggy back card on top.. they get intermittent like that. We used to send them back to Vari-Lite for repair...but it's been a while since I've seen a VL2000 come in the service dept, and I not sure if the VL2000s can be retro-fitted with the new "caged" balasts.. Maybe check directly with them. Hope this helps Allain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Steve Posted May 2, 2016 Author Share Posted May 2, 2016 Hi guys, Had a look today. The 'bad' unit has a 295 deg F thermal on the colour bulkhead, and a 295 on the dimmer bulkhead. The manual (for the spot, with the same lamp and general design) says it should be a 315 deg F thermal on the dimmer bulkhead. A 'good' unit has a 315 on the dimmer, too. So it seems whoever serviced this has fitted the wrong part. The part numbers were stamped on the surface of the the thermostat which was bolted against the fixture chassis so were not visible without taking the thermo's off. It's a Honeywell 3455RC-100-242. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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